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Yellow top or red top?

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Old 03-25-2007, 05:51 PM
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Default Yellow top or red top?

Which Optima battery should I get and why? The yellow top is more $$$ and according to Optimas website has less power. Weird. I don't DD the car, but I do alot of short trip in town stuff. I'm getting it because my alternator can't keep up at idle and stuff.
Old 03-25-2007, 06:06 PM
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I got one cuz mine is mounted inside the vehicle(sealed no vapors)....great battery(yellow top).
Old 03-25-2007, 07:49 PM
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/One of my red tops is still going from 1996
10 years +
Dale
Old 03-25-2007, 08:16 PM
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Red Top here, lasted many years. Don't run down & it will last long time.

If I remember right isn't the yellow a deep cycle, less power, but will not be damaged if you run it down.

.
Old 03-25-2007, 10:27 PM
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i've got a yellow top. its not a true deep cycle like the blue top but it not a true automotive batter like the red top. i love it though. i can sit with the fans on the whole time i'm at the track and i'll just bump the key and it will start.
Old 03-26-2007, 02:30 AM
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Red tops are great but do not run them down or you will be sorry.
Had 2 of them go south real quick by running them down and recharging them.
I learned my lesson after the second.
Old 03-26-2007, 05:29 AM
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all optimas are great batteries so you cant go wrong either way..

its a matter of weight vs functionality

if you want a battery with lots of reserve its going to be heavier. The g31 yellow or blue (same battery with different posts) will do you there.

if you dont need a ton of reserve id go with a d34 yellow or blue. Deep cycle batteries are your friend.
Old 03-26-2007, 08:02 AM
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Have you considered a battery from Braille Auto

They make really nice stuff. I have the 11#, but they also have a sweet 21#.
Old 03-26-2007, 08:42 AM
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One problem I have is that I don't do alot of long trips so sometimes my battery doesn't get fully charged while driving. I've been keeping my Odyssey dry cell on a battery tender so it won't die so quick (2 weeks of sitting and its dead). I killed a red top in my GN because I didn't drive it much, must have went totally dead, had to replace it.
Old 03-26-2007, 07:08 PM
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Originally Posted by revtime
Red tops are great but do not run them down or you will be sorry.
Had 2 of them go south real quick by running them down and recharging them.
I learned my lesson after the second.

+1 I had no luck at all with Optimas. Run an optima down once and it will have to be replaced because it will bnever hold a charge right again.
Old 03-27-2007, 05:17 AM
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Originally Posted by sixvi6-camaro
+1 I had no luck at all with Optimas. Run an optima down once and it will have to be replaced because it will bnever hold a charge right again.
unless its a blue or yellow top
Old 03-27-2007, 08:47 AM
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.

I have run a red top down to zero several times, it still worked fine for a few years.
When I used one in my '89 WS-6 I forgot to un hook and it drained over the winter,
I recharged and away I went.

It did not die after one time. It did eventually die and another one I never ran down is still working after 8-10 years. 90% of my buddy's used optima for years, before most of us switched to 16V stuff. I personally never heard of anything bad happening, unless it was user error, like mine. Good luck.

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Old 03-27-2007, 11:26 AM
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I've got a red top going on 5+ years of service in my Nova, and it sits sometimes for a week or 2 before seeing action, and starts right up.

As mentioned above, IMHO you can't go wrong with the Optima batteries.

Derek
Old 03-27-2007, 12:52 PM
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I have a red top and like it.

A buddy of mine has two yellow tops and this cars sit A LOT, rarley get driven and he just hooks the batteries back up and the cars fire right up.

If its driven I would just get a red top. If its a car that spends most of the year in the garage (like 11.5 monhts of the year) then yellow top.




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