Odyssey vs. Diehard Platinum

[Hltoppr]

Well...the old battery must have been in poor condition...I've never had the Troopy start so quickly when cold as it did this morning....

I've got dual batts in it already...gotta go get another Platinum to match the first....

-H-

[SOAZ]

With the type of trickle draws that overlanders put on their batteries I'm surprised nobody has gotten the Marine versions yet?
What would be the negative?

[goodtimes]

Well...the old battery must have been in poor condition...I've never had the Troopy start so quickly when cold as it did this morning....

I've got dual batts in it already...gotta go get another Platinum to match the first....

-H-

Hey, can you get some dimensions off of the new one for me? I'm trying to find some batteries for the jeep, and am *really* tight on space.

[Dave]

With the type of trickle draws that overlanders put on their batteries I'm surprised nobody has gotten the Marine versions yet?
What would be the negative?

The marine PM-2 (group size 34M) does not offer too many advantages over the P-4 (34/78DT) that Hltoppr picked up. Reserve capacity is the same, Ah is the same, and CCA is the same. The only real difference I can see is the terminal layout and the PM-2 cost a little more. I don't see a big advantage to going to the marine version of the group size 34 battery.

Now, the PM-1 (31M) does offer more reserve capacity, amp hours, and CCA, but it does cost $60 more then the P-4 and it's more then 20 pounds heavier! So there would be your negatives.

I believe all Odyssey/DieHard Platinums are a combination starting/deep cycle battery. In other words, I don't think the marine versions offer any deep cycle advantages over their automotive counterparts.

[adventureduo]

I can measure mine, hold on one second. The cruiser has dual Platinums now. Group 34.

[Hltoppr]

I could get some measurements at lunch too....

-H-

[adventureduo]

Here you go, please don't pay attention to the terminals nor the shrink tubing or layout for that matter. It's all in the middle of a change and the terminals are being upgraded to mil-spec. These batteries have dual posts, you just cant see them cause the batteries are backwards in the tray. Hence the reason for the cables being changed out and configured differently.

[Dave]

Dimensions on the Sears webpage for the 34/78DT:

Height: 7-4/5 in.
Width: 7-1/10 in.
Length: 10-9/10 in.

Height should include the terminal.

Edit: Here are some detailed dimensions for the Odyssey 1500 34/78DT... http://www.odysseybatteries.com/battery/pc1500.htm

[Schattenjager]

Well...the old battery must have been in poor condition...I've never had the Troopy start so quickly when cold as it did this morning....

-H-

I know what you mean - When I put the Odyssey 2150 in the Tacoma and fired it for the first time, the starter nearly flipped the truck over!

[Curmudgeon]

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.