Interstate Batteries

[Tin Hut]

Just had my 18 month old Interstate battery develop an internal short. This drained both batteries over time and they would not hold a charge from the converter anymore. Another couple locally had their Interstate actually change polarity which caused arcing when trying to connect them after charging. Don't know if anyone else is having issues with theirs or not but thought I'd share ours.

[Beginner]

12 Volt Batteries:
1. If a lead acid battery is competly dead and hooked up to a charger backwards, yes it will change polarity.
2. If a battery is completely dead and you hook it up properly it probally will not draw a charging current for several hours. There is an expination for this that I have forgotten, but if after 24 hours on a charger(outside the trailer) it still fails to charge, its dead.
3. It been my experience that a fully charged battery will not freeze.
4. What happened to your battery could be a one time occurance, unless there was a bad lot of batteries.
5. 12 Volt batteries have a nasty habit of just completely dieing. Usually that is caused by a bad internal connection. If this is the case, it will not draw a charging current.
Interstate used to have a 2 year free replacment warrenty provided you still have your paperwork.

I sincerely hope it didn,t damage the charger in your Airstream.

[dwightdi]

I have heard of a number of problems with that brand. They are a big corporation and should stand behind their product. I think there was a report on them lately in the Consumer Report. Check it out at the local library Monday.

[wheel interested]

We had three Interstate batteries fail in the last year and a half. We decided to skip having them replaced and have switched to Lifeline AGMs.

[72 tradewind]

When I lived in Georgia in the 80's my dad was friend's with the local Interstate dealer so we always had Interstate's. They never seemed to last longer than 2 years. I would'nt buy one now.

[lewster]

AGM's are the way to go! I just changed out my Interstates that came in my new 19CCD for Lifelines. A far superior product IMHO.

Check out the Lifeline web site if you want the technical on AGM's:
www.lifelinebatteries.com.

[wahoonc]

FWIW I check the Consumer Reports testing of automotive batteries and Interstate was listed near the bottom of the ratings. Napa and Diehard were nearest the top. I defintely plan on going with AGM when the time comes.

Aaron

[uwe]

I am having very good luck with Interstate batteries. I had one in the TradeWind for three years, it never skipped a beat. ( and that's with an old Univolt charging it)
I had one in my Mercedes sedan, it lasted 4 years. This car is a 1959 and has a low output generator, not alternator, for charging the battery. I replaced it with another Interstate product.
Our family car also has an Interstate battery. So far so good. I don't know how old that battery is.
The Suburban just got a new Interstate side post battery. It's AC Delco gave up after 5 years. ( terminals corrodet due to leakage)
Last but not least - the 63 Overlander has a pair of Interstate RV batteries, which so far are performing very well. Those are less than a year old.
Yikes - I might be in big trouble if these batteries indeed have inherent problems.

[Gen Disarray]

How painful is the purchase on the AGMs?

[ZoominC6]

Has anyone tried OPTIMA batteries?

www.optimabatteries.com

Our batteries were installed in our '04 in August of 2003 and we're thinking of using OPTIMAs as replacements since we've had such good luck using them in sports cars that tend to sit for long periods of time between use. The OPTIMAs are gel filled and would eliminate the need for fluid refills for one thing. We'd be interested in any feedback.

[Gunnyusmc]

I put two Optima's in with Intelapower 14 mo. ago and no problems.
They are great if like me you are putting them inside and under cabinets were they are hard to reach.

Don

[ZoominC6]

Thanks Don,

After doing a little more checking around, I was advised that the Blue Topped Optimas were an "excellent" substitute for the wet cell batteries. I'm told that they work well with our recharging systems. I've ordered two today as I feel my pair are on their last legs and don't want to find out after it's too late. Thanks to David Tidmore at Williams Airstream in Weatherford, Texas for this advice.

[markdoane]

I've heard that Interstate automotive cranking batteries are not good, but the same source said their deep cycle/RV batteries were excellent.

I have an Interstate marine dual use battery in my boat and it has lasted several years.

[Tin Hut]

I ended up putting in two Optima Blue Top (Marine) batteries. With the interstates my meter did not register any charge going into the batteries from the converter. With the new batts I can read current going in so guess the Interstate was my problem. The Optima Blues were around $170 each though.