Well, being an employee at an Interstate Battery distributorship(franchised), i would not overyly recommend the Optima, not to say it is a bad battery, it really isn't, but in my experience in the last 10 or so years of dealing with them, they don't seem to be all they are 'cracked up' to be. At least not for the cost. As Gunslinger mentioned, they don't always hold up when just left alone for periods of time. Nor would any battery for that matter... unless you take a little time to 'care' for them when they are not in use. Battery tenders are very beneficial in these matters, along with a decent battery charger. If you do plan on leaving your car in storage, i would highly recommend disconnecting the battery, and fully charging it before storing your vehicle(taking it out of the car if possible might not be a bad idea either). Batteries do have a finite shelf life, car batteries, flashlight batteries, etc... automotive batteries do self discharge even if they are not hooked up. We recharge our stock about every 5-6 months... especially in the summer months... heat tends to accellerate the self discharge just a little... A fully charged battery is between 12.6 to 12.8 volts, depending on the acid blend in the battery. Strange as it sounds, if it falls to 12.3 volts, its nearly half discharged(i know, one would think 6 volts, but....not so...) Anyhow, make a long story longer... i can't knock our batteries, Interstate Megatron is a good all around battery, middle of the road type of amperage, which is what you should look for, not one toooo big in amps, nor one tooo small.... mostly ones that are in the 600 to 750 CCA range. They tend to hold up better, in moderate climates.... if you live in the great white north, then you would want a heavier CCA battery, 850 on up, if in the deep deep south, i probably would still stick with the 500-750 CCA range. Reason being is that wet batteries are basically cooled by the acid/water mix. Think of it like a glass of iced water.. the more ice you have the less water you actually have in the glass... same is true for batteries... the heavier(more CCA) battery you have, the more plates in the battery, the less electrolyte there is in the battery to help cool it. However, Optima's don't have this problem, they are AGM (absorbed glass matte), which means instead of liquid in the cells, its basically a sponge inbetween the plates, so it can't leak if cracked... Optima's do have a great purpose, they are highly vibration resistant, so, we do see a lot of them in race cars(dirt track mainly around here), rock crawlers(cause they tend to turn over a lot), and road machinery(lot of vibration)....Unless you just come across a good price on an Optima, i'd just stick with a lead/acid battery. If taken care of, will last just as long, for 1/3 to 1/2 price usually...
As for manufactures, well basically there are 3 major manufactures.... Johnson Control, Exide, and East Penn(Deka)... most Sears, Costco, Wal-Mart,Auto Zone,Advance and Interstate Batteries are supplied by Johnson Control Industries. Napa, some Wal-Marts etc have Excides... JCI batteries can be identified by there caps on the battery, they are kinda stop sign shaped(six sided rectangular caps) , Exides are 4 sided rectangles, East Penn dont have visible caps, they are flat top batteries, but do have plug caps for each cell. ok.. i've rambled over my yearly limit..
Oh and as for the plates, they are not solid, now-a-days they grids, which allows for more surface area for the plate to be exposed to the electrolyte.
Ok class, i'll expect a 2 page double spaced report on my desk in the morning... class dismissed :) (any questions?)
|UPDATED|2/12/2013 9:33:08 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|
______________
StingrayJim 
NCM Lifetime Member #1936
Stingray's '76���������������������������� StingrayJr's '78���������������������������Lil Red '94
(click each one to see a bigger version)
daveo76
Gunslinger
tb2k82ce
stingrayjim jr
ROCKRDR
nextdoor76
manget1
2011111017209r.jpg "click to update your profile pic")
2014216132127r.jpg)
