Ive searched thru the forums of the past, but to no avail. What is the difference between the stock battery i have in my 04 Cavalier and a red/yellow top, I see in other peoples cars. Is this just for looks or are there performance gains from them? I mean its just a battery right?
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they are deep cycle batteries. meaning you can turn on your car to play the radio and not have the battery drain on you. thats all i really remember. they are good if you have an audio system
Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!
99redz24 wrote:they are deep cycle batteries. meaning you can turn on your car to play the radio and not have the battery drain on you. thats all i really remember. they are good if you have an audio system
Not quite. A deep cycle battery is able to be drained, and recharged, and it will not wreck the battery. The red/yellow top batteries are good in that way. They are gel filled, so they can be tipped around, and won't spill. The electrolite charge also remains more constant, and the freezing temperature is ALOT lower with gel batteries.
Gel batteries are also alot more resistant to inpact, and vibration (one major advantage in the 4x4 world)
The metal electron plates are also completely seperate and sealed on a good gel cel battery. While on a convetional battery, the electrolite fuild can be transfered between each internal cel. So a gel battery could be cracked, and still work, unlike a conventional fluid filled battery.
The deep-cylce factor should not be a huge concern in the automotive world, because a battery should not be completely drained. A properly working alternator or generator would be able to continue keeping the battery fully charged aswell as create enough energy for the vehicle. Although on a boat or RV this would be worth while, since the battery would be used for running accessories, when not generator is present.
All in all, a yellow top/ red top battery basically will last longer, take more abuse, and be more dependable. That's why so many people use them. It does not create more horse-power or improve stereo function.
get a yellow top if you upgrade your system...like a sub etc...if you just get new speakers you should be fine with the AC delco unless they are some high watt expensive sh*t haha
yellow tops suck mine went bad after 4 months . the only reason i still have one is because it had a 2 year replacment on it. and its not the first one that has gone bad on me
^^^^ lol you sure it was a optima??? Ive never heard any complaints.
yep the yellow tops i have heard alot of bad things and also alot of good things
I've had my red top for over a year, i leave my neon under body lights on, my stereo playing, one day my headlights were left on for at least 6 hours, when i discovered this i immediatly jumped in the car and started it and while being slightly sluggish it fired right up, impressive is an understatement. all the local guys i know run optimas as well for audio and performance and amongst the local short track dirt racers 90% of them use optima batteries because they have the ability to take a beating and come back. One guy i know slid the back of his car out hit the wall back first so hard it threw his fuel cell and battery down the track several yards from his car, after scooping up his parts and peicing his car back together for the next weekend he threw the same battery in his car and it worked perfect, that battery has been in his car for a full race season since and this in a modified.
Reliability proven in my book, and no Optima batteries are not gel they are spiral cell sealed batteries, Gel batteries work very well to.
Oh and for performance, when i dumped off my crappy factory delco battery for my red top my car seemed to rev alittle easier and the bass hit harder, batteries do make a difference.
J~
keep in mind that thier are 2 types of yellow tops ones with drak cases and ones with lighter
just make sure you get the lighter case one
Had a Red Top for about 4 months & the freakin' thing died on me!! Maybe it was a bad battery.....
Theres a guy with a Tiburon around here with a optima and he leaves his neons on every single night. Everytime I drive past his house his car is in his driveway with blue underbodys on.
lol, that sounds like a really good idea...
When i got my yellow top, my lights stopped dimming when my sub hit.
^^^ i hope thats not your sig, cause its too big
ok, i'm bringing this back up becuase i'm in need of a new battery. Here is whats going down...
My factory battery (from the GM dealership back in 01 [yes it's lasted this long]) is FINALLY dying...and quickly it seems. car doesn't always want to start on cold days (2 days this week i was late for work cuz i had to roll it down my hill and drop the clutch
)
On my way home from work today i figured i'd stop by Walmart (yes i know, i never buy anything from here but it was close and i know they have batteries so i figured...eh, why not....a red top is a red top no matter where you go, right?)
They told me i should not use a Red Top becuase it has such a high amperage output for cranking the engine (1000 versus the 875 that my starter accepts) and i thought to myself....But theres loads of guys using them on the jbo...i don't get it...so i walked away wondering if there really is much more to choosing a battery then i originally thought.
I'll be honest, i know next to nothing about what battery to use. Any advise?
The "mechanics" (i use quotations because really...anyone can work there) told me i'd have to change out my current starter for a bigger one. Thats when i looked at the guy like...."are you retarded? Does Optima not make a lower amperage deep cycle?"...they answered no....
I need a new batter by monday at the latest. anyone, please?
right top will work fine
the starter is only going to draw XXX amps no matter if the battery is capable of 875 or 1000 or 50000000
Just becasue your cav is limited to 108 MPH does that mean your driving 108 mph every time you use it? Just becasue your cav has a 14 gallon tank does that mean you need to plan your trip to use all 14 gallons before a fill up? No, same kinda theory applies to the battery, it will only put out as much amps as the load is drawing, it doesn't go full out all the time.
hope that makes sense, its late and I'm tired lol
ahh, that makes complete sence! Thanks man. I honestly don't understand why i second guess myself sometimes...especially to Wal-Mart employees.....man i feel dumb.
The help is much appreciated, thanks!
oh, 1 more thing..all red top/yellow tops are sealed correct? I will be re-locating the battery to the trunk over christmas to make room for my intercooler piping.
Yeah, they are sealed.
And I second/third/fourth/fifth (whatever number it's at now) the Optima being crap. I finally was able to get rid of that piece of @!#$ battery from both my Sunfire and Cav. Wouldn't hold a charge overnight (even replaced 3 times in the Fire and 2 times in the Cav under warranty.... all yellow tops). No abnormal parasitic draws either. It was a gamble to see if my car would start in the morning. Switched back to a standard battery and haven't had a problem since
i had a yellow in the silver cav and a red in the tan cav and never had any issues with either
Kardain wrote:Yeah, they are sealed.
And I second/third/fourth/fifth (whatever number it's at now) the Optima being crap. I finally was able to get rid of that piece of @!#$ battery from both my Sunfire and Cav. Wouldn't hold a charge overnight (even replaced 3 times in the Fire and 2 times in the Cav under warranty.... all yellow tops). No abnormal parasitic draws either. It was a gamble to see if my car would start in the morning. Switched back to a standard battery and haven't had a problem since
this is how most of my optima customers would rate their experience.
car audio noob since 1984.
yeah as much bad as ive heard even though ive never had an issue with the several ive owned, apparetly their reliablity has taken a downward sprial. weren't they bought out about 5 years ago? new owners must be cutting some corners.
to thrice, think of your power outlets at your house. you just plug it into the wall and it take the power it needs . like a 20 watt ligh bulb wont pull the power that a microwave or hair dryer will. same thing goes for batteries. it sounds like they were just tyring to get you to buy a new starter.
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