Haven't gotten alot of responses in the stereo section so I figured i try here. My duralat battery is starting to go bad after 5-6 years of use. I am looking to get a new one. I have a system pushing close to 1000 watts rms. What battery should i get. i have been looking at the optimas but didn't know which one to get. (yellow, blue, red). Are the optimas really that good of a battery?

 

Optimas are crap and have been since they were introduced. Probably the highest short term failure rate on the market today.

The A/C Delco seems to have great success.

 

Dude you cant go wrong with the Autozone Duralast batteries with the lifetime warranty for the money and they are really good batteries.. it lasted you 5-6 years which isnt bad


But if you can get A/C Delco easily go for it, I know some places its harder to get than others

 

Johnson Controls makes the Sears die hard and ford motor craft batteries who so happens to make the Duralast batteries as well.. just some insight on them

 

yea we have had the sears batteries also and they have been good to. But I have read the AC delco's leak battery acid after a few years.

 

yeah I would go with Duralast man... find your nearest autozone and get one for like 60 bucks with a lifetime warranty

 

i went with the duralast gold, goin on 6 yrs or so now. still runnin strong and its got a life time warranty, o yea and my system is quite a bit larger than yours

 

you say your system pushes close to 1000 watts, but what amount of current does it normally draw? How do you use it, is the car running most of the time when your using the system?
if the car is running and you rarely use the stereo system when the car is off, then the battery would be of little concern, you should worry more about your alternator and how much current that can output at idle, assuming the car is idling parked when the stereo is cranking. If you're always driving the car and the rpm's are > 1500 rpm then the alternator should provide enough output so all the current is coming from the alternator to power the stereo system vs discharging from the battery, you can verify this by checking the system voltage if it's > than 13 volts then your ok. If it isn't, then you'll either need to raise the engine rpms so the alternator spins faster to output more or change the pulley on the alternator so it'll spin faster for a given engine rpm.

If the car is off, the stereo system doesn't give a F where electricity comes from, you want a battery with the highest reserve capacity possible that will fit in the battery tray. A second option would be to install and wire up a battery in the trunk area and wire it in parallel with the original battery (a dual-battery system, same as what's on mid/full size trucks) to increase capacity. Deep-cycle batteries will provide more reserve capacity than starting batteries, but will take longer to charge back to 100%, you can't just run the car for 1/2 hr. It would depend on how you use the stereo system, but if you're "using" it then you'd most likely need to put a good battery float charger on the batteries for a day to get them back to 100%, otherwise they'll be in a discharged state most of the time and fail sooner than later. It's ok to heavily discharge any car or deep-cycle battery, as long as it spends as little time as possible in a discharge state and that you recharge it back to 100%.

 

Yea this duralast I have I let go dead and charged it back up a month later. So it has served me good for years. And I listen to the radio both while car is running and sometimes when its not. So you guys are not believers in the optimas?

 

I just looked on autozones website and you really can't go wrong with the gold duralast battery. Better warranty. Same reserve capacity and better than the red top. And has more cold cranking amps than the optimas. Looks like I will be going back with a gold battery. I don't know what series I have now but its been a good one. These past 2 cold weeks in Florida(we actually got in the teens) killed it basically.

 

I agree with that. A friend of mine has the factory battery in her olds. Been in there since 98. Still in the car by the time I left (just over 3 months ago).

 

gel filled batteries are easily the best batteries you can find, whoever said they suck is out of his mind. Ive run my car stereo for 15 hours straight, reached in and the car started in ONE crank! Ive also let the car sit for a few months over the winter, and fires right up! best batteru ive ever had.

 

"best" is a relative word


http://www.batterystuff.com/tutorial_battery.html

I had great success with my oem delco for about 5 years, till it started leaking electrolyte out the side terminals.

 

I always get Delco batteries from the dealership and no issues. I just bought a 6 year battery for the Trans Am last week for $99.95.

 

I had an optima red top in my car for 10 years with a 2000 watt rms system before it started to go out. I have never had any problems with them i have one in all 3 of my cars

 

I use and sell Interstate Batteries. No complaints with the MTP series.

 

I just bought an Interstate for my Z3 and heard high praise from most folks before making my decision. So far so good but it has only been 4 months.