Just supposing I decide not to go charging down a mountain side or bounce across the sahara. I fail to see why a yellow top Optima battery is the preferred choice over a reasonably good quality leisure battery which is some £50 cheaper. - or am I missing something.?
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20th Oct 2008 1:24 pm
Jambo
Member Since: 01 May 2008
Location: Cumbria
Posts: 196
Good question Shiny Moose. I have been considering getting a second battery fitted and have read many recommendations about yellow top Optima, but it would be an expensive job. I'd also be interested in hearing opinions from those in the know.
20th Oct 2008 1:49 pm
PaulP
Member Since: 04 May 2007
Location: Barcelona
Posts: 4317
I've just recently spent a whole 4 quid on ordering the LR brackets and bolts from TLO and was thinking the same the other day.
As long as the 'leisure' battery can handle constant deep discharge situations (steady on ND ), and it's power rating is enough for what you need, then I guess it would be ok.
Based upon the experience of people that have done lots of expeditions (mainly desert), the Yellow Tops have always seemed to give fantastic results and have a very good reputation worldwide for not failing when you most need them.
I will shortly be buying a 2nd battery and it will be a Yellow Top I know....I'm a sucker for marketing, but it just gives me peace of mind and I guess that it what is important in a second battery 2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE AutoBuckingham Blue 2007 Golf GT DSG
20th Oct 2008 1:49 pm
Ent
Member Since: 12 Oct 2007
Location: In the cack
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I think ,but could be wrong, its something to do with the high charging voltage from a D3 alternator that some batteries dont like but Yellow Top's seem to handle with no problems.Club Exped trailer
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20th Oct 2008 2:01 pm
tanters
Member Since: 24 Oct 2007
Location: Oireland
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I recently payed out for the whole Aux battery set up with 4 power points - great job and well worth it I think. No desert exhibitions on the horizon just yet tho
Anyway the merits of the yellow top has mainly to do with the discharge levels and its ability to recover to full performance even if it is run down to the last.
There is a certain poster on here who advised I use one and after seeing his work and picking his brains on wide range of D3 topics I would have to say if he says its the dogs danglies, then it can be taken as gospel.A happy childhood ... is the worst possible preparation for life.
20th Oct 2008 2:05 pm
PaulP
Member Since: 04 May 2007
Location: Barcelona
Posts: 4317
Thinking about this a bit more I also seem to recall that the Yellow Top 4.2 is one of the only batteries that will fit into the 'spare battery' tray without fouling the ABS module (and brake servo?) in the D3 and still allowing you to pop the cover back on.
ISTR that there were not many others that would fit and that also had a decent enough rating for use as a second battery....
Or am I just trying to convince myself to spend 210 euros? 2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE AutoBuckingham Blue 2007 Golf GT DSG
20th Oct 2008 2:18 pm
Wex
Member Since: 16 Apr 2007
Location: Knackeragua
Posts: 5173
they can be had for a lot cheaper than 210 you yous Paul , sounds v expensive
20th Oct 2008 2:41 pm
christyler
Member Since: 31 Dec 2005
Location: Cork, Ireland
Posts: 1168
Ent wrote:
I think ,but could be wrong, its something to do with the high charging voltage from a D3 alternator that some batteries dont like but Yellow Top's seem to handle with no problems.
Correct, this is exactly the case. Most other batteries will not handle the higher charge voltage. Any battery that will fit will work ok for a limited time (maybe only a few months) then it will fail from buckeled plates or cell damage.
In my opinion, buy the yellow top. they do work and stay working, i am using this setup for years with no problems.CLUB "Ah Shor it'll be grand"
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20th Oct 2008 2:45 pm
PaulP
Member Since: 04 May 2007
Location: Barcelona
Posts: 4317
Discowex wrote:
they can be had for a lot cheaper than 210 you yous Paul , sounds v expensive
Really?? I thought that the group buy price on here was around 150 GBP (almost 200 euros) so I thought that a one-off price of 210 euros was reasonable....
Don't forget that here in Spain you have to pay 3 hours labour charge while the guy in the shop goes for a long lunch and sleeps it off before he comes back to the counter with your battery 2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE AutoBuckingham Blue 2007 Golf GT DSG
20th Oct 2008 2:49 pm
90 Rangie
Member Since: 17 Dec 2007
Location: Central Queensland
Posts: 121
I went down the track of fitting two yellow tops, the reason I went yellow tops was the ability to handle charge and most importantly the rate at which they recharge. I have used deepcycle in the past and they recharge very slowly. In other words you need to run the car for a long period (1 hour + ) of time each day to keep charge up to the deepcycle battery when using your 12v fridge fulltime in Summer. Compare that with 15 min's running time with the Yellow Top each day. The yellow tops cost a lot but work great, remember that they should last a lot longer so if you work it out as a cost / year it is not as bad as you first think.Do not take life too seriously no one gets out alive anyway!
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20th Oct 2008 11:04 pm
drivesafe
Member Since: 23 Feb 2006
Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Posts: 867
Hi shiny, there is actually no real reason why you can’t use a conventional battery as the auxiliary battery and quite a few over here have fitted a number of other types of batteries and are not having any problem.
Remember, your cranking battery is only a high tech conventional battery.
As posted above, the main reason for using an Optima, is it’s ability to be dropped straight into the auxiliary battery compartment with out any need to carry out any modifications to the battery, battery brackets or the battery compartment.
Every other battery that I have come across, need some form of modification to be done to get the battery to fit.2008 TDV8 RR Lux + 2009 D4 2.7
21st Oct 2008 12:28 pm
colinm
Member Since: 06 Oct 2008
Location: Derbyshire
Posts: 47
Has anyone got a charge voltage vs temperature curve for the disco3 alternator? The Optima batteries include some silver in the plate alloy and some sodium in the electrolyte and this, combined with their construction allow charging up to 15.6v so long as the cell temperature is monitored so that it is not allowed to exceed 51C. I believe that the charging must be terminated once the charge current at 15.6v drops below 1 amp.
Interestingly the 'Bosch bible' recommends for calcium lead batteries that the alternator voltage can reach 15.4v for cell temperatures of -40C but only 14.7v at 25C.
21st Oct 2008 1:16 pm
drivesafe
Member Since: 23 Feb 2006
Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Posts: 867
colinm wrote:
Interestingly the 'Bosch bible' recommends for calcium lead batteries that the alternator voltage can reach 15.4v for cell temperatures of -40C but only 14.7v at 25C.
Hi colinm, basically this is part the D3 charging system works, the high the temperature the lower the charge voltage, BUT it also takes into account of things, like the state of charge of the battery.
This is why the is such a large range in the operating voltage, 13.2 to 15.7.
If you check the specs of most batteries you will find they also tolerate these voltages based on temperature but the biggest advantage with the Optima, other than it’s ease of fitting, is that unlike most AGM batteries, because the Optima one of only a very few genuine AGM batteries, the Optima can take full inrush current which means the optima can take advantage of the higher current capacity of the D3 alternator.
If you fit a conventional battery to a D3 you will not have any problems but because conventional batteries are pretty well self current regulating, they won’t be able to take advantage of the higher current capacity of the D3, they will just take longer to charge.
The charging time for a conventional battery is still likely to be quicker when used in a D3.
The batteries to avoid are the ordinary AGM batteries, because while they will take the full inrush current from a D3, they can not tolerate it, so they will end up having a relative short operating life. If you check the manufacture’s specs, you will find most AGMs should not be charged with more than 20 to 25% of the AGM battery’s total A/H. This means that an ordinary 50 A/H AGM should not have a charge current of more than about 12 amps and it will not only start to get expensive if you have to fit a device to control the charging current, it makes the Optimas good value for money spent.2008 TDV8 RR Lux + 2009 D4 2.7
Sorry for being thick but whats AGM ?
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on ordering the LR brackets and bolts from TLO and was thinking the same the other day.
), and it's power rating is enough for what you need, then I guess it would be ok.
I know....I'm a sucker for marketing, but it just gives me peace of mind and I guess that it what is important in a second battery 
