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Optima batteries - which sort?

Lightbulb

Lightbulb

Overdrive!
I read a lot about the capacity of Optima batteries, which seem to be sized in litres, but their US website doesn't give a model number for the Defender (90) and teh Europe one is broken. :(

Anyone know what it's supposed to be? Most of the ones I have seen on e-bay have been 3.7, 4.2 or 5.5 lt - anyone got any ideas?

I was thinking of buying an orange or red top for the general purpose (inc. starting) battery and a yellow top for my winch battery. Does that sound about right?

Does anyone know what the difference between orange and red tops is?

Lightbulb.
 
Hi there

A couple of years ago, I spent a lot of money and got two of these. I can't remember the size, but I do remember the £250 that I forked over.

One was a "deep cycle" and one was a normal battery to crank the starter.

I'm not going to launch a diatribe as I'm sure there are people out there who've had success with these batteries, but know this, today the truck in question has an extra compartment in the wheel arch that houses a second "644" battery. They cost less than half the price and they last three times longer than the Optima / Delco batteries.
 
bvudzichena said:
Hi there

A couple of years ago, I spent a lot of money and got two of these. I can't remember the size, but I do remember the £250 that I forked over.

One was a "deep cycle" and one was a normal battery to crank the starter.

I'm not going to launch a diatribe as I'm sure there are people out there who've had success with these batteries, but know this, today the truck in question has an extra compartment in the wheel arch that houses a second "644" battery. They cost less than half the price and they last three times longer than the Optima / Delco batteries.
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I'll second that bvudzichena :)

What are you going to use the second battery for Lightbulb ?
 
mmgemini said:
I'll second that bvudzichena :)

What are you going to use the second battery for Lightbulb ?
Click to expand...

It's already got two 'normal' batteries on it; both are wired to a marine changeover switch that enables batt1, 2 or both to be selected.

I tend to usually have 'both' selected, but if I'm going to use the winch or perhaps the fridge overnight, I'll change to batt1 (which would be the yellow top if I get a pair of Optimas) and then if it discharges completely, I have got the security of being able to change back to batt2 to start it, then over to 'both' to recharge 1.

The 90 has also got a mains plug, internal 240v cabling and a battery charger built in so that I can plug in an extension lead to my garage and it automatically charges whichever battery is selected.

Lightbulb.
 
Lightbulb.
My set-up is similer to yours. Except they are kept separate via a split charge relay.
I have a standard battery as the vehicle battery.
I have a 110amp Elecsol as the second battery. On mine it's usually the Elecsol that's flat after I've used the fridge too long. The Elecsol is a boat battery,old technology now but it came with a five year warrenty.

If your using a marine switch look at www.merlinequipment.com you will talk to an engineer not a sales person.
 
I've just gone for a pair of Numax CXV24MF starter/deep cycle batteries which are sealed batteries, rather than gel, but are rated at 86Ah and 750CCA. At £60 each, with a 2 year warrenty, I didn't think it was too bad.
They've only been in since the start of December so I've not had a real chance to try them out but the one I'm using as the starter is working fine. ;)
 
Lightbulb said:
In a compartment under the front passengers seat.
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My 644 barely fits through the hole under the passenger seat. It fills the entire battery box.

How have you managed to fit two batteries in there? What batteries are they? Can one battery crank your engine or do you need both?

I'm not being pedantic, just curious. These big batteries I use aren't cheap and I'm always on the lookout for different ways to do things.

What I did was to put the one 644 under the passenger seat. I then made two boxes to fit into the rear wheel arches and I have one 644 in each of them. I don't have a marine switch or anything fancy, just a huge 120A alternator and a 180A relay that handles the split charge. The front battery does the normal stuff such as starter and headlights while the two at the back handle the fridge, the inverter, the compressor, the auxiliary lights and the other toys.

The relay only kicks in when the alternator light on the dashboard's gone off and even if the two at the back were to go flat, the one at the front still holds charge to crank the engine.
 
bvudzichena said:
My 644 barely fits through the hole under the passenger seat. It fills the entire battery box.

How have you managed to fit two batteries in there? What batteries are they? Can one battery crank your engine or do you need both?

I'm not being pedantic, just curious. These big batteries I use aren't cheap and I'm always on the lookout for different ways to do things.

What I did was to put the one 644 under the passenger seat. I then made two boxes to fit into the rear wheel arches and I have one 644 in each of them. I don't have a marine switch or anything fancy, just a huge 120A alternator and a 180A relay that handles the split charge. The front battery does the normal stuff such as starter and headlights while the two at the back handle the fridge, the inverter, the compressor, the auxiliary lights and the other toys.

The relay only kicks in when the alternator light on the dashboard's gone off and even if the two at the back were to go flat, the one at the front still holds charge to crank the engine.
Click to expand...

I can tell you it's very tight in my battery box.
I did cut the side out at the bottom to give a flatter base.
In hindsight I should have removed the whole of the battery box bottom and made another base up about two inches deeper.
Or better still a complete new battery box without all the bendy sides and bits.
 
mmgemini said:
I can tell you it's very tight in my battery box.
I did cut the side out at the bottom to give a flatter base.
In hindsight I should have removed the whole of the battery box bottom and made another base up about two inches deeper.
Or better still a complete new battery box without all the bendy sides and bits.
Click to expand...

Just make sure there's enough space around the batteries for air to circulate. I'd hate to see your wife going up in smoke if one of those batteries were to explode :eek:

I once fitted a 644 (the story of my life is those batteries) to a series 3 and made a box to go into the base of the passenger seatbox. Once I started cutting into the box under the passenger seat I discovered that it was rotten, so the new box had to be modified, but it all worked out in the end.
 
Yep plenty room in there. :D
I keep a set of proper jump leads in there as well.
The guy at Farm Freezers in Windhoek complained when they repaired my fridge that the battery box had a lot of sand in it.The sand came in through the unused open battery lead holes. He wanted me to cover the holes which I wouldn't.:eek: :eek:

Another battery box trick.
Cover the inside of the lid.So it will still fit. With at least 12mm plywood.
That way you have a jack base for soft ground.
I also have a series hasp and staple to lock my battery box.
 
mmgemini said:
Another battery box trick.
Cover the inside of the lid.So it will still fit. With at least 12mm plywood.
Click to expand...

What a good idea!

Thank you. I've got some 18mm laminated pine from a shelving disaster laying about and I'll run it through the ticknesser and do this.

What fridge have you got in your truck? I have a National Luma, but it's OLD and I need to start looking for something that keeps beer cold and meat frozen to put into my offroad trailer.
 
bvudzichena said:
What a good idea!

Thank you. I've got some 18mm laminated pine from a shelving disaster laying about and I'll run it through the ticknesser and do this.

What fridge have you got in your truck? I have a National Luma, but it's OLD and I need to start looking for something that keeps beer cold and meat frozen to put into my offroad trailer.
Click to expand...

The one I had repaired was a Minus40. I had a lot of trouble with it. Also I think it flattened batteries very quickly. So Last October we bought an Engel 40 litre.
So far it hasn't been switched off since we fitted it. Also I've got a solar panel to help keep the battery up when we camp at lodges that have no electricity.

Have you not seen the pictures of my truck ??
Here it is

http://www.landroveraddict.com/smf/index.php?topic=340175.0

As you can see it's an ongoing project.:eek:
 
bvudzichena said:
How have you managed to fit two batteries in there? What batteries are they? Can one battery crank your engine or do you need both?
<SNIP by Lightbulb>QUOTE]

I've got a 110 AH 662 on the nearside (batt2 for cranking) and a much smaller battery (I think it's off a Metro?) on the offside (batt1, for winching and fridge running) of the underseat box. Both fit in OK.

Lightbulb
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