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Randy Forbes
Yoda
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I'm impressed with the onboard spare sparking bolts.
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Trip to Sebring
- Thread starter Michael Oritt
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Bob_Spidell
Yoda
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I'm hearing a lot of negative stories about the (once-solid) Optima batteries, which I believe are now Hecho en Mexico. I just replaced the battery in my BJ8 with the same one that served well for over 7 years, and still started the engine easily but was down to 350 CCA. I got tired of pulling the tank to flush the boot. Note I kept the battery on a maintainer--AGM type--when out of service for any length of time.
NFI: > X2Power Car and Truck Battery | Premium AGM | 840CCA | Group Size 24 - SLI24AGMDP <
NFI: > X2Power Car and Truck Battery | Premium AGM | 840CCA | Group Size 24 - SLI24AGMDP <
OP
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Bob--
Before deciding to go with Optima I searched the various brands of AGM's available. Consumer Reports recently did a test of AGM's and gave Odyssey slightly better marks than it did to Optima, but Odyssey lacks the support network that Optima has. There are other AGM batteries out there, many of them for whatever reason billed as "racing batteries', but again they do not offer the ability to take your defective unit into any dealer for exchange/refund, etc. Online opinions of customers vary, and you can find both good and bad reports for most everything being sold.
Because of Optima's popularity there are several sellers of aftermarket compatible mounting/tie-down systems that are brand and model specific to Optima. Instead of having to fabricate a custom mount I bought a part from "Optima Trays" which has a nifty method of securing the battery and fits very nicely in the space originally occupied by one of the 6VDC units: thhttps://optimatrays.com/products/75-25-slip-clamp-tray.
It will be a few days until I install the batt and will send in some pics when the job gets done. Given how attractive the Red-top will be sitting upon its billet AL mount it seems a shame to conceal it from the world in the 100's battery cubby. Perhaps a replacement Lexan cover is in order?
Bob_Spidell
Yoda
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Michael,
I gave up on the dual 6V setup after years of trying to make it work, so I fabbed my own rig. A couple 'off-the-shelf' brackets and a little bit of cutting and welding--I needed the practice anyway--did the trick. A bit of overkill, I suppose, but with an original starter and high compression 950 CCA is da bomb (note 'double ought' cables; WAY overkill
).
I gave up on the dual 6V setup after years of trying to make it work, so I fabbed my own rig. A couple 'off-the-shelf' brackets and a little bit of cutting and welding--I needed the practice anyway--did the trick. A bit of overkill, I suppose, but with an original starter and high compression 950 CCA is da bomb (note 'double ought' cables; WAY overkill
).Attachments
OP
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Bob--Michael,
I gave up on the dual 6V setup after years of trying to make it work, so I fabbed my own rig. A couple 'off-the-shelf' brackets and a little bit of cutting and welding--I needed the practice anyway--did the trick. A bit of overkill, I suppose, but with an original starter and high compression 950 CCA is da bomb (note 'double ought' cables; WAY overkill
With that many CCA's the world must momentarily wobble on its axis when you push the start button!
I am waiting for the arrival of the mounting plate from Optima Trays (optimatrays.com/products/75-25-slip-clamp-tray) before installing the new 75/25 battery and will then measure the present and order new battery and starter cables with ring terminals from one of the online suppliers. Since I have no big subwoofers in the boot and run only a pair of Lucas 576 driving lights I figure that #2. or at most 1/0 AWG cable should be sufficient. No offense meant....
Bob_Spidell
Yoda
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No wobble, but I do create a small wormhole. Funny, the old un-geared starter doesn't crank any faster, but it cranks for a long time (of course, the battery will only supply what the starter can sink).
And I didn't mean to dump on Optima; my dad had a 6V Red Top on his '55 T-Bird and it held up well, but it was probably 20 years old (I forgot you have a 100 so the Group 24 wouldn't work for you anyway). What is the warranty for the Optima? I've found you can't get much more than a couple months on some batteries, when I used to see 84 months on some (tells you something). The X2 I linked to only has a 2-year; they used to be more IIRC.
With 5 cars, 2 tractors and a passel of lawn/farm equipment it seems I'm researching and replacing batteries monthly.