allright, looking for a better battery than the one i have and my mechanic is telling me to go with a gel optima battery. he has 2 4x4's with much louder systems than i run in my max, i have a 450 watt 6 channel jl amp with a 12 inch e-series sub and jl speakers inside. hes got a yellow top in his blazer with an 1100 watt system and hes got a cap too. im not doin a cap right now, plus my system only dims the headlights when i crank up the bass. which model of yellow top should i get??? specifically, which model #??? thanks.....

 

Hey bud -

You really don't NEED a battery with your particular system, but if you still want one, the size is 75/35. I have a red top and it serves my purposes.

If you're dimming through, chances are you need to upgrade your power wiring.

And, don't EVER get a cap.

 

hey dude, whats up nilesh. as for the battery, i just wanted to try this cause its draining the battery when its parked. why never on the cap???? my mechanic says its not gonna help that much, to try the battery first. as for the wiring, your talking about grounds i'm assuming, and they're all tight. what else???

 

Get it here, they're the cheapest I've found. www.1st-optima-batteries.com/

 

^^^ actually, i found 1 at advanced auto and the guy's hookin me up with a yellow top for 169.00 plus tax which i know is at least 25.00 cheaper than anuwhere else. thanks for the info

 

I'm talking about power wires mainly, but grounds as well. Upgrade your big 3 wires, make sure your power wires for the amps are adequate, etc.

 

I got my yellow top for 172.00 shipped from that site.

 

well, 179.50 out the door, and i did'nt want to deal with waiting cause my battery died 2 times in a week. advanced auto, put it in in 5 minutes, i'm happy!!!

 

i got mine for $155 from autozone, my friend cousin gave me her employee discount

 

^^^^ what is this, the battle of who got the best deal???? considering i did'nt even know the guy at advanced auto, i got the best deal cause he was a total stranger.....

 

did it solve your dimming problem?

 

CHIRAG??? is that you? don't tell me you got a max.

 

? why never a cap?

 

capacitors are merely an expensive band aid for an underlying electrical issue.
for more information check out the following threads:

http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/...&KW=capacitors
http://forum.realmofexcursion.com/sh...ad.php?t=17970

these will give you insight into the electrical theory and disprove the use of capacitors. Save up for a higher output alternator.

 

now thats good stuff!!!! thanks

 

yeah, i've read that a higher output alternator and re-grounding everytrhing will improve your cars ability to handle a system with ease. any links as to what type of alternator and voltage that should go in without breaking the bank????

 

no, my headlights are still dimming when i crank up the bass, obviously a new alty is next for me.

 

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=554706

 

I paid $167.99 + tax at costco in 2006...still have the receipt next to me. Plus, you can ruin your battery and costco gives you a new one, OR gives you a full refund.

 

question being is did you put a replacement oem alternator in or aftermarket
??? and how much and where did you get it??

 

I highly doubt you need a higher output alternator. People here are running a LOT more than you are and still have oem alty's. Like I said, upgrade your wiring and THEN see what happens.

 

wish i knew how nilesh, and wish i had the money. lookin at doin a rad support replacement and a tranny very soon. and thats gonna be 2,000 minimum.

 

Interesting links, great reads. Read through everything very slowly and won't lie, I don't think I get it. Some of my confusion stems from years of personal experiences where adding a single 1f cap stablized my system, eliminated dimming lights, and stopped the dropping of engine RPM's due to increased strain upon the alternator. So, I'm not sure then how my cap is not benifiting my system.

After thorough reading, I believe I get the concepts of loss and role/limitations of the cap in an automotive DC system. I enjoyed the example given of the "real world" test on a system in a car with and without components. However, if I read it correctly, even this test and the "lessons" prove that a capacitor is helpful to some degree. The real world test example resulted in smoother peaks/troughs in power throughout the system, indicating to me that a cap acts as a "shock absorber." I imagine a system without a cap would be much like driving a car without struts, driving the car would be rough and over a distance, would result in damage to areas of the car, tires, and drive train.

So, much like a heavy demanding system would create turmoil on an electrical system, the cap acts to soften the impacts of sudden increased demands upon that system. Additionally, given the inherent factor repeatedly stated, the ability of the capacitor to dishcarge "instantly" also allows it to recharge instantly. This is a function that I understood the battery to be incapable of. Seems a cap would further reduce the "friction" or build of heat and subsequently increases resistance due to heavy demand.

The only thing I feel I've learned is that caps don't do/function as much as most of us have been led to believe. Still not convinced caps are not helpful. I'm stuck wondering of the examples/demands given are not just examples of scenarios when caps are useless. Given that my system is not so large as pulling 300amps, closer to less than 90 peak (based on fuses for both amps, LOL) then a cap would be of more help to me than the person with that huge a need. Example: If a cap produces X watts support to a system. Then, my system at peak would require X-2 support, then the cap would be great for me. But, if I have a huge system that requires X+10 to support, then of course a cap is useless. If I'm just missing "it," just tell me to move on.

 

a cap only takes 1 thump and does'nt hold a charge per say. the battery's still pullin the weight of the system. it does help to some extent, but ive seen headlights dim with a cap before. i'm just learning that you turn the bass down to even out the sound rather than blow your speakers to turn it up. and, with the new pioneer i dropped in there last july i have a ton of ways to agkust the bass.

 

i was runnin 10ga power wire for my subs which are 2 12's and i had dimmin issues so i upgraded it to 0ga yea i had to drill a hole in the floor bored but hey no more dimmin

 

ya, this is my point. im only thumpin with 1 12 inch alpine sub and not 2. also, i only have a 450 watt jl amp and think i could add thicker connection wires, but will it eliminate the dimming completely??

 

450 watts is nothing...do the big 3 and get a yellowtop like you said and youre done.

 

look at the pic above, got the yellowtop last week.

 

It's really not that hard, and won't cost you more than ~$40 in materials.

edit: maybe another $20-30, if you upgrade the wiring going to your amp(s)

 

would any car audo shop know how to do this w/o f'in up my wiring??? i would only trust a custom install place anyway. i think it would be more than 40.00 in materials from what i've heard.

 

They should if they know what they're doing, but by saying that I'm opening a HUGE can of worms. All you're doing is upgrading your big 3. There's a plethora of information out there about doing it.

My price estimate stands, give or take $10.

 

4th gen guys with optima battery, do you guys have to replace the connector terminals? or do the stock ones fit right on the optima battery?

 

you tell me.

 

Well I couldn't tell if those were the stock connector on not from the pics. But now assume they are. Thing I question is why would most get the yellow top when It only offers a 1year warranty. I know its deep cycle and all but what's key to me is R.c. which between the red and the yellow they are close. am I missing anything ? I guess ita all a preference and what its being used for.

 

the more i read about batteries and specs the more i realize theres a lot of hype involved. its hard to justify these mainstream spiral batteries when others can offer the same/better performance at a much lower price. the main difference is advertised as longevity, but between 2 optimas... i dunno. also, one has to wonder why, if they're supposed to last so much longer, the warranty is so short. i have observed the failure rate seems to be higher on the red tops though (vs. the yellows).

 

At least with the red top you have a 3 year warranty. I checked out the Diehard platinum and it has better warranty (4 year compared to red top 3) as well as better r.c. but It is about $50 more expensive. Im leaning towards the Redtop, I spoke to a rep at Autozone regarding the Optimas and he said If I got it through them it would be six year warranty. Im not sure if he knew what he was talking about. He also said the Yellow top was a better battery. So if I go the red top route I would be needing the 35 or the 34/78 correct? 4th Gen

 

Yellow top vs red top is not better nor worse battery, it's a different battery altogether.

Yellow top is a deeper cycle than a red top.

 

You should go with a yellow top.

 

personally I don't see deep cycle being that big a deal unless you are running your Audio system heavily for long periods of time with the engine off constantly discharging the battery below a certain percentage aka deep cycling.

 

optima power top is the way to go.