Batteries- Need a quick answer

my auto electrician (my brother-in-law...i dont beleive his sister all that often so he could be telling porkies) swears black and blue that the calcium type are not as good as wet type

believe it or not

(i get them cheap so i dont really care)

First Allan, what are going to use the battery for, and how often and where is the battery going to be mounted and how are you going to charge it.
Might be able to help if you can supply a bit more info.
Regards

optima do have a cca amp reading.
not many deep cycle batteries have that.

gra

Hi again Allan, for what you are going to use the battery for, the added cost of going to an Optima battery is not really justified. There are special circumstances where one of these batteries would be better than a deep cycle battery but your requirements are not more than what a deep cycle battery can handle and is what deep cycle batteries are designed for.
As long as you charge the deep cycle battery properly it will give you all the power you want for a much lower cost and will last just as long.
In the situation that you are going to use the battery for, if you have problems with the deep cycle battery, you would most likely have similar problems with the Optima but the Optima would cost you a lot more to replace.
Regards.

Hi Allan, your right, it's not rocket S but YOU still have not stated WHY you need to go to the more expesive batteries. If, as I put it, you have a specialised need, tell us about it, otherwise it seems to be a case of more money than, and so on!
And if so, good luck to you
Regards

Hi folks, like most people who visit sites like this, I come he because I want to find out from others with more experience in given field, about subjects for which I lack the knowledge of. Like about tyres, bull bars, long range fuel tanks, suspension systems, and so on and so on.
But I also view it as my responsibility and the responsibility of other who use sites like this, to return the favour where we can and try to assist others.

Now with this in mind, I see a posting from someone who wants to replace a deep cycle battery with an Calcium type battery and a question comes to mind as the two different battery types are very rarely used in similar usage conditions.
Has the person been using the wrong battery for a give purpose or is this person about to replace the correct battery with a grossly more expensive battery that is not suited to the chore it is about to be use for.
So not having much knowledge in this field, I asked a simple question in an attempt to try and help someone avoid making an expensive mistake.
Hey, I’ve only been designing, manufacturing and supplying the trade with automotive electronics for over 25 years and for the last 15 years supplying battery charge control systems to the trade for 4WDs, caravans and campers, motor homes, emergence vehicles, marine application and to the mining industry, so I am not an expert but I do have some expertise in this area.
Now I don’t sell batteries but over the last quarter of a century I have come across 1 or 2 ( THOUSAND )
but what the hell do I know.

Allan, I offered you some free info for which you could have either taken it or left it. I was not trying to take the P### out of you and the same info could have been supplied by any reputable battery supplier. But I suspect you’ve gone to some shonk who has seen a sucker walk in and he has filled you with a truck load of house do-do and you have taken it hook, line and sinker.
Buy what you want but the deep cycle battery will work far better that a calcium battery will in the situation you require the battery for.
The calcium battery WILL work but not as well as the deep cycle will and the deep cycle will do it for much less and probably for longer.
Again good luck to you.

Hi Alan,

One thing that hasn't been made apparent is the Capacity of the Optima compared to your old battery.

The standard Optima Yellow top is rated at 55Ah as opposed to your 100Ah one.
They do have a "31 Group" Yellow top but even that is only a 75Ah Unit and its physical size is 326 x 165 x 242, Will this fit in your existing Cradle?

Check here for the full specs:-
http://www.optimabatteries.com.au/Products/Yellowtop.htm

Allan you posted -> "My question is what is a better battery- Optima Yellow top or Lifeline 31T. Also is there any difference in the types (Beside the shape of course)"

The answer to your question is they are both AGM's and the Concorde 31T battery at 105 a/h is the better battery.

HOWEVER, I totally agree with driveSafe, I would want to know why you must change your existing battery? is it 5+ years old?
Is it being correctly recharged by your alternator?
Is your Isolator delivering the right charge to your existing battery?

You could get 300+ Amp Hours from a decent genuine Deep Cycle battery for the same price if you were not wanting an AGM battery.

I would ask you why you want an AGM and not a more conventional DC battery.

Well I was going to reply, but i can't compare those two specific batteries.

Sorry bout that

Cheers

Magnus.