Odyssey vs. Diehard Platinum

[adventureduo]

Yeah i nicknamed it the "big daddy" crimper. Everyone mistakes it for a bolt cutter lol

where do you find battery cable crimpers that aren't a fortune!

No kidding! Im super lucky. That crimper is about $500. Thank goodness i get to borrow it whenever i need by a engineer buddy that works for LAX. It's not worth it for me to buy one when i do a battery setup or change twice a vehicle..

 

[Fergie]

Well, went out to the WJ this morning and clickety clickety clickety clickety clickety...

Down to Sears I went; walked out the door with a Platinum for a little under $200...and I'll bring the old one back tomorrow.

Jeep started FAST too...but I had a feeling the old one was on the way out.

 

[bjowett]

A little late here, but the ATV battery you are speaking of is a real AGM. There are fiberglass mats in there, they soak up the acid when you dump it in... pop on the top and it should be sealed.

Good read here - http://www.atvconnection.com/Features/Feature_Articles/A-primer-on-ATV-batteries.cfm

Kind of makes one wish all batteries were shipped with the acid seperately and required activation by the user.

As for the internals, who knows? They do offer 4 years free replacement and over 8 years on the prorate.. Consumer Reports rates them as high they go.

I stopped by my local Sears store yesterday to price the Platinums. A group 31 Die Hard Platinum is $240. Just down the street at Batterys Plus the same Odyssey battery is $400.

I have a nagging suspicion that even though EnerSys has said they are a rebadged Odyssey that they may not be identical internally. In the response from EnerSys, it doesn't say they are the same battery, just that they are a rebadged Odyssey. Call me suspicious, but I have to wonder how there can be a $160 difference if they are the same battery. Someone please prove me wrong.

To go a little further with the same subject, while I was at Sears I bought a new battery for my ATV. In large letters in a gold square on the box are the letters AGM. But when you look closely, just below that in small letters is the word "Technology." Open the box and there is a battery and a container of electrolyte that must be added to the battery. I asked the clerk, who seemed pretty knowledgeable, how it could be an AGM battery if it required liquid electrolyte. He agreed that it could not be, and that the labeling is a bit misleading. Neither of us could understand how an unsealed, liquid electrolyte battery could have any relationship to AGM technology.

So I have to wonder if Sears has done something similar with the Platinum batteries. Have they had EnerSys make internal changes to cheapen the batteries to meet a price point? That is a common practice in retailing. It's not dishonest, it's just somewhat misleading.

 

[toy_tek]

I installed the Diehard Group 34 on my 3rd Gen 4runner without lengthening the cables. You can see in the pic that the negative reaches, just need to move the grounding point on the fender forward by a few inches. For the postive, I made a 1/4" thick by 3/4" wide by 4.5" long bus bar that bolts between the positive cable and the positive battery lug. I have the rubber cap moved sideways in the pic for viewing access. I drilled and tapped an additional hole in the bus bar for the two wires that at are always "hot" (aux lights & aux fusebox). The red tape you see if aircraft F4 electrical insulating tape.

The holddown is 12.5" long by 1.5" bar stock. I used the factory J bolt on the back side. I (unsuccessfuly) used some foam tape on the underside of the holddown, you can see in the pic that the heat and vibration caused it to migrate.

I put 200 seriously jarring offroad miles on it last weekend. The bus bar worked as planned. I need some kind of heavy rubber backing on the holddown bar to further reduce any battery movement due to vibration.

 

[MoGas]

Socal, Do you have enough pics of your dual setup to provide a write-up or is it exactly like mangler's?

Dave

 

[adventureduo]

Mogas, It's exactly like Manglers.. that's what i copied off of. Yes sir.

 

[MoGas]

Cool. I already have the marine switch and 25ft of 1/0 welding cable. I just need the time. What are these Mil Spec terminals you speak of?

 

[adventureduo]

I bought National Luna terminals, so far im happy with them. They seem a little flimsy though. Next go around i'd probably get the Mil-spec terminals from Kilby Enterprises.

 

[Brian McVickers]

What does anyone think of the Group 65 version of this Diehard Platinum.
I was going to get the Group 34 but reolized that for the same price the Group 65 has 50 more CCA at 930 vs 880, the same Reserve Minutes at 135 but 7 more amp hours at 75 vs 68 and 7 pounds heavier.

Just curious, although I'm still thinking of the group 34 as it will be easier to use in a dual settup.

Thanks
Brian

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

I bought National Luna terminals, so far im happy with them. They seem a little flimsy though. Next go around i'd probably get the Mil-spec terminals from Kilby Enterprises.

Good choice Dave! I have been using these for years with great results!

Little trick though, they are only $7-8 at your local napa (dont have to pay shipping!) and are the EXACT same units!

FYI, those numbers on the top of them are their Napa part #'s as well, they can be cross referenced in their puter, i just did this last week to pick up another "+" terminal cause i lost it!

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

Go big or go home right?

I just finally installed my group 31 Sears Die-Hard Platinum Deep Cycle Marine Bat. Yup, its a bigggen!

Here are some pics, right now it is just in a plastic case in the rear until i build up the customer drawer setup with the 2500 watt inverter, should come out very cool if i can put my drawing ideas to real life!

HEY DAVE, PLEASE NOTE THE SHRINK WRAP AT THE END OF THE CABLES! :clapsmile HeHeHehe

Here ya go:

 

[JeepinBear]

Go big or go home right?

I just finally installed my group 31 Sears Die-Hard Platinum Deep Cycle Marine Bat. Yup, its a bigggen!

I just installed two of these in my Winnebago. I don't think I'll be having any power problems for a while. These are FULL WARRANTED for 3 years.

Now, if I could only fit one in the Jeep!?!

 

[Backwoods Rambler]

I'm glad I stopped in a read this thread, I think my XJ battery is on its way out

 

[Backwoods Rambler]

Why this Die-Hard Platinum/Odyssey and not an Optima?

I thought that the AGM material of the Optima would win hands down in the rough road conditions that we all often travel on.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[rambrush]

Well I am running Dual Odyssey's 1200's in a Toyota Tundra. They meet the military spec's and a metal case around them. Much stronger than the Optima's in my opinion.
I still can't upload pictures so none available yet.