I am ready to buy a sealed battery to mount behind the passengers seat. I can get a yellow top at Costco for about $175 or a Odyssey 680 for about $95. The Odyssey is much lighter but also much less reserve capacity. I am leaning toward the Optima to be able to run the electric fan between autoX runs in the CA central valley heat without worry over running the battery down.
Anyone have experience with either of these batterys? Or with other gel or orbital type batterys like westco or Exide Orbital? Any advice or "heads up" will be welcome.

 

I have never run either. But I do know that the Exide is not a gel battery but is still a sealed battery that will not leak even if punctured and is less than the optima. But alot of guys on the forum like the optima. If you are concerned about having the extra amperage for the electrical fan then the focus should be on the alt upgrade also. The battery is just a storage device, it's true that batteries with a higher reserve capacity will hold up to more load but if the alternator is not able to keep up with the load then the battery will not stay charged as well as it should be and not last.

 

I would go with the Yellow top. I run a red top now and its great. But as you said you want to cool the engine down between runs, which means you will have the motor off the yellow is the way to go incase you deep cycle it.

 

I am thinking about swaping out my bettery for a new 1.

 

I run 2 Yellow tops in my Samurai.They are awesome....
I can play the radio all day and it still cranks like crazy.
I can weld for hours and not even feel it.
I can winch out stuck tractors and trucks with the engine off,if need be.
And they recharge in no time flat.
I run a Napa Optima in the RX,which is basically the same battery,just a little cheaper.I got my Yellow tops at Costco too,only because it was late at night and convienient.

 

I have Red tops in my FB and my Repu and after owning them I will never run a different battery. Optima's are well worth the money spent.

 

Yea i was thinking about a red or a yellow. I was also looking at the buddy club racing battery.

 

OK the yellowtop it is. Since I have an SA would someone give me the dimensions of the storage bin openings? And the distance between them and how far the top edge is from the lateral rib. I would like to cut the bin openings in the factory location.
Also I got some neat battery terminals from Taylor. They are compression fittings for 2 AWG welding cable. # 21405 from this page http://www.taylorvertex.com/hp/index...eryAccessories
I will also use the battery master switch # 1036 from the same page.