[Vwdiesel] Speaking of Batteries

[Roger Brown]

Back in the '90s, the Optimas were a good battery.  I put one in my 4x4 back in '97 and it 
worked well, later moved that to my VW pickup.  That was back when they only had one size 
and the 3 colors (red=starting, yellow=deep cycle, blue=marine).  But the last 10-12 yrs, 
the red tops have declined in quality.  The problem with the normal red tops is if they 
get drained too far too many times (and too many can be as little as 1) they will not take 
a charge.  For a long sitting rig, a blue top would be a good choice, they combine the 
starting current of the red top and the deep cycle capacity of the yellow top.

In my 4x4 now, I run Odyssey batteries and those things seems to last and last.  I got 
over 10 yrs. out of my first set and am about 5 yrs. into my second set.  I also have one 
of those in my current '82 pickup, a PC1200.
	
On 1/23/2012 5:27 AM, pmdolan at sasktel.net wrote:
> In my exerience, Optima batteries have been a disaster.  They were bit
> talk in the Ford PSD community several years ago, and I bought a pair,
> as did many others.  They did not deliver any better performance than
> the original flooded cell batteries, cost a lot more, and did not last
> very long at all (actually shortest life of ANY I have used).  I also
> had 3 Orbitals in aux/winch position on my F450, and they were no great
> shakes.
>
> If you want really good batteries, you can buy AGMs from quite a number
> of suppliers now.  I paid far too much at Napa for the one in our
> MkIV, but we have bought several from West Penn for Ford 7.3, Dodge 5.9
> &  6.7, Miata, etc. and they have all been very good.  It has only got
> down to -37 this winter, and so far no battery issues with AGMs.
>
> HOWEVER:  you are dead on regarding chargers.  You can NOT use an
> old, low buck, analogue charger on your AGM batteries - either for big
> charge or as battery tender.  You definitely need the new generation
> of "smart chargers".  When I counted up the cost of all of the AGMs I
> have around here, I ran out and spent about $600 on one large
> charge/boost, one small charge/boost and a tender for them.
>
> On Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:44:31 -0800, William J Toensing
> <toensing at wildblue.net>  wrote:
> If you have a vehicle that sits around a lot, use one of these battery
> tenders&  a top of the line battery. I have not had a good experience
> with one Optima Battery I have as I couldn't charge it with a regular
> battery charger or a battery tender float charger. I have stayed away
> from the Optima as they cost well over $100 at Costco&  Sam's Club,
> double the price of an ordinary battery. In my motor home I got 12
> years out of two lead acid 12 V industrial type batteries using a
> battery tender to keep the batteries at their full float charge. Maybe
> I have bad luck with one bad Optima battery&  I have never bought one
> new. Would like to hear from the rest of you on how well Optima
> batteries have served you, how long they last, etc.
>> It would be nice if all of you would say what part of the world you
>> live in. I know Will lives in Alaska. Some of the problems&
>> solutions are climate related. Bill Toensing, Nevada City, CA
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-- 

   Roger