Optima Battery

[psychos2]

Well, your old battery was probably on its last legs but it still sounds as if you have a phantom load somewhere. The Blue Top is the marine flavor of Optima and not ideally suited to an automotive starting role, but will work. The Yellow Top is the automotive version of the marine Blue Top, and with either you should be able to run a light accessory such as OEM audio overnight without worry.

Definitely check your load though to see how much is being drawn with everything off, that may be what caused or helped your conventional battery to fail.

I have the blue top marine batt and it works just fine. The extra posts are awesome for hooking up amps,lights,etc. Why would the blue top not be good for starting a car? Boats start the same way a car does! There was another reason for getting the blue top marine batt for me, IT WAS FREE!! So was the one I put in my brothers car. As far as there being a load , it is possible ,but if the batt was junk That was more likely your problem. shawn

[transio]

I'm running a Yellow Top.

Not only is it the best battery I've ever had, but even better, it matches the color of my Proton!

[Joe_Black]

Why would the blue top not be good for starting a car?

My statement was incorrect and based on outdated information. I've just learned that the 34M Blue Top is a 2nd generation Optima and is constructed to the same standard as the Yellow and Red Top batteries.

The original Blue Top, from what I understand, was built a little lighter (less vibration in typical marine environment) and formulated more toward a traditional deep-cycle usage curve. The popularity of this particular model in the RV market is what likely led to the improvements.

Sorry for the error on my part!