OPTIMA Blue Top battery for RVs

[newthings]

My experience is with the Optima Yellow D34/78 model.
I have just under 7 years in my wifes’ Safari Van in Oregon. I have 5 years on a red top in the VX. Fingers crossed.

The yellow is a deep cycle and seems the same as the blue marine battery in performance. The marine has a small additional post next to the normal top posts. I have a blue D34 with offset coils in my boat. I like the top and side post models, so I can swap into anything when others need help. Only the red and yellow models have this option.

The deep cycle models have more matt gap between coiled plates and can take “many” deep cycles without performance loss. The red has a thinner matt gap and can take at least 12 deep cycles with no harm. A thinner matt means more room for metal plates in the same package, so more starting amps. It’s a trade off.

The yellow D34/28 has 75 amp hours.
The yellow costs $170 plus $32 shipping on EBAY. I can pick up and save $32.
The yellow is 6.9 x 10” and weighs 43 lbs.
www.optimabatteries.com

The Lifeline model GBL245 comes closest in size to the usual size at 6.8 x 11.1”, and weighs 58 lbs. Fit could be a problem.
The cost is $247 plus shipping. A larger size and weight has a higher amp hour rate of 80 amp hours.

Roy

[kpaske]

I give a big thumbs down on the Blue Top Optimas. For the past several years, my VX has become more of a weekend vehicle than a daily driver, so I thought it would make sense to purchase a battery designed to hold a charge for a longer period of inactivity. The Blue Top was supposed to be the best available.

Apparently quality control has dropped considerably because I've heard many great things about Optimas purchased over 5 years ago - many are still in use today and working out great. My experience has not been so good - my first one died after a little over a year, and was replaced under warranty. The second one died a little over a year later, shortly after my original two year warranty ran out so I decided to go with an Autozone Duralast. This battery also seems to die on me in the dead of winter, every winter, but Autozone's 5 year warranty gives me a fresh, brand new battery every year at a much better price. So do the math - two batteries in two years for what, about $130 (Optima) vs. five batteries in five years for about $80 (Duralast). Same reliability at $65 per battery, or $16 per battery? I'm in the Zone.