Dual Optima Batteries

[Antichrist]

Quite true! but Optimas are easier to get and replace through outfits like Costco, Wal-Mart, etc and generally are cheaper than those you mention.

Maybe. NAPA's are everywhere and I got my Exide Spiralcell there for less than an Optima. My Diehard Platinum is more powerful than an Optima so maybe it's cheaper for the power you get. Exides are still made in the US, and they've been making batteries since 1888. I've never heard of anyone having issues with an Exide spiral cell or a Diehard Platinum. So there are many sides to the coin. But all of that is neither here nor there.
I was just addressing the fact that mounting position is not an added feature of Optimas over the ones I mentioned.

 

[ntsqd]

Well, now you have heard of someone having trouble with the Exide Spirals from NAPA. Bought a matched pair since they were/are wired directly in parallel in the Sub(s). First one died about 8 months later. Pro-Rated warranty = tiny replacement cost. Second one slowly petered out and finally went away after about 1.5 years (of which ~1.25 years was in the new Sub). Symptom of both was that they would not hold a charge. Voltage of a 'charged' battery was good until a load was put on them, then voltage would drop badly and never recover.

Could have been the trucks (batteries spanned two Suburbans), could have been the wiring, could have been the batteries themselves. The old truck was less than par, new truck was set up with a marine combiner switch with a switched common ground rather than the old truck's separate grounds & marine combiner switched hot.

Replacement Dura-Last's from Autozone have been in the new truck a little more than 2 years without any trouble. That leads me to think that either the tiny difference in the potential of two grounding points was the culprit, or that the batteries were not what they could have and should have been. Measuring the resistance between the grounding points did not register any resistance on my Snap-On DVOM. Which leads me to suspect the batteries, but I can not discount that even a tiny, minute resistance between the grounds was present.

 

[Antichrist]

I wouldn't think a tiny amount of resistance between the grounds would be an issue, if the batteries were in good nick. I'd suspect the batteries as well.

I'm sure a number of people have had issues with Exide, no product line is 100% without exceptions. However, the net is full of people complaining about Optimas. Then again, that could be because Optimas are a much bigger name and probably sell more spiralcells than Exide. I've met quite a few people who've never heard of Exide, even though they are one of the oldest, if not the oldest, battery mfg in the US.

 

[ntsqd]

QC can't reasonably be 100%, so it could have been that my matched pair were doomed from the start. At this point I'm out two batteries in a relatively short time period and while the batteries look to be the obvious problem I can't point at them and say that they were absolutely the problem.

The thing that makes the tiny resistance possibly important is the self-discharge between two less than optimally paralleled batteries. What I can't accommodate is how such a tiny resistance could possibly result in the experience that I had. Mr. Ohm would be highly distraught if that were the case.

I've had mixed results with my Optimas. My older batteries have proven to be superior to the newer batteries. That is just my experience with 4 of them.

 

[daverami]

Have you checked to see if you have room under the bed on it's side mounted to a frame rail? obviously you'd likely have to provide some protection for it.

I can look into that, but I think I would rather mount it in the bed, under my canopy, than to a frame rail underneath.

Those Blue Tops sound like they are worth looking into. I think two can fit side by side in the stock battery location. I really don't have room anywhere else under the hood.

 

[EXP-T100]

Seems like the old opyima batteries were good but the new one are junk. Mine died after 9months of use. it did ok until the temp went below 40* and thats when it went to sh%$, 800+ cca my MMMMM. nothing like being stuck deep in the mountains in a snow storm because of your "new" battery. So i got a Diehard Platinum and have had no issues even in -20* temps.

 

[Jacket]

Dave,

If you like the dual battery design you saw but don't like Optima Yellows specifically, just gather the measurements for that battery and compare it against something you want. The group 34 Optima is pretty darn close in size to the Odyssey 1500 (and most other group 34 batteries). I would think you could make it work for batteries that fall within an 1/8 - 1/4".