looking for good value auxillary battery

[Wil Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Wil]

looking for recommendations for a good value battery to replace my optima 55ah yellow top.

looking for more storage.

i have a battery tray in the usual space behind the drivers side light, it is fed by the simple red arc solinoid and i have installed the voltage booster thingy to get the alternator working harder.

main use is running a 40L engel as a freezer for extended trips

Cheers,

[[email protected] Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close [email protected]]

Hi. I also run a 40L Engel and have 55ah yellow top. I find it enough for short trip. The yellow top can discharge by more percentage than other battery. The norman battery's percentage is less than 50%, if you care about your battery long-term performance.
My understanding is 55ah is not too bad in capacity, and it weighs still less than those big volume one. If your battery still performs ok and you want more intensive use, buy a good solar panel to charge it. In sunny days, the fridge use more power but the panel also produce more electricity.

[120D4D Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 120D4D]

Buying a cheap 100ah wet-cell deep and only being able to use less than 50% isn't much of a benefit over a 55ah optima for which you can use most of it.

The optima will also charge much faster than said wet-cell and you already have the ideal set-up of an isolator and voltage booster.

I'd be sticking with what you have.

[Snoo Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Snoo]

I wouldn't be running a yellow top below 50% too often imo, and AGM's don't like being under the hood.

You could look at a century 89t but I guess it depends on what you can afford. There are plenty of good deep cycle fla batteries but you get what pay for.

[drivesafe Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close drivesafe]

Hi Snoo, while most Deep Cycle batteries, AGM or Wet Cell, do not tolerate being discharged below 20% SoC ( 11.56v ) to avoid harming them, you can discharge a Optima Yellowtop or a Lead Crystal batteries down to 0% SoC without harming them.

[Snoo Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Snoo]

We use 75ah yellow tops in the mine and they aren't anything special. Better than most though I admit. AGM's have a lot of advantages but aren't suited for engine bays.

The OP should consider looking at a decent flooded lead acid deep cycle battery.

[120D4D Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 120D4D]

the Yellow Tops are dual purpose and warranted for use as cranking batteries - well suited for engine bays.
Not sure about all the Blue Tops though.

[Snoo Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Snoo]

Go for it 👍

[drivesafe Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close drivesafe]

Hi again Snoo, and sorry mate but you are generalising.

Most AGMs are nothing more than glorified Standby batteries and may not tolerate high heat or currents found in an engine bay, whereas Optima batteries are genuine AUTOMOTIVE grade batteries and can be safely used as a direct replacement for any cranking battery.

This means they WILL tolerate the same heat and high currents that any other AUTOMOTIVE battery is designed to tolerate.

[Snoo Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Snoo]

Good news👍

[matt12 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close matt12]

The best non-lithium batteries are Odyssey or Northstar.

Some may consider that they are not necessarily 'good value' at $400-500 each.