Thread: Optima battery

I had Optima batteries (standard gel) in one of my old boats. They were good batteries but I replaced all of my boat batteries with AGM batteries (Absorbed Glass mat). Optima does make them so if you are referring to these as your Optima batteries then I apoligize. Unlike a standard Acid or gel battery, these are all enclosed. They DO NOT discharge, can be charged hundreds of times, and can be mounted in any orientation you want (upside down, left, right, on its head).

I live in Michigan and my lake boat (not the river boat) is stored in my barn starting in December (or when the ice hits the lakes). Tempuratures have been down to -15 for several days and yet this battery still has a full charge on it unlike the standard acid battery that is completely dead. Another nice feature of an AGM battery is that you can plug in a battery charger, and if you forget about it, it will not overcharge or cause harm to the battery (ACID batteries tend to overcharge and then you only get a 75% charge after that).

I have a 12v trolling motor and my AGM will run this for two days without completely depleting it (this is NOT two days of solid running, but you get the idea). I looked at optima AGM and thought they were overpriced. I ended up buying mine from Cabelas. They ship them right to your door and you can litteraly plug them in and they have a full charge.

Word of caution: If you have a charging system on board your boat, make sure that it is rated to charge an AGM battery. For that matter, ensure that any charger you are hooking to it will charge AGM. When I installed my duel bank onboard charger I ensured that it would do both AGM and gel/acid (most new ones do)

Hope this helps

Optimas' in my 5th wheel and one for the trolling motor, that never gets used anymore. Never had a negative thought about them.