What kind of battery?

[pteam]

Originally Posted by twenty2

DuraLast Gold worked perfectly! Thanks for the info. When I got my original battery checked at Autozone, it read 10.4!! Very dead battery.

Anyways, the rig fired right up when the new one was installed!

What should a battery read 12v when not running and 14v when the car is running/charging?

Also is there a cheap/semi-cheap way to test batteries besides a load tester? What do they use to actually test the volts of a battery?

[Vettster]

I had a Red Top.
Bought it a few years back for the Corvette and never got around to installing it.
Fast forward 5 years and I noted it sitting on the floor in my storage shed so I figured I'd pick it up and drag it to Mexico with me.
Got down here and threw it on the boat. There it sat and bounced and moved around for another year without being used.
The following spring, when I went to start the boat it had 2 flat batteries.
My Son was with me and suggested that we hook up the Red Top. At first, I told him to forget about it that the battery was probably junk as it was so old and had never been hooked up.
To my surprise, the engine turned over and started right up.
I left the one battery hooked up for about half that season (doing the work of 2 marine batteries) with absolutely no problems.
Optima Rocks!

[Kendal]

Thanks to all for the info.. Went with the Autozone one and it worked great, came with a roadside assist program (free) and they installed it!

[Hucky]

Originally Posted by pteam

What should a battery read 12v when not running and 14v when the car is running/charging?

Also is there a cheap/semi-cheap way to test batteries besides a load tester? What do they use to actually test the volts of a battery?

You can buy a cheap costing Tester for AC and DC and ohms and continuity etc.... all in one tester at Radio Shack, just have to turn the dial to what you want to test, such as AC or DC etc...

If you want a good one, I use Fluke Digital Tester, but Im in the Electrical Industry so it suits me, but I can test DC with mine as well

Costs--Range from 15.00 to 500.00 pending on your needs.

[RippSpeed]

Hawker Odessy is way better than any optima battery...

I've had Hawker Odessy in my past 2 vehicles and I have it in my dialey beater... I've had optimas too and just ended up throwing them away ...

Why I usually take long trips to Philippines at least a month or more ... When I come back the optima battery would be dead dead on my truck. It wouldnt re-charge or hold a charge... 3 Sets of optimas did this to me ... Ever since I spent the extra money and got me a much lighter, mount it at any angle and better battery over all ... Hawker Odessy !!!

In my last truck ( which was a 2001 Toyota Tundra ) I ran a Hawker Odessy 925. Great battery, light, and half the size of my original factory battery. Only problem was it 25 minutes of juice once you turn off the truck and had the radio on blast. I should have gotten the bigger unit to not have this problem.

[tower]

LINK

Yellow top Optima, 900cca!