Experience with Gel-Tech batteries?

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fexlboi
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Experience with Gel-Tech batteries?

Post by fexlboi »

Went to Polar Battery today.
Try to find a leisure battery which I want to mount in the back of our Delica as a second battery for inverter, fridge, air-compressor etc. It should be also used to boost the vehicle if necessary. He recommended the Gel-Tech batteries (probably 31 or 27). Couldn't find much information about them online. I know they are produced by http://www.eastpenn-deka.com/

Have anybody some experience with this brand?
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wookie
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Re: Experience with Gel-Tech batteries?

Post by wookie »

Gel cell or absorbed glass mat (AGM). Is used for a deep cycle battery used in marine.
Not sure that brand, sounds expensive. Try Napa?

Boring tidbit,
sealed.http://www.fishingandboats.com/gel-cell-battery.html

But use a isolator, or 'diode pack'. Here's what i use in marine but maybe there's cheaper.
http://bluesea.com/category/2/productline/overview/386
Loc
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Re: Experience with Gel-Tech batteries?

Post by Loc »

I looked at Gel and AGM batteries and decided to get a lead acid deep cycle battery as our secondary battery because of the higher current output (we get 75 Amps X 12volts = 900Watts for 30 minutes for our battery) on the lead acid batteries and slightly better cranking performance at 0 degrees fahrenheit. We put the lead acid battery in a marine case and have that bolted in and are considering putting a metal case with side vent holes around it in case of an extreme accident.

Battery World has a good selection http://www.buyabattery.com/RV.html

I got my isolator at Canadian Tire for $40 and it works just fine. I had a switch wired in so that we could start the Deli off the second battery if necessary.

Let me know what you end up doing.

-Loc
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jessef
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Re: Experience with Gel-Tech batteries?

Post by jessef »

Polar Batteries has an amazing price on the Odyssey's.

They are one of the best gel batteries on the market today. Take a peek at them.

If you can, go down to the states and go to Sears.

They have the DieHard Platinum batteries (re-badged Odyssey's) for 1/2 the cost.

No venting. Excellent discharge/capacity properties.
jfarsang wrote:I went to Polar as well. Have been buying batteries there for a while.

Picked up one of these to replace the 'pair' in the Chamonix.

The one Odyssey battery is the equivalent to about 4-5 normal batteries + more. 1,500 cold crankin' amps for 5 seconds ! :shock:

http://www.odysseybatteries.com/battery ... series.htm

It doubles as a deep cycle battery as well. 4 year free replacement warranty. Can't beat that.

Came out to $210 + taxes for the PC1500 version with dual terminal posts.

Not bad considering the retail/list is $500 and current online is $350+

AGL (glass pack) can be mounted any orientation except inverted and US DOT and IATA certified non-spillable.

:M :M :M

Image

Review : 8-)

Odyssey Batteries use Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) Technology to offer the characteristics of two disparate battery designs. The Odyssey can deep cycle without damage, as well as provide enormous cranking power for starting and winching. Should an Odyssey Battery become deeply discharged, simply recharge it following the instructions in the owner's manual and it will be returned to full power.

Odyssey Batteries are completely sealed and do not leak. There is no fear of acid spillage, as Odyssey Batteries recycle the internal gas during operation and charging. With an Odyssey, you will not see your terminals or battery tray corrode as you would with standard batteries. Odyssey Batteries may be installed in any orientation except inverted without leakage or sacrificing performance attributes. The US Department of Transportation has certified Odyssey Batteries as a nonspillable item, so it may be shipped worry-free by air or overnight service if required.

The PC1500 is almost identical in size to the Group 34 sized Optima 750U Yellow Top Battery and the 800U Red Top Battery.

Unlike the 750U Yellow Top and 800U Red Top battery from Optima, the PC1500 operates as both a deep cycle and a starting battery, all in one.

The PC1500 may be deeply discharged multiple times without damage to the battery. :-D

A PC1500 has the best characteristics of the two Optima batteries in a single battery.

They have some neat accessories. I like their hold down tray.

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Re: Experience with Gel-Tech batteries?

Post by fexlboi »

Thanks for your recommendations.

The guy at Polar discouraged me from the Odysssey. He said it's one of the best batteries if you have just a single battery in your car, but as a leisure battery the Gel-Tech are better and cheaper. He also said, CCA are too much overrated. 500CCA are plenty for a Delica.
By the way Jay and I measured the amps needed for the start of my Deli. 257 amps exactly to get her going.

Because I'm going to mount the battery close the our bed, I don't want to deal with lead acid, even if its sealed.

I know KalTire has also the DieHard Platinum, but probably more expensive.

I'll have a look at Battery World as well in the next few days.
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Re: Experience with Gel-Tech batteries?

Post by jessef »

Pulled this from a battery specific site. Interesting that Optima has gone through so many changes.

Would shed some light on why there are so many negative post/reviews on the net these days regarding the newly built one's overseas.

Unfortunate for the USA workers and the quality run down.
Its official now. I have worked at Optima Batteries for 11 years. In 2000, Johnson controls bought Optima and immediatly began construction of a plant in mexico. We were told that our U.S. plant could not produce enough product so the plant in mexico would be to supply Europe. Slowly but surely, our product lines began being transferred to mexico. Then the week before Thanksgiving, we were told that the U.S. plant will be closed Jan.24 2009. Just thought you all would like to know.

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/80164 ... exico.html#

http://cbs4denver.com/local/Optima.Batt ... 74937.html
Optima brand batteries, that are now made exclusively off shore or over the border, have gone downhill for YEARS.

Unlike Odyssey, which uses pure virgin lead, Optimas at some point reportedly began using recycled lead. I don't know if this began when JCI (Johnson Controls) took over in 2000, or when that Swedish company bought Optima back in 1994 or so.

Recycled lead doesn't hold up like virgin pure lead. But it sure costs less.

Up until at least 1993, Optima's were using pure lead, and they were the best battery available at the time. The technology spiracell used in Optima batteries was protected by patent, and that patent was owned by a subsidiary of the Gates Corporation, which invented this battery back in 1967. This same group, through a series of sales, acquisitons, and spin-offs is now part of Enersys Corporation, as the Odyessy group.

The Optima brand was sold twice, and the brand that made a solid name for itself in the '70's, and even more so in the '80s, was leveraged by each buyer to capitalize on the consumer's awareness and perception of quality, with cost cutting measures to generate more profits. The end result is what we have today... the Optima battery that still enjoys a lingering "mystique" of being "the best", while suffering the malignment of being built like the worst.

The Optima's former stellar reputation has been supplanted by stone cold reality. Optima's are NOT the best. They are a sucker's battery, riding on a tailwind of an illustrious past, and not worth the price they fetch at Sam's Club, much less the premium they charge at the speed shops.
RaddCruisers
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Post by RaddCruisers »

wookie wrote:Gel cell or absorbed glass mat (AGM). Is used for a deep cycle battery used in marine.
Not sure that brand, sounds expensive. Try Napa?

Napa Canada batteries are made by East Penn-Deka. We sell lots of these and they are very good.

If you want more details, call me, I can probably fill in a few of the gaps on what is good and what is not so good.

John
E4 Auto Repair Ltd.
& Radd Cruisers 4WD
Duncan, BC
250 746 8977
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