H7 VS H6 for battery replacement

[etoften]

I did the aux battery delete last night. Jeep had been fine, no lights, or issues. Just got bored, had time, and it was in my shop for other non electrical reasons anyway.

Second owner bought a year ago. 2021 with OEM main battery made by East Penn. Now I have two questions.

1) there is no obvious date code on the OEM main battery. The labels look in great shape if it's a 5 to 6 year old battery. Could be a newer OEM replacement done before I bought it. Anyone know how to tell for sure? I would like to change it proactively if it is the original. Hate to drop $300 if it's only a year old.

2) if I do replace it..... the benefits of jumping to the H7 from the H6 are obvious, but not that overwhelming. That little extra space in front of the H6 battery seems like valuable real estate in a cramped engine room. Has anyone mounted anything in that space that might be beneficial to know of before filling it with battery?

Thanks

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[andy29847]

One word - Walmart.

 

[etoften]

Learned the answer to question #1 from an East Penn rep. East Penn makes the OEM Jeep battery. Date code is pin routed in the top of the case next to the positive stud. Five dig
its. First two are year. Third digit is month represented by a letter. Last two are day in the month.

Mine is 21K01. November 1st 2021. Seems legit since my build date is Oct 2021. Probably started right at the end of October. Battery installed on the way out the door.

Confirms the battery is 4 years and 3 months old. Going to go ahead and swap it since I have it out anyway and it tops out at 12.4 volts. Not worth getting stranded to try and squeeze another 6 months out of a battery.

Still curiosity about question #2 before I pull the trigger on an h7.

 

[BobW]

On mine, the battery tray is H7 size with a spacer shim to hold the smaller H6. I changed to H7 and tossed the shim.

 

[58Willys]

I replaced my 2018 battery with an H7 in 2022, still going strong 4 years later.

 

[Erievon]

I just put in an H7 Interstate AGM from Costco. Felt like a great deal at $180. Tossed the shim in the box of "stuff I took off the jeep but might need someday"

Space is space but, I'd rather have the capacity. There are lots of other spaces to tuck things into under the hood.

 

[The Last Cowboy]

I put in an H7, and removed the aux completely. Zero issues.

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