Battery Question

[665AlmostEvil]

Like many of you have expressed, my car seems to chomp through batteries.
i was wondering if anyone has used an OPTIMA battery?

Did you see the extra life from the battery vs. the cost? Also did you use the red top or yellow top? And lastly, what model number did you use??

Thanks,
Mike
665 Almost Evil

[justfreaky]

Herein lies the problem:

6. BATTERY: Only a lead acid or gel cell battery ( 25lbs.
min.) may be used. The approximate dimensions are 71/8”
X 8 X 61/2”. A top post or side post battery may be used.
Motorcycle batteries may not be used. The battery must
remain in its stock location and securely mounted. The
original stock battery bracket may not be altered in any way.
A battery box, terminal coverings or rubber padding around
rear end is also highly recommended. A battery shut-off
switch is optional.

This is what the rules state. I am not sure that the OPTIMA battery fits the rules.

Steve

[VMS Motorsports]

Hmmm. Never had a battery problem before. Still using the battery that came with the car in 2007, fired right up after sitting in below freezing for 6+ months...can't help on this one!

[665AlmostEvil]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm still on the battery I bought last summer but my dad has gone through 2 already this season. Keeps giving a "internal cell short" on the tester.
Keep in mind we race on dirt too so we get a lot more shaking than the asphalt cars do.

I read the rule you posted Steve prior to throwing my question on here and OPTIMA does make a battery that is within the specifications but I was just wondering if anyone had ever used one. Thanks though for trying to help to all of you.

Mike

[justfreaky]

Mike,

I checked and OPTIMA does indeed make a battery that fits the rule.
The yellow top is the one that they recommend for circle track and off road. It is a deep cycle battery and has 870 cranking amps.
Here are the specs:
•Length: 10.018"
•Width: 6.886"
•Height: 7.841"
•Weight: 43.5 lbs.

At almost $200 I do have concerns of cost.

Do you use a maintenance charger? (trickle charger for us dinosaurs)

Steve

[thunder938]

I have had to put a few bateries in over 4 years.  They take a heck of a beating and the ones that I had go bad had a bad cell and would not pass a load test...

[justfreaky]

I know the battery in my snowmobile takes quite the beating too. It is a deep cycle battery. Even after beatin' the heck out of it and then sitting all spring, summer and fall it still will start right up. Have abused this battery for 3 years now and can fire it up right now.
Can't say the same for the motorcycles that I have owned over the years. Without maintenance during the off season, I would have to replace the battery every year.

It might be worth the extra money for the deep cycle battery. The gel cell batteries are supposed to be better suited to vibration and abuse. Would be worth a shot.

Steve

[djracing]

I ended up picking up one these a few weeks ago.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/OSSR/26R72.oap?year=2002&make=Toyota&model=Corolla&vi=1432913&forcedVehicle=true&pt=03321&ppt=C0005

Worked fine first night. Car starts 'better/quicker compared to the Napa battery I ran. I do think I found a wiring issue that caused that Napa battery to just drain like it did.

[Gimpster]

Wow.. 2 batteries already ?? I have flipped down the entire front streatch on a 3/8ths mile dirt track with a cheap Wal Mart battery in the car and it has lasted 2 more seasons after that. Something else has to be causing the problem. Bad alternator/regulator, wiring or even something simple like the battery ground cable. Do you have a battery strap hold down nut on the negative side, then the cable slipped over the bolt and another nut locking the ground cable to the strap hold down nut ? I have seen where racers will put the ground cable next to the battery hold down strap then tighten a nut against it and expect to have a good ground. This could be causing voltage spikes in the battery and toasting it ?? Just a thought

~ Gimpster ~

[VMS Motorsports]

I'm still using the battery I went end over end with in 2008 on 1/4 mile dirt too.

[JGRacing]

I used a red top Optima in my modified and loved it.  Between the street stock and the modified on dirt, the vibration killed a few batteries.  Never had an issue with the Optima.  My legends car still has the battery it came with, so I will use that as long as I can. 

[665AlmostEvil]

My dads battery may have just been a bad luck thing. O'Reilly exchanged it for free but I have heard on more than one occasion of batteries going due to the vibrations we put them through. i have had good experience with Optima in the past so being new to the class i thought I'd ask.

Gimpster - we do have our ground cable set up properly as you described and we have a brand new wiring harness in the car too. the alternator isn't malfuntioning that we can tell when we tested it BUT the battery did show an internal short at O'Reilly as well.

Steve - I have the same cost concerns you do which is what led me to start this discussion. I believe the charger we have is a trickle charger, in fact it's this one:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://media.ruralking.com/image.php%3Fsku%3D095860006%26nsize%3D300&imgrefurl=http://www.ruralking.com/charger-smart-battery-blackanddecker.html&usg=__kn48PmNlQj_ddQfwWVgQPoELaaI=&h=300&w=300&sz=50&hl=en&start=8&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=hknR11aWeX55dM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dblack%2Band%2Bdecker%2Bsmart%2Bbattery%2Bcharger%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26tbs%3Disch:1

Sorry for the long link:)
It's what told us the other battery was bad after 3 hours of looking for something OTHER than the battery because it was new.

Thanks to all who responded. If Ido go with the OPTIMA (thanks for the part# Steve) I'll let you know how it goes.

Mike
665
Almost evil

[justfreaky]

Mike,

I have the smaller version of the Black and Decker charger. It does do a maintenance charge.
Do you have the equipment, or can you get your local bike shop to check out the charging system.
Just trying to rule out all the possibilities here.

I think that if you do go with the OPTIMA that you should go with the yellow top, deep cycle, battery. As that is what their site recommends.
Let us know what you decide and how it works out.

Steve

[665AlmostEvil]

Mike,

I have the smaller version of the Black and Decker charger. It does do a maintenance charge.
Do you have the equipment, or can you get your local bike shop to check out the charging system.
Just trying to rule out all the possibilities here.

I think that if you do go with the OPTIMA that you should go with the yellow top, deep cycle, battery. As that is what their site recommends.
Let us know what you decide and how it works out.

Steve

Steve, we put the alternator on a multi-meter and it was definitley charging fine. 
I will keep you posted if we go with OPTIMA.
Thanks guys,
Mike

[racerrad8]

Steve, we put the alternator on a multi-meter and it was definitley charging fine. 
I will keep you posted if we go with OPTIMA.
Thanks guys,
Mike

When you say charging fine what does that mean? The Yamaha alternator is notorious for having rectifier problems and overcharging batteries.

If the battery is full charged, then the alternator should be putting out 13-13.5 volts at 2500+rpm. If the voltage is higher than that the alternator is overcharging the battery and shorting its life immensely.

Another sign of overcharging is battery acid leaking from the battery when racing and getting on the frame eating the paint & rust. And just like gimp said check the ground circuit not only at the battery, but at the engine to the chassis. If the alternator doesn't get a good signal from the battery that it is charged it keeps the volts turned up.

Randy - RPM