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germansupplyscott
Samba Member
Joined: May 22, 2004
Posts: 7093
Location: toronto
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 Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 3:59 pm Post subject: |
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i like the batteries from the VW dealer. a bit more $ but they are excellent quality. it's true there are not many manufacturers of batteries. the VW dealer batteries are made by Varta, which is a johnson controls company but the Varta batteries do seem to be better quality than the typical battery. the one we use in a later bus is the 72Ah model. it's bigger than the original battery but it fits in the tray perfectly. it's equivalent in physical size to a BCI group 48.
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SL |
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wvukidsdoc
Samba Member
Joined: April 29, 2005
Posts: 159
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| Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 4:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Desertbusman wrote: |
| WhirledTraveller wrote: |
| I will probably spring the extra dough for an Optima battery, for the simple reason that they are completely sealed and should not contribute to the rusting of my battery tray. |
Or use a standard battery and put it in a plastic battery box. And coat the terminals and cable ends with the goop that totally elimates corrosion. Eleven years and I have never cleaned the terminals, cable ends or tray. They are as immaculate as new. Replaced the battery twice but they were as spotlessly clean and dry as when new. |
Being an Optima fan, even at the current prices, I would not debate that a good battery box will solve the leakage problems, but it is a PITA to use in a vehicle with FI in place to me. Also I'm running an Optima in the '77 that I bought in '99 so wouldn't have needed to replace the battery twice. And life has not been kind to this battery, no use and let drift down for 4-5 months, then will be used deep cycle camping for a month, then repeat. I will note though I think Optima quality may have crept down over time, when I first saw one (about in '92 or so) the EE program at our school was using them in a robot and abused them senselessly as deep cycles (this long before the different color tops) still getting 4-5 years out of them. I don't think a standard "red top" Optima is of that quality today, or perhaps even of the quality of my 12 year old one. But they don't leak without needing me to buy and fit a box, and will fit without cable modification (just) in a late bay.
NO-OX-ID is great for terminal BTW volks if you can find it.
YMMV
John |
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aeromech
Samba Member
Joined: January 24, 2006
Posts: 16961
Location: San Diego, California
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| Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 6:41 pm Post subject: |
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Curtis,
Just get the biggest and bestest battery that will fit back there. I'm sure most places that sell batteries can tell you what size you need. There's plenty of room for many different sized batteries.
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skills@eurocarsplus
Samba Peckerhead
Joined: January 01, 2007
Posts: 16865
Location: sticksville, ct.
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| Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 8:56 pm Post subject: |
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i think the MT 47 has the battery terminals reversed, i will have to check in the catalouge tomorrow. i don't know if the late bay's ground/positive is like the early bays
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| gprudenciop wrote: |
my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese....... |
| Jake Raby wrote: |
| Thanks for the correction. I used to be a nice guy, then I ruined it by exposing myself to the public. |
| Brian wrote: |
| Also the fact that people are agreeing with Skills, it's a turn of events for samba history |
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chazz79
Samba Member
Joined: August 15, 2008
Posts: 2268
Location: ohio
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| Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:25 pm Post subject: |
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Most companies will rape you for a premium "import" style battery. I got stuck with a crap walmart battery because that's where my passat wouldn't start. That battery cost 135.00! But due to the funky end style hold downs I was doomed to take pipe on the deal.
I chose to forgo all of the fancy import battery crap and put a group 65 in my bus. This is generally the largest and most powerful battery that most companies stock. It fits fine and has 900cca, the diehard gold (johnson controls) battery cost me 89.99
Imho..johnson controls is really the only way to go. Exide has proven to be crap, so has interstate. I'm locked into a contract with exide and can count on replacing their batteries at least once every two years. Oftentimes they don't last a year.
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One day as a lion, or a lifetime as lamb
The green monster in bits and peices: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=332556&highlight=green+monster |
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chazz79
Samba Member
Joined: August 15, 2008
Posts: 2268
Location: ohio
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| Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:29 pm Post subject: |
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| chazz79 wrote: |
Most companies will rape you for a premium "import" style battery. I got stuck with a crap walmart battery because that's where my passat wouldn't start. That battery cost 135.00! But due to the funky end style hold downs I was doomed to take pipe on the deal.
I chose to forgo all of the fancy import battery crap and put a group 65 in my bus. This is generally the largest and most powerful battery that most companies stock. It fits fine and has 900cca, the diehard gold (johnson controls) battery cost me 89.99 Group 65 was used in most all ford large body vehicles and trucks.
Imho..johnson controls is really the only way to go. Exide has proven to be crap, so has interstate. I'm locked into a contract with exide and can count on replacing their batteries at least once every two years. Oftentimes they don't last a year. |
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One day as a lion, or a lifetime as lamb
The green monster in bits and peices: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=332556&highlight=green+monster |
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69rulz
Samba Member
Joined: June 07, 2009
Posts: 867
Location: On a trip on my couch
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| Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:35 pm Post subject: |
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I had A battery from advanced uhh,...i think called autoline, it lasted 5 years, died before the drive home in a hurricane  hell of a jumpstart in sheeting rain
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Id rather die on my feet than live a life on my knees Right turn clyde |
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curtis4085
Samba Member
Joined: July 22, 2011
Posts: 4806
Location: Colorado
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| Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:37 pm Post subject: |
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| skills@eurocarsplus wrote: |
| i think the MT 47 has the battery terminals reversed, i will have to check in the catalouge tomorrow. i don't know if the late bay's ground/positive is like the early bays |
definetly let me know. Am leaning toward that model battery from interstate
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aeromech
Samba Member
Joined: January 24, 2006
Posts: 16961
Location: San Diego, California
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| Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:40 pm Post subject: |
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There are five Costco's located in Colorado. They sell excellent batteries for a great price.
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curtis4085
Samba Member
Joined: July 22, 2011
Posts: 4806
Location: Colorado
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| Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:43 pm Post subject: |
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| aeromech wrote: |
| There are five Costco's located in Colorado. They sell excellent batteries for a great price. |
is there a members fee for Costco? thats only reason I have not gone there. Figured if they charge me membership fee plus battery= no savings.
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aeromech
Samba Member
Joined: January 24, 2006
Posts: 16961
Location: San Diego, California
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| Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:52 pm Post subject: |
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That's an issue you need to figure out. Maybe you know someone that belongs?
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Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
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Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
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DC9/MD80
BAe146
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greenbus pilot
Samba Member
Joined: March 14, 2008
Posts: 1285
Location: Wisconsin: Rustbelt, USA baby!!
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| Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 12:01 am Post subject: |
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| curtis4085 wrote: |
| aeromech wrote: |
| There are five Costco's located in Colorado. They sell excellent batteries for a great price. |
is there a members fee for Costco? thats only reason I have not gone there. Figured if they charge me membership fee plus battery= no savings. |
Some day, I would like to see a Costco for myself. I have absolutely no Costco near me, but people keep bragging them up.
I would like to see an IKEA store someday before I die, also...... 
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germansupplyscott
Samba Member
Joined: May 22, 2004
Posts: 7093
Location: toronto
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| Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 8:04 am Post subject: |
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| curtis4085 wrote: |
| skills@eurocarsplus wrote: |
| i think the MT 47 has the battery terminals reversed, i will have to check in the catalouge tomorrow. i don't know if the late bay's ground/positive is like the early bays |
definetly let me know. Am leaning toward that model battery from interstate |
group 47 has correct terminal orientation but trust me that the 48 is the better choice. it's a bit taller and has about more capacity than a group 47. it's the largest capacity battery that will fit perfectly on the stock battery tray.
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pb24ss
Samba Member
Joined: June 30, 2005
Posts: 1665
Location: sitting around the fire with the bluegrass band - colorado
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| Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 9:20 am Post subject: |
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| curtis4085 wrote: |
| aeromech wrote: |
| There are five Costco's located in Colorado. They sell excellent batteries for a great price. |
is there a members fee for Costco? thats only reason I have not gone there. Figured if they charge me membership fee plus battery= no savings. |
i have a membership. i'd be willing to meet you at a costco nearby. |
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SGKent 
Samba Member
Joined: October 30, 2007
Posts: 41031
Location: Citrus Heights CA (Near Sacramento)
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| Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 9:56 am Post subject: |
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Interstate is rated highly often by different sources but the one I bought didn't last well at all in my CJ7. My experience has been that the last 20 years no battery seems to last more than 3 or 4 years.
We've got an Autozone battery in the bus now. It is almost 3 years old and maybe 1500 miles on it. When we took it up to Yosemite a couple months ago it barely cranked when the engine was really cold. The starter engaged, it just turned slower than normal. We had the lights on for about 15 minutes when we set up camp but that should not have been enough to pull the battery down after an all day drive.
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aeromech
Samba Member
Joined: January 24, 2006
Posts: 16961
Location: San Diego, California
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| Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 10:15 am Post subject: |
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Some day, I would like to see a Costco for myself.
Costco is a great company. They treat their employees well with proper pay and benefits. It's a long process to get your product on their shelves too. As I understand it what they sell goes through an approval process and this has something to do with them selling a higher level of quality than places like Sam's Club which I despise. Costco batteries have a high satisfaction rate. I bought one last summer for around $85. The same size battery at Autozone was about $110.
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Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
Licensed Pilot (Single engine Land)
Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
Airbus A319,320,321
DC9/MD80
BAe146
Fokker F28/F100
VW type 1 1962,63,65,69,72
VW Type 2 1971 (3 ea.) 1978, 1969
VW Jetta
VW Passat
Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound |
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Professional Drifter
Samba Member
Joined: July 14, 2009
Posts: 91
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 11:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| group 47 has correct terminal orientation but trust me that the 48 is the better choice. it's a bit taller and has about more capacity than a group 47. it's the largest capacity battery that will fit perfectly on the stock battery tray. |
Do you know if a Group 48 will fit on the Aux battery side without hitting the spare tire well?
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germansupplyscott
Samba Member
Joined: May 22, 2004
Posts: 7093
Location: toronto
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| Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 8:58 am Post subject: |
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| Professional Drifter wrote: |
| Do you know if a Group 48 will fit on the Aux battery side without hitting the spare tire well? |
i think it may be difficult to install the cable on the terminal. i can take a measurement but it's already a tight fit with a group 41 or 42 and the 48 is taller.
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aeromech
Samba Member
Joined: January 24, 2006
Posts: 16961
Location: San Diego, California
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| Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 10:51 am Post subject: |
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I can't remember the size but you can see how close the negative post is to the well.
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Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
Licensed Pilot (Single engine Land)
Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
Airbus A319,320,321
DC9/MD80
BAe146
Fokker F28/F100
VW type 1 1962,63,65,69,72
VW Type 2 1971 (3 ea.) 1978, 1969
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VW Passat
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johnwan
Samba Member
Joined: February 14, 2010
Posts: 129
Location: Victoria
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| Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 11:32 am Post subject: |
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Make sure that the battery is properly secured, and the top is protected from the weather.
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