Was reading fast track and it says that those optima batteris will now be legal in IT? Woohoo, they finally have joined the 20th century. My last battery nearly ate my front cover from spewing acid in the corners. Ruined my nice polishing job too. Finally they see the light on an obvious saftey issue.

 

Yep Gel Cels are legal and they got rid of some of the goofy wording about same size, type etc. Tow hooks are required now as well.

Carl, you really need to hang out over at www.improvedtouring.com more

 

Yea I know. I just been outta the game for a while so I dont go there much anymore.

 

FWIW- Optima's are NOT Gel-Cells, they are spiral wound plate, sealed Lead-Acid batteries. The Acid is retained by a special fabric matt in between the sprials of the lead plates. Gel-Cells are a type of Ni-Cad battery that use a silicon(iirc) gell based electrolyte as opposed to a paste type electrolyte.

 

Thanks for the clarificaton. I didnt know that.

 

Optimas are better than gels though in my opinion. We sell them at our marine dealership, and installed one in our FB race car. Due to other requirements, this year did not run the car. it sat for a year and with no charging still had power to start the car. Also, due to the spiral cell contruction, are a LOT tougher and impervious to vibration and impacts. Although you pay a little weight penalty, they are worth it to me. Can discharge to practically nothing, like 1V and still recharge to full capacity. Also, as you mentioned, it will not leak out, as they show demonstrations of it working upside down, even under water. of course if your car battery if below water, that is probably the least of your worries. LOL Ask for any other questions you might have.

Cheers,
Travis

 

Somebody write it down! We can use it against him later!

 

I thought GelCells were the same as regular sealed lead acid batteries, just the acid was in a gelatinous state... Same type of batteries they use in Uninterruptable Power Supplies and Alarm backup batteries...