optima blue tops
 

Just called batteries plus to get a price on new blue top. was told $215. Seems quite a bit higher than they were just a few years ago. I'd rather not redo the wiring to accommodate another brand, but i remember paying about 150 each about 3 or 4 years ago. What are you guys paying for blue tops? Or is this just a sign of the times?

That must have been the bend over and grab your ankles price with some A-Hole tax ontop. Whoa!

No kiddin. Found a similar batt from interstate with wing nuts and the post terminals. Gonna save a bill doing it too... SRM 29 for those who are interested....

...edit...
apparently, everyone who buys optima gets the "bend over and grab your ankles price with some A-Hole tax ontop." Interstate carries them and quoted me the same price.....

I've been preaching about the srm 29 for years, that's the equivalent of 2.5 blue tops in AH capacity.

Really?? Read the specs but missed that somehow...

I was really tempted to go Walmart style and just replace it within the 12 month window. I don't think Walmart's even tests whatever you bring in saying its dead....

They don't list AH capacity on the battery, just RC in minutes. I had an Interstate rep tell me they were 125 ah but figure they''re more like 115-120.

Figure 55 amp/hours on a group 34 Optima and 95 amp/hours on an Interstate group 29. The Interstate group 29 is a great value but definitely not 2.5 times the amp/hours. Reps often exaggerate especially when there isn't published amp/hour specs.
A group 34 is a small racing battery with less height and weight as compared to even a group 24. So don't expect competitive amp/hours. You are buying an AGM for many other reasons. The highest amp/hours for the dollar is certainly not one of them.

David
Earmark Marine

that is true about AGM's but now there are a lot more and less expensive options then Optima. For a similar price to the 34 blue top but you can get a group 31 Deka AGM that has aroudn double the amp hours. Optimas aren't bad but expensive for what you get. they use to be able to get away with it because of the percieved notion that they were the only game in town with an AGM.

I would bet the group 29 is more than 95 ah, more around 115 as I said. Thanks for the correction David I should have said close to the equivalent of 2.5 blue tops which it most definitely is.

I meant 2.0 blue tops in above post.

A Deka group 31 AGM is 105 amp/hours at 69 lbs. An Interstate SRM-29 is only 61 lbs. While that's certainly not an absolute indicator it is often a good measuring stick. I sell the Interstate regularly. Great battery and great value but I don't buy 115 A/Hs. RC minutes don't translate 1 to 1 with amp/hours either. Got anything concrete beyond wishful thinking?

David
Earmark Marine

No just assumptions like you. Ok well maybe just one, I've seen other group 29 batteries rated at 125 ah. That was a little much I thought.

Where do you get the interstate SRM 29s at and how much do they run? I am need all new batteries for my boat

Any place that sells Interstate can get them to you, Napa has a line of them, Sams club and Wallmart have them, etc... Group 29 and 31 are the same size but different manufacturers will call them either or.

Is 675 CCA enough to run 1 or 2 of them without a starting/dual purpose battery as well?

That is plenty to start a boat, I know several people (at least 7) that run those in their boats and start the boat with them. Really an excellent all around battery.

Not sure if it's exactly the same but costco sells the optima blue tops here for $169 I think.

same here - I run 4 blue tops for the tunes and starter. coscto is the place, 169 is what i paid last year when i got 4 new ones, with 15 as the core. Blue tops are good if you dont keep them charged all the time, minimal loss 1% month when in storage with the perco off. are they the best - others will say no, but for what i have it works for me. good luck.

Got 4 batts in mine too. 2 for starting and 2 6v for tunes.. two hundy for a battery, i'm moving on. not worth driving to costco... marketing isn't about selling stuff, its about selling stuff at the highest price possible. And they only had 1 left in stock.... done drinking the koolaid.

Any issues running an AGM and a lead acid in parallel? Got one blue top that survived. And in defense of blue tops, they're both closer to 5 yrs old now that I think about it..

Which model blue top are yelling running? I am thinking about putting two D34Ms on my stereo bank. Is that a decent amount of juice? I don't party cove that much

Two Optima D34Ms will collectively be 110 amp/hours while a single Deka Group 31 AGM (similar construction as the Optima) is 105 amp/hours (the model Brett recommended). The single Deka will certainly cost less. Perhaps access and easy warranty service from a price club will balance the higher cost of the Optimas.
Go as large as you can justify. More battery reserves translates to shallower battery cycles which promotes longer battery lifespan and higher performance over that duration.

David
Earmark Marine

any thoughts on the sears die hard marine battery?

I would go with the deka however I can't seem to find them anywhere and I do not have time to wait for them to be shipped nor do I want to pay shipping cost for a 60+ lbs battery. What retailers sell dekas?

um, i wasn't clear on my last post, my bad. I run 4 batteries total - starter battery is isolated, blue top - coscto 169. The tunes run on 3 interstate group 27s, for of 330 total for 345 AH's. The blue tops only have 55 AH's and the Alt would be working 100% of the time, which would be less than ideal. Looking to upgrade the 70amp alt next year to a 175 but that will be some coin since i'll need some new pulleys. good luck. i vote starter = blue, it takes the abuse but for tunes and other items, AH's are needed.

Your alternator would be workign 100% of the time if you have the batteries wired all into one battery bank. If you use a sure power seperator or similar product it wont do this. You may not fully charge the stereo bank so you will need a charger at night. In most cases people would be better off spending money on a bigger battery bank, wiring it correctly and buying a good onboard charger then spending 1000+ on a huge alternator. The only way this does't make sense is if you aren't able to plug in every night or don't have the room for a large battery bank.

I agree with Brett's recommendation. A good voltage sensing solenoid will protect the alternator from an inordinate load when the batteries have been depleted after a long period at rest. There does come a point when the audio system can become too large for this scheme and a larger alternator is necessary. Also, the use of more efficient amplifiers, like fullrange Class D for example, will greatly impact that threshold and will usually eliminate the need for an upgrade alternator unless the system is totally over the top.

David
Earmark Marine

I bought the Interstate srm 29 based on Nu Bu's suggestion in another thread. Holy crap have I been impressed with it. We were tied up in party cove a couple weekends ago and got many hours out of it with the music played at a very high volume. We have a Syn 2, Syn 4 and Syn 6 all wired to it.

So once again, where can you get a deka? Where can you get the interstate? Will 3 (2 for stereo, 1 for starting) optima 34DMs satisfy my power requirements? They are 155 each at sams which looks to be a good price.

That sounds like a pretty decent price for those and would be a good setup. Costco might sell Deka AGMs, West Marine does I am pretty sure.

West marine here did not have any dekas that I saw. They had some marine brand, about the same stats and price as the bass pro shop brand.

David the Dekas will be relabelled as West Marine batteries. I am not sure the name they use. Ask soemone there if the West Marine AGM's are manufactured by Deka. They should have a sticker on them that says made in Pennyslvania.

Ahhh gotcha. Well I have to run up to west marine tomorrow anyways to pick up a charger so I will take another look at the batteries there. My main thing is that I don't want to have to worry about pulling the batteries out to add water or anything so that is why I want amg. I don't party cove that much, maybe run it at 50% for 2 hours or so and then the rest of the time we are running the boat with the stereo on. My stereo consist of 2400 watts rms thru 3 exile amps

Got an Insterstate store in my area.... is West Marine comparable on price? I'd think no, especially since their rebranded...

Actually I would expect West Marine to be competitive on price. Have any idea how large their volume is? National purchasing versus local distribution, etc.

David
Earmark Marine

David, I posted this question earlier, but it didn't any input.

Any issues running AGM and lead-acid in parellel? I know they recharge differently and they'll be on separate Batt Tenders, how about discharging? A blue top and an SRM 29 will be the starting bank.

Never mix on the same bank, whether type of battery or size of battery or age of battery. This will lead to uneven discharges plus under/over charging and shortened life span for both batteries.

David
Earmark Marine

Ok so I got my new batteries installed; 2 interstate SRM-29s and one interstate marine cranking. I installed a prosport promariner 20 plus charger, hooked it up to the batteries and plugged it in the charger and it's been 8 hours and the ready light has not yet come on. Bhowell long should it take to charge?

If they are new batteries it seems like they should be charged by now. So the red light is on at the charger? Are you sure you don't have a draw on the batteries somewhere? Is your battery switch set to off?

Switch is off and the circuit breaker is tripped. Red light is still on. Red light indicating lead acid battery type is on and the red light indicating charging is still on. All three batteries are brand new

Maybe they are charged and it is in conditioning mode?

It is also 102 degrees outside, maybe it slowed the charge rate down do to temp?

Let it go a bit longer but I wouldn't go to bed and leave it plugged in if it hasn't finished charging, something doesn't seem right. How warm is the charger?

If its in condition mode it will be green iirc.

Green finished light just came on! Yay! I can leave it plugged in and it will just maintain the batteries now correct?

Yeah man you are good to go. Sounds like it got with the program.

I run the Dekas in my boat and have had good luck with them.