The 8 year old Optima battery on my Land Rover is no longer holding charge when left for several days. Any thoughts on the best totally none spill replacement as I seem to remember reading that Optimas are not as good as they used to be.
Mike
The replacement Bosch on my BMW did 11 years - of mostly unkind town journeys. ;-)
If you really must have a totally spill proof one your choice is severely restricted. How many times have you really needed this ability? ;-)
I've never been that impressed with Optima. If they are really so good, why not an equally impressive warranty?
My experience of these 'spiral' batteries - albeit from a different maker
- wasn't good. Over a five year period - used to power location broadcast gear - 'ordinary' SLA proved to be more reliable and cheaper overall.
I use the vehicle for 4WD trialing so do occasionally end up on my roof. The battery I fitted when I originally built it was supposed to be spill proof but leaked acid first time I turned the vehicle over, so I immediately changed to an Optima. That was about 17 years ago, and I'm now coming to the end of my second Optima battery's life.
The vehicle can stand unused for a month or more these days so I don't consider 8 years life unreasonable, but am always looking for the best option.
Mike
Ah - so you really do need a properly sealed type. There are some 'wet' ones that sort of claim they are spill proof - but given they also need a vent, I'm not sure just how effective this would be.
Any lead acid should be perfectly happy being unused for much longer than that - provided the quiescent drain on it from the vehicle electrics is very low. Or zero, as I'd expect on a elderly Land Rover. ;-)
What do other AWD offroader types use these days?
Bosch S6 AGM (and thus the Varta one as well) claims to be '100% leak-proof in any position' and is likely cheaper than the equivalent Optima...
Fairly specialist requirement... I'd be talking to fellow competitors, find out what they've tried and rejected or liked.
Many use Optima or Odyssey other simply use the most spill proof they can find, mount them is sealed box and keep their fingers crossed!
Mike
Checked the discharge rate when parked and everything turned off?
Bill
Could you use a battery box?
Bill
After 8 years of intermittent off-roading some of the cells may have plates bridged by by sludge.
but that will have been nicely mixed up when he flips the vehicle over :)
Spillproof = SLA/VRLA etc. Trouble is they all need lower charge voltage with much longer charges. You'd need to change the alternator voltage, and accept far slower charge rates, which might or might not prove adequate.
I suppose you could use a higher capacity battery to increase charge rate, if accetable budget-wise.
NT
In message , Gazz writes
Ah so that's why he does it. Better start flipping mine over. Up til now I've never felt the need.
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