Re: Sears Optima Batteries?

On 31 Jan 2007 13:18:05 -0800, Bill Tuthill <ccreekin@yahoo.com>
wrote:
[color=blue]
>I was at Sears getting a new battery for my 14-year old Trooper today,
>and spotted a line of batteries called "Optima" (Red-Top for starting,
>Yellow-Top for deep cycle) using gel-cell technology.
>
>Evidently Costco offers a similar product, their "Dry Cell" battery.
>Some reports say Costco sells Optima for about $99.
>
>Anybody used these for automotive applications? They are lighter
>than ordinary car batteries, purportedly hold their charge better,
>and do not evaporate fluid in hot desert temperatures.[/color]

DO NOT buy them. They will NOT last when used in an automobile!

I'm a retired telecommunication technician with battery maintenance
experience. Up until about 10 years ago, all telecom companies used
wet-cell or flooded-cell batteries for their emergency back-up power
sources. The equipment actually runs on 48 VDC and a regulated
battery charger supplies all the power under normal conditions with a
48 v battery string floating across the power bus (like your 12v car
battery floats across your electrical system while your engine is
running). When the commercial power fails, the batteries take up the
load with no interruption.

The EPA has declared sulfuric acid as a hazardous material and
required everyone who uses flooded cell batteries to install a dam
around the batteries (in case of a case leak) and build a disposal
containment device (separate holding tank that the dammed area drains
into). This is expensive to retro fit and maintain. So all of them
have gone to gell-cells or reduced electrolytic cells.

They have a limited lifetime of some where around 5 to 10 years when
used in float applications (flooded-cells will last over 50 years) and
one deep discharge ruins most cells. They will not recover capacity
after being subjected to a deep discharge. Frequent shallow
charge-discharge cycles also will greatly shorten their life.

In short, they are not suitable for use in cars. Stick with the old
tried-and-true wet-cell batteries.

Jack


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You guess <jackj^remove^180@adelphia.net> wrote:[color=blue]
> DO NOT buy them. They will NOT last when used in an automobile![/color]

Thanks for your post, Jack. Sorry, I probably misled you into thinking
the Optima battery is a gel cell. It is not. It is a spiral-wound AGM
(absorbed glass mat) of boron-silicate over lead.
[color=blue]
> I'm a retired telecommunication technician with battery maintenance
> experience. Up until about 10 years ago, all telecom companies used
> wet-cell or flooded-cell batteries for their emergency back-up power
> sources... The EPA declared sulfuric acid as a hazardous material
> and required everyone who uses flooded cell batteries to install a dam
> around the batteries (in case of a leak) and build a disposal containment
> device (separate holding tank that the dammed area drains into).
> This is expensive to retrofit and maintain. So all of them have gone
> to gell-cells or reduced electrolytic cells.[/color]

That explains why my friend with an electric bicycle was able to get
a gel-cell to operate the small motor. Industry uses them.

According to [url]http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm[/url]
the gel-cell has several disadvantages, including a requirement for
slow charging at lower voltage, shorter lifespan from overcharging or
deep discharge, and poor resistance to heat. The AGM battery overcomes
all these problems, and is no more expensive than gel-call, but still
2-3 times as expensive as flooded cell.
[color=blue]
> They have a limited lifetime of some where around 5 to 10 years when
> used in float applications (flooded-cells will last over 50 years)[/color]

Wow! Although not in my car. ;-)