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Diehard Bat

4K views 23 replies 14 participants last post by  acidchylde 
#1 ·
Ok I'm looking to upgrade to a Diehard battery but the info I've found while searching is somewhat over my head. I know nothing about electricity. In fact it frightens me more often than not. Could someone be so kind as to point me into the proper direction?

Questions:
  • What batteries have correct terminal orientation or do I have to extend my cables to change sides?
  • Marine vs standard automotive? I plan on running a winch, lights and possibly a fridge in the future but currently have no accessories besides a sound system I am trying to sell.
  • size/output/reserve? I have no clue what I need...

If anyone has the patience to spell this out to someone who knows nothing on the subject I would appreciate it.
 
#4 ·
Group 35 is what fits without doing anything.

If you're running a Winch/extra electronics, a Group 34 is what you will want. A 35 is 700 CCA, and 100 Reserve, while a 34 is 850-135.

The marine and regular platinums are the same battery, but the marine has a extra post on top (that's not used for connecting the winch) and a shorter warranty. Just get the regular Platinum.

The don't make a 34R platinum, so you will need to extend your cable that goes from the Positive clamp, to the fuse box. You'll also need to extend the ground. You will also need to fab a mount to take the larger battery.

Some work involved, but well worth it. If you need pics of how I did mine, just let me know, I can post up.
 
#5 ·
NorCal as always thanks for the solid info. Mossy thanks for that as well.

NorCal if you get some time to post up the pics I'd appreciate it. I'm looking to do this in the next month or so as my current bat is showing age.
 
#6 ·
Make sure you note which side of your battery the + and - posts are on. I picked up a battery in an emergency at WM one night and found that the posts were reversed. Seems that some batteries' post arrangement in the same Group # are for domestic and some are for imports. Had to take it back that night and get the one for Toyota's (imports). :(
 
#8 ·
I don't know anything about diehard batteries as a brand. But I know a little about batteries. If you are running a lot of electronics look into agm batteries(automotive glass mat). They are going to cycle better than a regular battery and most are leak proof. Similar design to an optima but the cells are laid out different. For the record the company that makes optima makes like 60% of the batteries on the market in the us.


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#9 ·
Die hard platinum is an AGM. And optima moved production to Mexico last year.
 
#10 ·
FWIW the DHP Group 35 has the correct terminal orientation and "sort of fits" with the stock hold down. It has a CCA of 850 and 130 reserve. AGM is Absorbed Glass Mat.
I ended up making a whole new tray with sides to keep the battery captive and little "tits" on the bottom to lock the tray to the fender like the factory plastic tray.
My Optima Orange Top finally started to fail after 12 years of hard use. I just could not ignore all the failures of the later Optimas so I decided on a DHP. Just last week they went on sale for $183.99 online. The online, pick up at store order would not go through so I printed the page and took it to my local store. The store honored the price and forgot to ask for my exchange, another $10 at the scrap yard for me.
Now it looks as if it was a misprint and they are only a few $ off.
Folks shopping for any high end battery should check the date of manufacture because these things can sit on the shelf for quite while. The one I picked up was only 2 months old.
 
#11 ·
Sears Diehard premium batteries is or were made by Odyssey an EnerSys company. Lots of info on AGM batteries on the Odyssey website even a nice video of how their batteries are produced.

Frankly I'd use nothing else avaliable in today's market for heavy duty off road use.

I run two of em my truck. One for the truck and the other for the winch and other high current off road accessory loads. With a bit of work you can squeeze two PCL1200's into the stock battery location.

Here's a link to some pics if you feel the urge to go crazy and go that route. Warning, it was not cheap.

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=722d3fdb14f3fc03#cid=722D3FDB14F3FC03&id=722D3FDB14F3FC03!133

While Odyssey branded batteries cost more, I don't know what they do to get the price down for Sears but I figure they are making some sort of compromise somewhere as there are no free lunches.

One thing to know about AGM batteries is that they require a different battery charger with a different charge profile than the ones made for the older wet cell batteries. However many chargers sold today have a setting specifically for AGM types. Hooking a AGM up to the wrong kind of charger can possibly ruin a very expensive battery if not shorten its life so just don't do it.


Ok I'm looking to upgrade to a Diehard battery but the info I've found while searching is somewhat over my head. I know nothing about electricity. In fact it frightens me more often than not. Could someone be so kind as to point me into the proper direction?



Questions:
  • What batteries have correct terminal orientation or do I have to extend my cables to change sides?
  • Marine vs standard automotive? I plan on running a winch, lights and possibly a fridge in the future but currently have no accessories besides a sound system I am trying to sell.
  • size/output/reserve? I have no clue what I need...
If anyone has the patience to spell this out to someone who knows nothing on the subject I would appreciate it.
 
#13 ·
I've never had much luck with that brand. IMHO they are just so so at best and OK for a cheap battery.
I think Interstates marketing efforts are aimed mostly at repair shops to push them on to their customers as that seems to be how most of them are sold, by mechanics.
Interstate sells standard wet cell batteries and as such do not offer the advantages offered by AGM, sometimes called dry cell batteries. Spill proof, mounting flexablility, shock resistance, greater charge capacity per unit weight or volume, lower internal impedance, better low temp performance, longer life, etc. etc. etc.
However AGMs are more expensive that much I will grant you. As is so often said, you get what you pay for.
 
#15 ·
Take good care of it because they ain't cheap.
It's very easy to ruin an otherwise good battery regardless of type or cost in an off road vehicle for example by not running the vehicle on a regular basis. The parasatic drain modern cars put on battery systems runs them down.

If you don't drive you vehicle on a regular basis, either connect a float charger to it while it's parked or disconnect the battery.

I put some solar cells that power a small float charger on my truck to keep the batteries from draining too low during prolonged periods of just sitting.
 
#16 ·
Dick, once again, always helpful info. I bought an odessey pc1200mjt years ago after looking at your setup, it's truly badass. I'm looking at adding a second, but damn they are pricy, $250 is about the cheapest I've seen them. Leave a dome light on, wheel all day, leave the radio on all night, never an issue
 
#20 · (Edited)
I'm running AGM battery in my 4x4. I originally had "wet" cell battery, on a offroad trip one of battery cover flew off. I found cover, but battery acid all over. Clean it up and later got AGM battery, it's an Opitima Red Top.;)
 
#23 ·
Diehard Platinum here. To bad Sears left the island:(

I got the stock size replacement. I don't what I was thinking. I should've got the biggest one I could fit.
 
#24 ·
I've been following this thread since the Feb. bump, and unhappy coincidence yesterday my factory battery died after seven years and just shy of 50k miles. It was a 27F, 710 CCA and 165 reserve.

What I learned in my quick and forced education last night was that Group size and brand doesn't uniquely identify a battery. Sears offers three DieHard Gold 27Fs, one identical to my factory, and two that were 825 CCA with 140 reserve - a north and a south. I happened to check Consumer Reports as well, and saw the 'same' battery in different group sizes, but each with a different model number. After much confusion with the Sears website about what batteries were available in what states and actually in stock locally, I just went over and looked.

What I found, beyond the Sears website is crap and doesn't list everything available OR the reality of local stock, was pretty much what I saw on CR. Same group size, same battery 'level' (ie Gold), different model numbers, different CCAs and reserves. As stated above you can trade CCA for reserve, or get more of both with a more expensive battery. Platinums were running $230 regardless of size, and 880 CCA 135 reserve; I saw a 35 (not R) and a 34/78R on the shelf. They have an Advanced Gold line, which is also AGM, that was running $165 (775 CCA, 120 reserve). The Gold line is wet cells. Both the Gold and Advanced Gold have 3 year free replacement warranties. The Platinum has 4. Neither said anything about being at all prorated after that.

In the end I went with the identical to stock replacement because 710 has been enough for me even in some fairly frigid weather, and the much greater reserve time seemed like a better idea (especially after finding out the battery had died/wasn't taking a charge when I was 70 miles from home). I don't have a lot of extra gadgets yet, so maybe when I do have a winch and lights and all I might have to go bigger. I also only do 'light' offroading and not that frequently right now. And it was only $120.
 
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