Why blue Tops?

[ck1105]

I just was curious why everyone recomends and uses the optima blue tops. I am going to go get one, but the only reason is because everyone with a big stereo on here uses them. So my question is what makes them different?

[Andrew]

RE: Why blue Tops?

the real difference is the price, the gel, and the spiral cells......... u can mount them in any position because of the gel rather than the typical liquid acid (no leaks) the "spiral cell technology" is supposed to provide a more efficient longer lasting charge. and the price will make u feel like u've really accomplished sumthin whether u have or haven't lol. don't get me wrong, i'm a big optima fan and the second battery in any of my vehicles is an optima, but i haven't seen a need in the boat for it yet. granted, i don't have a huge stereo or lights that draw a lot of power, so a regular battery does me just fine, but as soon as i start adding on elec. components and the current batt. shows the first sign of weakness, i'll be droppin in the blue top

[MNSuperAir]

RE: Why blue Tops?

Good news on the Blue tops. I went to Sam's Club last night and they had the Optima blue tops for $155 compared to $200 at the local battery store. Saved me $100 for the pair.

[mfloski]

RE: Why blue Tops?

WHICH MODEL, the D31M or the D34M?????

[MNSuperAir]

RE: Why blue Tops?

I went with the multi purpose SC34DM, but they also had the marine starting battery for the same price. Did I get a lower quality battery at Sam's? I thought the deal seemed too good

[MHayes]

RE: Why blue Tops?

I purchased the D34Ms at Advance Auto Parts just this past year and got 2 of them for $300 including tax. They wanted I believe about $160-$165 a piece, but I negotiated with the guy and he came off the price quickly. I never hurts to ask for a better price; he even knocked off the price for the core exchange since I didn't have any to exchange.

[clayk]

RE: Why blue Tops?

i use yellow tops. we have an interstate battery store , and they will sell "blims" for half price . 2 years ago i bought 1 new and 1 blim , i am still using the blim and had to have the new one replaced after 1 year. go to a battery store and ask about blimish batteries.

[Andrew]

RE: Why blue Tops?

x2 on the chain auto part store "bargain" price!
i'm a regular at the local parts store, and begain to really get to know the salesmen..... next thing i know, eveytime i buy something, i noticed on my receipt that everything i buy is at a significantly lower price i didn't ask any ?'s but if they can feel comfortable doing that with me (someone they hardly know) then i guess they aren't doing anything that would endanger their job........

[mfloski]

RE: Why blue Tops?

I was under the impression that the D31M was the badboy.....much higher amp/hr rating than the D34M. In fact, I unknowingly purchased two D34M's last year and am thinking about starting all over with the 31's. Anyone out there want to comment any further?

[MHayes]

RE: Why blue Tops?

mfloski, you are correct in that the D31M is more powerful than the D34M, however, I've never had any problem with my D34Ms (running 2 batteries with a Stinger 200A isolator) powering the boat and an 850W stereo. Here is a good summary table of the specs that I found on the Optima website:

http://www.optimabatteries.com/publi...cal_specs.html

[MHayes]

RE: Why blue Tops?

One other comment, the D31M is slightly larger in terms of length and width than the D34M, so keep that in mind according to where you want to put them. Where I located our batteries, I was pushing it with the size of the D34M.