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Good battery for + ground?

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VitSport6

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Hi all. I was looking to move the Sports 6 last night and noticed the battery is bulging and wouldnt take a charge, The sad thing is, Its a new battery and has been sitting in the Sports 6 for a few years, I know they go bad, But I thought it would have taken a little longer since it hasnt had any draw from the vehicle on it...
Anyhow, Would it be worth while to buy a deep cycle battery as a replacement, If I can find one that fits? Or should I just get another fairly inexpensive car battery?
Thanks
 
I'd suggest another inexpensive battery, plus a 'maintainer' of some sort. Doesn't need to be much, just enough to replace the battery's self-discharge.

If you don't have AC power at the car's location, a solar panel might do.
 
Hi...

Either approach would work... you just need to make sure of a few things.

Deep cycle batteries are not specifically designed for use as "starting" batteries, but as long as you pay attention to the cranking amp requirements you will be fine.

FYI... the difference between deep cycle and typical car starting batteries is that the former are designed to be repeatedly discharged to 20 - 30 percent of their capacity. Doing this with a normal starting battery would shorten its life considerably (they are designed to only drop to ~90% of their capacity for any length of time). Deep cycle designs have solid lead plates where starting batteries have a porous plate structure with gives a higher surface area and as a result more instant cranking amps.

However, if it were me, I would buy an inexpensive normal starting battery *and* one of those "float type" battery charger/maintainers (in fact that's what I've done in all my cars). Put the battery in the car and connect the charger. You can leave it plugged in forever, or (as I do) move the charger around from car to car every few weeks...

Good luck...
 
FYI, I have heard that the optima battery company was bought out by another company and is not as consistently great as it used to be-not worth the $$$ any more. Get a good regular battery with high cca,650-750, IMHO. I've been buying my batteries at costco for the last 20 years (good deal here in canada)for my fleet and i always buy the highest capacity battery that will fit-i have NEVER been let down or left stranded, even if i leave my lights on (yes that has happened).
Rob
 
Got to thinking about this; the old battery must have been run totally flat and left that way for a long time for the sulfation to get bad enough to swell the case (unless it froze instead). Even a "deep cycle" battery is not going to like being run flat and left that way for a long time. And of course they will freeze if discharged, just like a starting battery will.

You might want to check and be sure there is absolutely no drain from the car. All it takes is some dirt caked around a terminal; or a switch that has been overheated; to draw enough current to discharge the battery over a matter of weeks or months. An easy workaround is to disconnect one of the battery cables when you are not using the car (or there are switches available to make it even easier).
 
Ha ha! I just had a look at the battery, It was made in Aug. 2002...
I guess its a bit older than I remember.
Thanks for the thoughts all.
Randall Its good to hear from you as well :smile:
 
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