A few months ago i applied for a sponsorship from optima and exchanged a few emails with the sponsorship adviser.
Yesterday i got an email back saying they will sell me 10 12v Model D34 YellowTop– 9012-021 retailed at around $200 plus $20 shipping each for only $85 plus $15 shipping each!
I think they selected me because i'm a highschool student working part time at a bakery to fully pay for all of my parts.
I'm super excited, because i was just gonna go with walmart batteries, which would have been the same price as what i'm paying Optima.
In turn all i have to do is write a testimonial, send them pics every month, and put some decals on my car.
Anyways, i would suggest filling out sponsorship forms it is saving me over $1000.
Good batteries if treated right. They don't like slow charging, it causes slow loss of capacity. I recommend a 10 amp charging rate or better for the bulk charge. I recommend using individual battery regulators, like Rudman regs. They need a little nudging to stay balanced and can be damaged from excess overcharging (and like any lead acid battery, damaged from regular undercharging.)
I have a quickcharger. Hopefully that will do the job well enough for the batteries to last. I'm really not in a position to afford more stuff i.e Rudman regs, but thanks for the suggestion.
Another option is the zener reg. This is a pair of 5 watt zeners mounted in ring terminals as heat sinks with a small bulb (like a PR2 flashlight bulb) between them. Lee Hart generally recommends using a 6.2 and 6.8 volt zener per battery so they turn on starting at 13 volts but with Optimas having a resting voltage of 13.1 I would recommend using 6.8 volt zeners at both terminals.
This isn't a very power reg, it can only gently nudge them toward balance. It is cheap, consisting of just a couple dollars in parts per battery. You can use Optimas without regs but you get to do some babysitting every so often to keep things in line.
Oh ive never heard of those. A google search brought up this. Ill probably just follow that guide. It looks like the only difference is i would use 6.8v zeners for AGM just like you said.
Check out these Omo.... http://www.hdm-sys.com/pdf/hdm_equalizer_specs.pdf
They work very well and will keep your batts in balance. Sealed against the elements. Shunt up to 5 amps at any time. (charge, discharge, idle) I use them.
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