Optima Batteries

Improvements in lead-acid batteries have been slow in coming over the past 80 years. We're still using the same, basic chemistry to store energy in cars and boats that our great grandfathers used. But over the past decade, military demands for sturdier, more dependable batteries have led to two vast improvements. One is called cylindrical cell design. The other is called AGM -- or "absorbed glass mat" technology.

Optima batteries have both. Cylindrical Cell Design incorporates thin lead sheets instead of thick lead plates. This quadruples the surface area for chemical reaction -- leading to more power more quickly, twice the cycle life, and better faster recharge capability than any standard battery design. Absorbant glass mats are placed between these sheets of lead, which are rolled into a cylinder. The glass mats never let the spiral sheets dry or crack, and acid can't spill. These batteries can be mounted sideways or upside down -- having no effect on performance.

The two main killers of boat batteries are vibration and heat. Big waves make plates in a standard battery wobble, touch each other, and short out. In Optima batteries, that's virtually impossible. Heat builds quickly in battery storage spaces -- but Optima batteries incorporate a unique venting system that prevents pressure build up and allows the battery to cool quickly. All-in-all, it's a much better battery than grandpa had.

Click here for more info...