bdosborn wrote:John61CT wrote:AGM are a lot less robust, <snip>
That's a new one, I've never heard that before. Are you sure you're not confusing AGM with Gel cell?
Bruce
AGM batteries are much more forgiving than Gel batteries; with your advice, Bruce, I was able to resurrect a "dead" Optima yellowtop used in my TTT squareback, and it's still going strong 2 years later. I used/use a smart charger (and a smart battery maintainer, too) that tailor the charging profile to the battery type: lead acid flooded cell, AGM, or Gel, so they do not overcharge and kill the battery. I had a very expensive Gel racing battery cook using a standard garage -type charger, when I was drag-racing, charging between rounds (no alternator on the car). When I went to the restroom, and to the snack bar, during a track oil-down clean-up, someone "accidentally" turned my charger up too high (to 40 amps, instead of the 15 amps I had selected), and it cooked the Gel cell, before I noticed it. After that fiasco, I installed dual flooded cell batteries, for 1/2 the price of the Gel, and they lasted for many seasons, no matter how I abused them. Gel cells used to be very expensive, compared to flooded cell batteries, but now, not so much...I never told the wife about the battery that cooked, on its' first day.