Quote:
Originally Posted by Flathead Fever
I would put a 6V Optima battery in it. Definitely not the cheapest but they seem to hold up the longest judging what people have said about them. Unfortunately, I haven't tested that theory out. I bought one over a year ago to put in a stock Model A but then I had a stroke. Now that you have reminded me, I think I'll go out there and stick slow charge on it and hope it's still good. Too many collector cars and a damaged brain to maintain them all with.
Because the GEL battery has a different charging rate as a regular batter you need to study up on the charging of Optima batteries, they are different than the standard battery. I bought a special charger just for doing these types of batteries. Very low amperage charge, kind of like a trickle charger. I've read they can also have problems charging if they sit for a very long time which I'm about to go charge up that one in the garage and hope it comes to life. If it's bad, it's not Optima's fault, its mine. It was new a 1 1/2 years ago and it's never been charged.
I'm back. I almost forget to charge the battery. I was feeding the chickens and looked over at the garage and remembered. Just in an hour I had almost forgotten what it was I was going to do and I'm only 63, not 93. Stupid Stroke!!!! Anyway, I was working on all kinds of stuff on that Model A Roadster at the time of my stroke. I had bought it years ago and parked it in the garage with all the other future projects. I bought the Optima battery for it and then I had a stroke. The battery was in it, hooked up and t's been that way over a year since I last started it, I figured it would be dead. Nope, it cranks away. Hooked up the charger and it says it needs a charge which is expected, so I'll leave the charger on it for a day. I might need to change the fuel in the car since it's been so long.
I was mechanic for the phone company for 30-years. We had a cabinet with at least 20 new batteries in it and about 400 vehicles in the yard to maintain. The company put out different stuff for a bid every couple of years. One year a company won the CA battery contract. Their batteries would only last a year, they were absolute junk. Imagine the cost of not only replacing the batteries but having trucks towed back to the shop. Not to mention the downtime of the drivers. The mechanics tried to argue with them, and it didn't matter. What mattered was they could manipulate the paperwork to show the savings they had made switching to these batteries, so they got their bonuses. That's how big business works. When I retired, they had been using Interstate batteries for as few years. Those batteries held up really well. It's worth paying for the best.
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I greatly appreciate your post and can relate to it.
I have a 10 year old optima battery that worked well until recently.
My charger said fully charged but noticed a sluggish starter and attributed it to the new starter but now realized that it must be the battery. My horn made a disappointing low sound. I think my optima 10 year old finally called it quits. Time goes by so fast, even when you are not having fun.