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Tue Sep 08, 2009 6:49 pm

wasnt there someone on here who had problems with their optima battery? i wanna say it was karl...

youve just gotta remember that deep cycle batteries are not meant to be used as starter batteries. they are meant for long, drawn out usage, not large and fast uses, like what the starter needs to crank the engine.

Tue Sep 08, 2009 8:22 pm

optima's are good battery's not great just good. 6 or 7 years ago I bought 7 todays there's one still working. other I know get maybe 5 years out of them. so there life span is not greater than a good wet cell. what seems to kill gell cells is a full discharge

The truck batterys he talked about, check the CCA, most are very low compared to a auto battery, the reason is a truck or something as a cat uses 4 batterys, they might go as hi as 625 CCA

sure happy to hear what the water in mu mufflers caused by, I wqas worried it came from my water injected elec turbo charger I got off ebay.

Sat Feb 27, 2010 10:48 pm

73kombi wrote: dirtydan wrote: i run an rv/marine battery in my 77. its pretty big and i have no problems. charges fine and fries nothing.

Is that for your 'primary' battery? or for your aux?

I would not suggest a deep cycle battery for a 'primary' use. But what the hell.....it's about the CCA!

You can never have 'too much cowbell'...

Primary, I have no aux......

Sun Feb 28, 2010 4:06 am

I'm sure we have figured this out by now but the only way to fry your electrical is to change the voltage of the battery. You ever put a 12 volt battery in a 6 volt car? As said earlier, it's the CCA and in simple terms it's about how long the battery will last under load. As long as you stay with the correct voltage battery for your vehicle you will be fine. Oh, and I have noticed water forming inside my tail lights. Just wondering if maybe I might have a loose ground back there.......

Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:36 am

OK, I'll bite. What does water in the exhaust have to do with a battery? :? :bay_red:

Sun Feb 28, 2010 8:01 pm

Hi Wampe - he tried to pull everyone's leg. It doesn't have anything to do with the exhaust. I had to think about that one too for a second cause the way he wrote it, it sounded real.

Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:42 pm

towd wrote: optima's are good battery's not great just good. 6 or 7 years ago I bought 7 todays there's one still working. other I know get maybe 5 years out of them. so there life span is not greater than a good wet cell. what seems to kill gell cells is a full discharge

What makes Optimas great is that they don't spew acid fumes when charging like normal batteries do. The extra cost is not justified by the somewhat better perfomance or longer life, it's justified by the prevention of rust in your battery compartment.

Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:08 pm

You can buy gel cell batteries at your local tractor supply store or D&B, they are for all intents and purposes the same as optimas. No they dont have a six pack design, but they do the same thing. Oh yeah and they cost $69.00 I have had three optimas, yes two died and where replaced under warranty. The third is still running but they dont like to be ran low. these are all in my jeep, I have the gel cell from D&B in my bus and I love it.

Mon Mar 01, 2010 5:43 am

aeromech wrote: Have you checked to see if you have water in the exhaust? Water would be an indication that the battery isn't sized right for your bus. The voltage produced by your alternator will at times combine with free flowing electrons in the air and the result is H2O. I'd go check that asap. WHAT are you smoking???

Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:43 pm

Alright, my battery died. I am running a stereo with a 450 watt amp with high wattage speakers; should I get an optima to run this? From this thread it sounds like the Optima batteries are good for running extra electrical equipment.
I am going Friday to buy a battery, please advise on the Optima or not.

Thanks!

Thu Jul 22, 2010 3:28 am

Personal fav: golf cart batteries; specifically 2 Trojan #T-105 6volt units in series, as the 12V auxiliary battery bank. One T-105 on the right side, one on the left, just behind a big Group 27 starting battery; made up custom #00 AWG (welding) cables for good conductivity; SurePower isolator; #4 AWG cable forward to front for all auxiliary appliances & accessories; it all fits & door closes! Drain the heck out of the T-105s, then recharge them fully... that's what they're made for. Not true of the "RV/Marine" batteries commonly sold at your FLAPS. BTDT also.

Yeah, it's a bit of a pain to check the electrolyte levels with a mirror & flashlight, but the power is great. VW could have built in to the body work some exterior battery doors & slide-out battery trays for easy servicing... but they didn't.

BTW these true deep-cycle golf cart batteries are rated somewhat differently than automotive starting batteries. In the end I guess we all go with what seems to work in our own range of experiences, or just follow what the advertising sector tells us to buy.

Thu Jul 22, 2010 5:11 am

I think the only thing you might have to watch for with a longer lasting battery is the time during starter cycles. Don't crack the hell out of it because you can. I would let the starter cool down between attempts. If you just keep cracking until the battery is dead you may burn out the starter. I don't think starters were designed to crack for over 20 seconds at a time with ample cool down time between.

Thu Jul 22, 2010 10:24 am

There is certainly a lot of confusion about optima batteries in this thread.
The red is the 1 rated with enough cca to be a car starting battery. The blue is the same thing as the yellow but with extra different hookups in front for camping marine. Neither is rated for starting cars as they are deep cycle, (meaning you don't want to fully discharge the red). As was stated the advantage of the optima batteries is their being sealed.

- all that hard cornering in your bus and the acid gets all over everything. :roll:
The new tray in mine seems fine after 5 years in there. Did batteries used to leak more in the old days that my original battery tray has been eaten completely away?

Thu Jul 22, 2010 10:28 am

The battery tray in my bus (wait what battery tray) is all but corroded. My battery (which is dead) is held in by a 2x4 piece of wood. Haven't coughed up the money to buy a new tray or learn how to weld some metal back in there. :cry:

Fri Jul 23, 2010 1:00 am

1975 Kombi wrote: I think the only thing you might have to watch for with a longer lasting battery is the time during starter cycles. Don't crack the hell out of it because you can. I would let the starter cool down between attempts. If you just keep cracking until the battery is dead you may burn out the starter. I don't think starters were designed to crack for over 20 seconds at a time with ample cool down time between.

Fairly correct, but I can't imagine needing to crank the starter for any more than 1/2 to 2 seconds, unless it's been converted to diesel & the temperature is below zero. The engine really needs to be kept in a good state of tune to perform right & get decent mileage, let alone start easily and have a long, happy life. :D

:idea: Well, OK... maybe 5-10 seconds for doing a periodic compression test.