[FC] Optima Batteries for FC's

[Dale Dewald]

At 11:55 9/26/2008 -0700, Joel wrote:
>Same group as this Optima.
>http://www.federalbattery.com/optima1_files/D51_D51R_082004.pdf
>
>I was wondering if anybody had ever actually tried it in an FC....

The Optima D51R? A yellow top (deep discharge/starting) battery.  Yes, I 
put one in our '65 Greenbrier in spring 2005 before we made the cross 
country trip to Portland.  In addition to starting, I used it to power a 
portable cooler/refrigerator we bring on long trips. Unfortunately, this 
battery failed in July 2008--it developed an internal short.  Optima had 
discontinued production of the type 51 for about a year to ferret out the 
reason for premature failures.  Apparently they found the cause and have 
resumed production.  I purchased a replacement from Amazon.com (free 
shipping) in August.

With the exception of the premature failure of the D51R in our GB, I have 
been impressed with the performance and quality of Optima batteries.  I 
still have the pair of type 34/78 Yellow Top's I originally installed in my 
2001 Dodge Ram (w/ Cummins diesel) that is used for snowplow duty.  I keep 
them as reserve batteries in case I need to jump-start something (an 
electronic battery tester showed them to still have 910 A-hr reserve 
capacity--they are rated at 850).  I just replaced them with a fresh pair 
of Optima's this spring 2008 because I noticed that they were taking a 
while longer to recover voltage after plowing a parking lot and were having 
a harder time cranking the Cummins over at 0F.  Seven years of snowplow 
duty in a diesel truck is more than twice the service  I have obtained with 
conventional batteries...

Another advantage of the Optima is that it hold a full charge all winter (5 
months up here) without the need for a battery tender.

Dale Dewald
Hancock, MI

'65 Monza - 34/78 Red top
'65 Greenbrier - 51R Yellow Top
'93 Jeep Grand Cherokee - 34/78 Red Top
'01 Dodge 2500 - 34/78 Yellow Top (2)
'04 Jeep Liberty - 34/78 Yellow Top