VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Electrical - 6 volt 6V battery

What is a good 6V battery to get? How many amps? Deep cycle lead acid, AGM? Prices range from $89 to $300+.

I've had good luck with the NAPA Commercial 6V, PN 7244, which is a rebranded DEKA battery (PN 901MF) manufactured by East Penn Manufacturing. DEKA stuff is good, good QC, which you can't always count on with offshore -made batteries.

I have been using batteries from Tractor Supply and will most likely need one this year as mine is seven years old. I believe they are now handling Exide which is a well known brand.

Interstate is another good battery to use.

I could not find info online for interstate. The Tractor Supply battery had a little heavier specs. 700 CCA and 150 min reserve compared to most of 640 CCA and 130 min reserve. Most all had a price of a little less than $100.00. Batteries Plus had a Duracell 640/130 For $79.00 with a discount of 10% for online/pick up in store purchase. That's quite a big difference and the online reviews were good. I did find it difficult to compare as some listed the CCA at 0 and 32 deg. and others just listed CCA.

I didn't know that NAPA batteries were made by Deka. I have a Deka in my Harley. They make them for Harley but once the Harley name goes on, the price goes through the roof. I know Deka makes the big industrial batteries for the pallet jacks used in warehouses also. I saw the Deka 901MF with 775 CCA for $89 on e-bay. Going to check other distributors. $81 shipping brings it way to high a price. Some of the others were more expensive with less CCA.

According to the specs on the Deka website the 901MF is 640/130. The local NAPA dealer carries batteries made by Deka for $87.74.

Steve, that is at 0 degrees. 775 at 32 degrees. I'm not too worried about that because I won't be driving it in the winter.

I have good luck with 6V batteries from farm supply stores. The price is usually about the best you will find and I normally get 5 to 7 years of service.

Mike

This is one of those topics that you don't want to overthink. There are numerous extremely long yet inconclusive posts about battery selection in this and many other forums.

Make sure you know the physical size of the battery and the orientation of the posts. Don't be surprised if you have to make some wooden spacers to securely fit the battery into the space.

The primary difference I see in battery prices is driven by the warranty. You might get a few more CCA's in an more expensive battery but the real difference will be the length of the full replacement as well as pro-rated warranty.

There is one point that most of us agree on about batteries in our applications (older cars only used part of the year). The key to battery life is to use a maintainer during extended periods when the car is not being driven.

Just plan to buy a new battery every 5 to 7 years and you will not be discouraged.

Perfectly said Rusty!!

That is why I posted above it is difficult to compare when the specifications are not clearly advertised. The 775 is not CCA (cold cranking amps) it is the CA (cranking amps) as you noted they are determined at different temperatures. When you compare its necessary to compare like specifications otherwise you may not get what you think you are getting.

Fortunately, there is not much chance of making a mistake when buying a 6 volt battery. The Group 1 size fits 99% of all 6 volt applications. The posts are centered so the battery can installed to match your cables. There were some long, skinny, 6 volt, batteries used on GM cars. They were also use on some tractors. At times they were used in series to produce 12 volts.

Mike

I've noticed that most of the 6V batteries I've seen have the terminals in opposite corners diagonally across from each other. What is the purpose of this? Does it make a difference?

I bought a new 6 volt battery for my '41 from Fleet Farm (midwest). It's actually a generic tractor battery but from what people have told me, that's pretty much the most common 6 volt battery you're going to find nowadays. I guess that's why t's most commonly found in stores that sell farming supplies and equipment.

Not sure why the posts are diagonal but it works with my battery cables. Just always have to look at it when charging to make sure I've got positive to positive and negative to negative.

If sitting in the seat of a car, the battery would be installed with the (-) terminal facing the Left/Rear. (Assuming the battery was installed under the floor). The (+) terminal would be facing the Right/Front. In this configuration the cables on the car would fit the battery. "We will not get into cable size, length, ect). If the battery is mounted under the hood the (+) terminal would be on the Left/Rear and the (-) terminal would be facing Right/Front.

6-Volt batteries are in Group 1

From what I see setting of the posts set diagonally is more for ease of manufacture. The negative plates that are connected in each cell are linked on 1 side and the positive on the other. When it comes to the external cell joint the plates are reversed so that they are connected in series. In a 3 cell battery the negative in 1 corner and positive in the diagonal. If it was a 4 cell battery both would be on the same side. To have the posts of a 3 cell on the same side means having the plates of 1 cell a special construction.
Tony

The 3 cells in a 6 volt battery are connected internally Neg to pos , pos to neg , neg to pos. each cell is approx 2.2 volts connected in series , ie 2.2 plus 2.2 plus 2.2 equals 6.6 volts approx.