Dry Gel Batteries

[Brad Manhattan Beach]

Has anyone had any good or bad experiences with Optima, Odyssey or Baker Racing dry batteries? Or are they all manufactured in the same place with different labels? I'm on my 3rd bad battery, and it's leaking again.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[GTS Dean]

Brad,

Viper batteries leak electrolyte when driven normally (for Vipers) because they are vented. I find that I need to pull the battery about once or twice a year, clean it and the bracket, check the specific gravity, refill the cells and give it a fresh charge before reinstalling. Maybe that's more than you're willing to put up with, but I like working on my car.

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

Optima may or may not fit. It is a matter of luck of the weld location. (battery hanger). But Optima is making a new side only terminal. Until then call Dan Cragin for advise.

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

FYI the Optrima is not a Dry Cell or Gel. If they fit they are nice.

 

[Ulysses]

Brad and Fred are correct, it is a lead acid battery which is completely sealed and zero maintenance.

 

[Ulysses]

In answer to gregs question of why it doesn't slosh around, the optima uses a pretty ingenius battery design. The positive and negative plates are wound and separated by a porous glass (fibre glass) material. This material acts like a sponge and absorbs the electrolyte, thus no sloshing.

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

Optima has a web site which will answer most questions. http://www.optimabatteries.com/main.htm

 

[Brad Manhattan Beach]

Fred:

What is it if it's not a dry or gel battery? Is it a liquid sealed system?

Thanks for the feedback.

Brad

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder:
FYI the Optrima is not a Dry Cell or Gel. If they fit they are nice.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

[Brad Manhattan Beach]

It doesn't sound like many of you have had experiences with the gel batteries. After doing some better homework, I confirmed that Fred is right and Optimas are still acid filled technology. I'm going to try to get away from this if I don't hear any downside on them.

Brad

 

[Chuck 97 GTS]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder:
But Optima is making a new side only terminal.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Anybody know when it should be available?

 

[Brad Manhattan Beach]

Regretful:

Your link doesn't go anywhere. I get an access denied reply.

Brad
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Regretful:
I used a 13# battery from Performance Distributors in my 96 LT1 car. They also have a 22#. These are dry cells. It worked real well, cranked strong, and I drove the car a lot.
http://www.performancedistributor.webjump.com


<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

[Brad Manhattan Beach]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. It looks like Optimas are a pretty safe bet to go with.

Have a great holiday.

Regards,

Brad

 

[Bill/APEX Motorsports]

We use Odyssey batteries, which work phenomenally well. They're pure lead (no acid), are deep cycle, lightweight, and very small. (Because they don't use acid, we can ship them via UPS Ground.) We carry them in either 925 or 1200 amp varieties. However, they will require a custom bracket, as they're much smaller than the stock battery. If you're interested, please contact me directly.
BTW, we carry Odyessey because we had _horrible_ results with just about every Optima battery we used. Even one of my mechanics switched to the Odyssey because his Optima couldn't hold a charge for more than two days in his race car.

 

[Bill/APEX Motorsports]

We use Odyssey batteries, which work phenomenally well. They're pure lead (no acid), are deep cycle, lightweight, and very small. (Because they don't use acid, we can ship them via UPS Ground.) We carry them in either 925 or 1200 amp varieties. However, they will require a custom bracket, as they're much smaller than the stock battery. If you're interested, please contact me directly.
BTW, we carry Odyessey because we had _horrible_ results with just about every Optima battery we used. Even one of my mechanics switched to the Odyssey because his Optima couldn't hold a charge for more than two days in his race car.

 

[Brad Manhattan Beach]

Bill:

Are there any special requirements when re-charging these batteries? Is it a gel type battery?

Thanks for your feedback.

Brad <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Bill/APEX Motorsports:
We use Odyssey batteries, which work phenomenally well. They're pure lead (no acid), are deep cycle, lightweight, and very small. (Because they don't use acid, we can ship them via UPS Ground.) We carry them in either 925 or 1200 amp varieties. However, they will require a custom bracket, as they're much smaller than the stock battery. If you're interested, please contact me directly.
BTW, we carry Odyessey because we had _horrible_ results with just about every Optima battery we used. Even one of my mechanics switched to the Odyssey because his Optima couldn't hold a charge for more than two days in his race car.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

[Bill/APEX Motorsports]

Brad, the Odyssey batteries don't require any special attention when charging or jumpstarting. They don't use any gel. It's pure lead with no acid.
GregC, my mechanic's Optima wasn't the first to not hold a charge (and voltage drains are always the first thing checked). The other Mustang performance shop in the area (which is now out of business) sold Optima batteries, and they always had problems with them. Many switched back to stock-type batteries. Now that their customers are our customers, we're switching them to Odysseys, and the owners are really impressed by them. Plus, they're much smaller and lighter than the Optimas, which is certainly a benefit when building a race car or just trying to get some weight off the car.
Of course, everyone has different experiences with different products. Yes, some Optimas work great. Our experiences just weren't that great with them, so we switched to a battery that hasn't failed us yet.