Maybe a simple question but I need some battery advice.
I need one now cause mine keeps dying.
I have a larger than normal electrical load so I figure I need more than a regular 66 battery.

Car is 66 with a 302.
Electric Fan
High Power Audio
I have a 175 Amp 1-wire alternator also. (Seems to be working fine. I can remove the positive battery cable while running & turn lights, fan, heater, stereo on & it still idles fine)

My car sometimes sits for a week or two between drives also.
Sometimes it's dead & sometimes not. Battery is probably 4 or 5 years old.

I like the yellow top Optima but they are around $200. Anything cheaper that would be good for me?

 

optima red top spiral core technology....when you absolutely positively have to delver 900+ cold cranking amps with 90 min reserve wont spill hassle free....except no substitutes.

-Gun

 

+1, although I'd say "accept" no subsitutes

Red Tops are awesome, and your electrical load isn't enough to justify a yellow top. The alternator is what's supplying the current while the car's running anyway, not the battery. The Red Top is more than enough for you, and it will last a long time, whether you drive the car often or not.

 

see thats what happens when its all early morning and I try to use big words



-Gun

 

I will dissagree with a red top. I stopped selling them because they die like a cheap battery and will start to drop cells and not hold a charge.My buddy just replaced his in a 06 Vette I sold him. Lasted 1.5 years on a stock C6.I have at least 3 on my floor that died, so IMO, they are just a "replacement" type of quality.I now use the Wal-Mart MAXX batteries, cost less and they have a 3 YEAR replacement, not 1 year like the Optima's.
The Yellow or Blue are a better choice.

Also removing the cable while the car is running is a good way to kill a alternator, its a backyard mechanics way to check the alternator. I suggest a volt meter.

 

The Red Top batteries have a 3 year replacement period, not 1 year like the Yellow or Blue Tops. And in 2 and a half years of selling them, the only ones I had to replace under warranty were units that customers had drained out completely (short in the wiring, using it as a deep cycle, etc) and tried to quick charge. After leaving them on a trickle charger overnight, most of them came back (consequently, I've had one in my 67fb for over 3 years).

Red Tops do not like to be discharged completely, and they don't charge well on a quick charger, if at all. Ideally you need to charge them with a computer controlled slow charger that is designed for use with AGM type batteries, but a standard automatic trickle charger usually works ok.

 

The warranty period must have changed. I stopped buying them because of the 1 year warranty a few years back.I have since picked up Oddessy and Stinger.

 

It doesn't matter to the battery how large the load is, that's the alternator's job. All the battery is for is to start the car.

I've had very good luck for many years with Interstate batteries.

 

If it did, it was more than 4 years ago.

I hear the Odyssey batteries are very nice, though.

 

The job of an alt is not to run the car but to recharge the battery. The battery has to be picked for your application. A more than typical electrical drain on the car will need a deep cycle (yellow top) battery. Red tops are meant for quick discharge/charge applications and low electrical draws, it will not maintain an audio system and electrical fans at a stop light. Now a yellow top will sustain the current draw for a longer period but will also take longer to recharge. If you ran a volt meter you would see the voltage drop.
Optima does not hold the patent any more so there are other companies making the same type battery. Stinger is awesome and you can find the same battery with other names.

This gets even more interesting when you have two batteries. They have to be matched or the weaker one will cause the other one to over charge and reducing it's life.