Which Optima to get???

[Big Red]

I have a yellow top in my 91' wheeler XJ with a winch, 5 sets of rock lights, etc and it has been great. I haven't wheeled for a while like 3 months and it was completely dead, I charged it up overnight and it was fine in the morning. Now my conventional battery in my 98' ZJ croaked and I want to get a Optima for it. It is stock but I do run my stereo at lunch 30-45 minutes without running my motor and I think that is what did the conv. battery in over time. I was wondering if the yellow top would be good to use for my dd zj and then I was thinking of getting a new blue top for my wheeler xj. Does the blue top have more vibration protection than the red or yellow top? I know it has an extra posts and that it has the wing nuts so U can run alot of accessories off of it. I bought the wing nut conversion kit for a few $ at Autozone for my yellow top and I like how I can wing nut all my accessories down.

My question is because I don't have my XJ now and will not for a month, can I use the blue top for a little bit as a dd battery in my ZJ? Do U need to use the wing nuts or does the battery have conventional posts coming out of the battery itself with the wing nut clamps on the posts so U can use them or not? I wanted to get the Deep Cycle blue top like my yellow top. I also do some deep water crossing like on the Fordyce trail so I think I really need the blue top DC over my yellow top, is the blue top totally water proof where I could almost submerge it in water and it would still work???

Sorry for the long post, hope this makes sence. :wierd:
Troy

 

[casm]

I have a yellow top in my 91' wheeler XJ with a winch, 5 sets of rock lights, etc and it has been great. I haven't wheeled for a while like 3 months and it was completely dead, I charged it up overnight and it was fine in the morning.

Odd... Do you have an earth leak somewhere, or was it run low and not fully recharged prior to parking? I know people who store theirs for this long in their XJs on a regular basis, and have no problems with starting up after storage. They usually disconnect the battery terminals if they're going to be laying it up for more than a few days, though.

I was wondering if the yellow top would be good to use for my dd zj and then I was thinking of getting a new blue top for my wheeler xj.

For the use you're talking about, you should be fine. I've run my stereo off of the yellowtop before for two hours (note: this was only an Alpine head unit - no amps or other stuff) and been able to start right up. Mind you, about the only other thing putting load on it at that time was a cellphone charger, so YMMV if you run more stuff off of it with the engine off.

Does the blue top have more vibration protection than the red or yellow top?

My understanding is that they have marginally more vibration protection, but are really designed for sporadic use followed by longer periods of storage compared to the yellow/red tops. I'm by no means an authority on this, though, so take that for what it's worth.