battery question

[JochenWoern]

Although I'll agree that cold weather plays a big factor in killing batteries I will contest that all batteries are the same. Just ask Consumer Reports. If I were you I'd go for a good high CCA battery. I prefer Exide Nascar Extreme 9 year batteries. Their CCA is up there and the battery does cost a little bit more, but I haven't had one come back on warranty yet. I figure it's like a light bulb. Put a high watt/amp/volt bulb in a low draw socket and it'll last much longer than it's made to due to the electrical draw being lower than designed for. This is where over-engineering helps out a lot.

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+1

 

[04SS99Denali]

i have a optima yellow top in my silverado SS. one day i spent about 3 hours strait listening to music while it was off at school. it started perfect

 

[thegeneral]

I have 1600watts of amps, a kenwood preamped stereo and I can listen to the radio for at least 48 hours straight while watching a DVD on the overhead.

I also have two Odyssey AGM batteries running 100+ amp hours a piece, and a Xantrex battery monitor to let me know what they're drawing and when to shut it down (at 50%)

It's all in how you wire it!

I have my battery bank running completely separate from my starting battery. It is charged from it's own alternator. There is no connection between the two which saves me from dead starting batteries, as well as gives me my own jump start if needed.

In the past, my battery would die in about 1-2 hours with the radio on. Starting batteries are not supposed to run electronics without being replenished.

Another way to do this would be to add a second battery and a charging isolator to keep both charged from one alternator, but only pull current off of your second battery for accessories while keeping your starting battery charged for starts.

 

[samtman18]

went through 2 napa batteries (they both started leaking around the side lugs after a year and went dead) so i went and bought a redtop and have had no problems with it at all. i can blast the radio all day while working and it will start right up, had it for about three years now.

 

[UBILLN]

I have been installing stereos and alarms professionally for over 25 years. I have had many installs were optima batts were used and so I have seen just as many of those fail as regular batteries. Overcharging alternators, bad starters, lights being left on too long or overnight in turn draining batteries to where they had to be jumped or recharged to start are many of the reasons why batteries crap out faster than they should. Dont always blame the batteries themselves. I use the gold versions of the batteries from autozone, 1000 cca's, 2 of them in my Tahoe, wired together so they both charge evenly. Same setup I had in my ESV that I just sold, no problems. As said its how you wire them... diesels are wired the same way, but use a higher output alternator. Gel cell batts dont last any longer than regular batteries, they are just more install friendly cuz they can be mounted sideways. I used to use a D-8 battery from a tractor in a past truck, you could literally listen to the radio for days on it. But its an industrial battery.

 

[ktmhans]

Well i think the obvous is that i need a new battery. Dam i just had a $50 coupon run out at advanced auto. Bummer. I have never bought one of those optimas. I think ill still jold off. I might think about dual batteries, but for now i think a fresh one is in my future. Thanks for all the feed back. Dont worry it wont be a walmart one even if this battery is in its warrenty period.