I was getting my oil changed the other day and I told my mechanic I was planning on getting a yellow top Optima as a replacement for my stock battery. He said to get a red top instead because the deep cycle battery will not last as long for audio equipment and I may have some problems starting the car at times. (I'm not sure any of that made sense...)

My real question is what is the main difference between a yellow top and a red top other then the cycle properties? I don't ever plan on running the stereo when the car is not on. I still have the stock alternator (which I may replace sometime) and an ok battery (575cca @ 0deg).

I guess I should describe my (soon to be installed) system too. I am running 0ga wire from the battery to a dist. block. From there I am going to run 4ga to a voltmeter and then to 2 1.2 farad caps (I know, I know, caps are worthless. I am putting them in there for looks) then running 4ga to 2 1000w amps (one 2ch for the 2 12" subs in a ported bandpass box, one 4ch for all 4 interior 6.5s). I have replaced my HU with a pioneer AVH-P500MP CD/DVD player and I have 4 new Pioneer TS-A1681R components all around. I'm not planning on competing, so I probably won’t ever turn the radio on without the car being on except for maybe a couple of seconds.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

Well, your mechanic is a bit misinformed..its not the audio that would kill the yellow top, its your alt..deep cycle batteries don't like getting fast charged...which is why a lot of RVs have a combonation isolator/regulator for their cabin battery. What the regulator part does, is reduce the charge rate of your alt to the auxillary battery..the isolator part lets the cabin battery get drawn from without killing the starting battery.

*edit* i should have mentioned that i'm NOT suggesting you use dual batteries with an isolator/regulator..i'd suggest you use a red top up front, or just a normal wet cell up front with a red top in the back...a lot of people use yellow tops successfully though. A yellow top has a higher reserve capacity than a red top, which is key if you're running the stereo with the car off..

 

Yeah, I am really trying to stay away from the whole dual battery system if at all possible. Thanks for the info.

 

yellow tops are useless unless you like to show off your stereo with just the battery.... Otherwise get the redtop they are better starting batteries in any case. I have the red top with 1000 cca. It works great i have almost no dimming in my setup and im running phoenix gold 1200.1 \alpine 4 chan 60x4 rms. I also have 2 caps though. But then again i have 3 12" jl audio w3v2.

 

no offence-I'd take a YT over those 2 caps of yours that do absolutly nothing. If anything is useless, its those 2 paperweights

 

there are a select few caps that are VERY useful, even though all they are is an overpriced flashy small sealed battery that claim to be the equivalent of a 500 farad cap...and even they don't do jack without GROUNDING THE HELL OUT OF IT ALL

 

Grounding is the key!!!! Go with the red-top under the hood. Had mine on an 800 watt system with a 55 Amp alternator for 11 years without failing in 115+ degree desert heat all the way down to -20 degree cold in Colorado winters. The yellow-top cannot take the charge that the red-top can. Although the yellow-top does have it's cycle time advantages when the car is off.

 

I have the yellow top Optima in Sentra with 2 amps and have had no problem ever starting. The yellow top keeps a consitant voltage at all times.

 

i have a yellow top and about 1800 alpine watts RMS running. Never had any problems. whenever i start the car im always at 14.2 or 14.3 volts. never dips below 12.4 when im blasting the stereo in traffic with a/c on full blast. I say go with the yellow top.

 

the red top will do the same thing, and your alt WILL eventually eat the yellow top if you don't regulate the charge rate. a yellow top is just as succeptable to fast charge damage as any other marine battery.

 

how would one regulate the charge rate?

 

I was just looking for the thing I found and considered when I put my everstart marine battery in my trunk (which has been replaced under warranty 3 times), but I couldn't find the exact one..somthing like This would work though. Its not just an isolator, it also controls the current going to each battery to prevent overcharging/overheating of the batteries..I'll look around some more and see if I can find EXACTLY what I wanted to find..

 

Here's another good choice..both of my suggestions are ideal for dual battery systems, but I'm sure you could use them for single battery systems with some time spent studying some wiring options...of course, you could just buy a yellow top, hook it up, and forget about it..if you NEVER play the stereo with the car off, a red top will do just as well..if you play the stereo with the car off frequently, it wouldn't be a bad idea to get the yellow top instead, since deep cycling a red top would do more harm than your alt charging a YT too fast..

 

So, my headunit will play DVD's so I figure im gonna play them while the car is off, so a Yellow Top would be a good choice? Sorry, got a little confused there...

 

yep, get a yellow top..the newer YTs arn't as bad as the older ones from about 5 years ago were (or the blue tops [marine deep cycle only] have always been) about frying from overcharging..I'd bet as long as your alt doesn't keel over, a YT will last as long as a standard wet cell battery would..but if you ever have a dead battery, slow charge it to atleast 3/4 capacity if possible