Originally Posted by mcollinstn

I've been staying out of this, but......

Cheap batteries work just fine if they are maintained properly. By that, I mean that they need to be kept from going below 11 volts, they need to be recharged to the correct float voltage ACCORDING TO THE CELL TEMPERATURE, and they need to be protected from vibration. They also need to be kept out of freezing weather.

If you do that, then cheap batteries will last forever.

If you use a cheap charger, don't bother calibrating your voltage regulators, and don't pay any attention to the lower float voltage needs of hot battery cells, vibrate the heck out of them, let them go dead as a rock, or leave them out in freezing weather, then the most expensive batteries made will die.

I have a diesel powered cruiser. It came with a nice beefy Pro Mariner ferroresonant 3-bank charger. Had to add almost a gallon of water a month to the 6 batteries. Summer, winter, didn't matter.

Batteries lasted 2 years, they were brand name marine batteries.

Replaced batteries with Die Hard Marines.

Batteries lasted 2 years.

Replaced the batteries with Autozone gold (regular old normal car batteries).
Spent $700 on a Newmar electronic charger with separate temp probes for each bank of batts.

This was in 2000.

This is 2011.
Same batteries. Have added maybe a pint of water to each battery in that entire 11 years.
Batteries still going strong with no signs of weakness.
Engine compartment of the boat stays above 50 degrees in the winter. Charger stays connected and turned on 24/7/365.

It's all in how they are treated...

Now, if you are confident that you will regularly run your batteries down to the point that the stereo cuts out, then just plan on buying batteries often. I would advise using a low voltage cutout breaker. When the batt voltage drops below a preset, the breaker opens the circuit. You can then manually close the breaker if needed for restarting, etc (although you should keep a starting battery on a separate circuit if it's your plan to run the house batts down).

MC

Originally Posted by mcollinstn

I've been staying out of this, but......

Cheap batteries work just fine if they are maintained properly. By that, I mean that they need to be kept from going below 11 volts, they need to be recharged to the correct float voltage ACCORDING TO THE CELL TEMPERATURE, and they need to be protected from vibration. They also need to be kept out of freezing weather.

If you do that, then cheap batteries will last forever.

If you use a cheap charger, don't bother calibrating your voltage regulators, and don't pay any attention to the lower float voltage needs of hot battery cells, vibrate the heck out of them, let them go dead as a rock, or leave them out in freezing weather, then the most expensive batteries made will die.

I have a diesel powered cruiser. It came with a nice beefy Pro Mariner ferroresonant 3-bank charger. Had to add almost a gallon of water a month to the 6 batteries. Summer, winter, didn't matter.

Batteries lasted 2 years, they were brand name marine batteries.

Replaced batteries with Die Hard Marines.

Batteries lasted 2 years.

Replaced the batteries with Autozone gold (regular old normal car batteries).
Spent $700 on a Newmar electronic charger with separate temp probes for each bank of batts.

This was in 2000.

This is 2011.
Same batteries. Have added maybe a pint of water to each battery in that entire 11 years.
Batteries still going strong with no signs of weakness.
Engine compartment of the boat stays above 50 degrees in the winter. Charger stays connected and turned on 24/7/365.

It's all in how they are treated...

Now, if you are confident that you will regularly run your batteries down to the point that the stereo cuts out, then just plan on buying batteries often. I would advise using a low voltage cutout breaker. When the batt voltage drops below a preset, the breaker opens the circuit. You can then manually close the breaker if needed for restarting, etc (although you should keep a starting battery on a separate circuit if it's your plan to run the house batts down).

MC

Originally Posted by OptimaJim

baja brian, I'm sorry to hear about the bad experience you had and I will certainly forward your story to our customer service folks. I don't know how long ago you bought your BlueTops, but if you still have them and they are still in their warranty period, please send me a PM. Soldier4402, the information you posted regarding battery manufacturers is inaccurate, dated and subject to change from month to month. All Optima batteries are manufactured in our own facility to our own specifications and we never re-brand or re-spec any of our batteries for any of our retail partners.

MC, you give very good advice about properly maintaining batteries and using a quality charger to keep them maintained. When any battery is discharged below 12.4 volts and left to sit in that state, suflation begins to diminish both capacity and lifespan. Fully-charged, our BlueTops will measure about 13.0-13.2 volts, except for the 34M BlueTop, which will measure about 12.6-12.8 volts.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

Originally Posted by soldier4402

Found this today to show who makes a lot of batteries and there are really only three major manufactures. People who make optima make duralast even. Found it interesting

Delphi:
--AC-Delco
--some EverStart (WalMart)

Excide:
--Champion
--Excide
--Napa
--some EverStart (WalMart)

Johnson Controls:
--DieHard (Sears)
--Duralast (AutoZone)
--Interstate
--Kirkland (CostCo)
--Motorcraft (Ford)
--some EverStart (Walmart)
--Optima
--EverStart
--Duralast
--Energizer
--Alliance
--Autocraft
--Acura
--DieHard
--Mitsubishi
--TrueStart
--Mazda
--Kirkland Signature
--Honda

Originally Posted by Griff

........and Chevrolet makes

Avalanche
Aveo
Camaro
Cobalt
Colorado
Corvette
Cruze
Eqiunox
Express Van
HHR
Impala
Malibu
Silverado
Sonic
Suburban
Tahoe
Traverse
Volt

Just because Chevrolet makes them does not make them all the same quality. They are designed for certain markets and price points.