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Old 07-15-2009, 10:24 AM   #1
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Optima is offering a $25 rebate for purchases now through August 31. Optimas are expensive, so a rebate might be of interest.
(Rebate limit is two per household, if your rig uses two batteries.) Manufacturer's rebate form is apparently valid for a purchase at any retailer. I first noticed this in our local NAPA ad.

Quite a few owners prefer and have installed Optima "yellow top" hybrid batteries. (As I recall, Peterh uses the yellow top, for instance.)

My Wally's Deep Cycle is still in good shape, otherwise, I might go for one of these.
Hope this helps you if you need a new battery:

http://www.optimabatteries.com/save25/save_25_form.pdf
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Old 07-15-2009, 10:58 AM   #2
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http://www.optimabatteries.com/save25/save_25_form.pdf

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Old 07-15-2009, 03:47 PM   #3
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Anyone considering an Optima spiral cell battery should make a comparison with other AGM batteries.

Because of the spiral cell arrangement, the Optima is larger for the same capacity. The Optima is also more expensive than other AGM batteries of the same capacity.

For example, the Optima D31T (highest capacity yellow top) rated at 75AH sells on-line for $230 ($3.06/AH) while the SunExtender PVX 1040T rated at 105AH sells on-line for $259 ($2.47/AH).

If you take advantage of the $25.00 rebate, the cost per ampere-hour is $2.73; still higher than the SunExtender.

The Optima is physically larger than the SunExtender: its length is 12.8" vs 12.01", it's height is 9.4" vs 8.93. And that is with less than 75% of the capacity.

So if you want to squeeze more capacity in a smaller space at a lower cost per ampere-hour, the other AGM batteries are the answer.

The prices I've mentioned are not necessarily the lowest on the web. A Google search should find the lowest prices.
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Old 07-19-2009, 11:21 PM   #4
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Morgan does have a point about the cost and energy density of the Optima batteries. My Optima yellow-top battery has a 55 Amp-Hour capacity and cost me $160. A similarly sized conventional AGM battery carries 80 to 85 Amp-Hours and costs about $120.

There is one area where the Optima shines in the eyes of a trailer-camper and solar-energy nut, and that is in its storage efficiency. Optima batteries manage to squeeze out a couple extra percent energy efficiency, and looking at the cost of solar panels vs cost of battery storage at the time I bought my Optima it made sense for me to compromise on price and capacity expensive and get the more efficient battery.

Since then the cost of solar panels has dropped from $6+ per watt to $3-$4 per watt, so if I were to do the same calculation today I'd go with an 80 Ah AGM battery and use the savings to buy an extra 10-15 watts of monocrystalline solar panel capacity.
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