I am just curious if a bigger battery or the Optima Style battery does anything.. I have an 02 3.0L edge and it's starting to drop to arround 30 at night here in CT.. I have noticed that my battery is getting weaker as it gets colder.. I brought it to work and it drops down to 9.78 when you load test it so I know it needs to be changed. I just wondered if there was any advantages to Optima batteries or the High CCA batteries.

Anyone have any thoughts here??

 

i think the Optimas have a deeper cells..but dunno if that helps you in your deptartment..but i know thats one of the things bout them is the deeper cells

 

https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...ad.php?t=12360

 

Just get one!

 

Red Top

 

optima batteries are gel celled, so instead of the water getting colder and causing more wear on the ur battery, the gel has a better tolerance of temperature and can take a better beating. red top all the way

 

They are NOT gel-cells. Read some of the references provided in the link Bob posted (which points to my thread).

Gel cells are another type of technology ENTIRELY. Gel cells would probably be TERRIBLE in vehicle service for starting and thats pretty much why you don't see them.

Optima batteries are AGM -- absorbed glass mat -- and the electrolyte is liquid but it trapped in a glass fiber matrix. There is no gel or gellin' involved!

 

john's gellin like a felon. (i hate those commercials, lol).

but yeah, if its time for you to get a new battery.. spend the extra money and get the red top. they're great primary batteries

 

I know alot of people that have them and say they are the best battery they have ever had!

 

I sell batteries, including the optimas, and I get complaints all the time about every SLI except the Optima. The spiral cell and absorbed glass matt are designed to resist the two biggest killers of batteries, 1. Vibration & 2. heat.

Vibration and electrons are like worst enemies, this gets engraved into you if you take physics. and heat is just as bad. down here in FL the average life of an SLI is about 3 years...Optimas have been getting double that. So pay a little less than double the price for double the battery and forget about the hassle when the next one dies on you. on top of awesome resistance to abuse and elements, it comes packed with tons more Cranking amps. heading into winter A nice big CCA number will do you good up in CT.

I read one poor review over on RPS of a Redtop, but that guy had unreasonable expectations for the battery. he put it in a cherokee if I remember right and was gone for 3 years of seas in the millitary, and expected it to fire right up, he didnt have it on a trickle charge or anything. its not superbattery, but it gets the job done 10 x better

 

I'm a major battery abuser and I have yet to **** off my Red Top battery.

 

 

What are the pros and cons of larger (i.e. Tremor) alternators? As I start to load up my dashboard with Griggs-Rigesque accessories, and the front end of my truck continues to beg for more illumination, I'm starting to think upgrading might be a good idea. A Red-Top is definitely in the near future, I'm just pondering the merits of an "upgraded" alternator. I vaguely remember that Ford changed a few other systems on the Tremor to compensate for concerns with the alternator, and that they *may* have been a culprit in the terrible pinging on TremorJon's truck, which his dealership unfortunately chose to deal with by retarding the timing, making his 3.slow even more of a dog than normal.

 

I really have no idea, sorry. I'll let you know how this one works out when I get it in, though.

 

Isn't it 130 amp vs 95 amp.

 

Yes... I am almost positive the Tremor came with a 130A alternator....
IF you do a search on eBay under Ford Ranger Alternators... you can find ones from stock 95A all the way up to 200A.
The alternators above 130A require that you replace the cable from the alternator to the battery/fuse block to a 4 ga fine strand to handle the increase in charging amps.

OR 4x4

 

the larger alternator will basically take the strane and drain off of the battery, as the alternator spinsit creates th electricty which keeps the battery charged, and thelarger the alternator output the longer you can run your battery with out killin it. if any part of that Im sure I'll be corrected

 

Kinda backwards there dude.

The battery supplies electricity when the engine is not running. That is it's sole purpose in life. It's primary function is to start the engine. Secondary is powering accessories. If you have no intention of running accessories with the engine off, then you only need some form of starting battery. All standard car batteries are just that. The Optima red top is also a starting battery. If you intend to run accessories for an extended period of time with then engine off, then you need a deep cycle battery. The Optima Yellow Top is an example of that. The battery regardless of type is NOT supposed to be providing power while the engine is running. It just sits there and looks pretty.

The alternator's purpose is to provide power while the engine is running and it has to recharge the battery. You need an alternator that can handle the load you present to it. If the load is less than your alternator is rated for in amps, then you are just fine and dandy. If your load is more than the capacity of your alternator, then you are going to do two things. One, the battery has to make up for the difference which means that it isn't being recharged, and two... it will eventually go dead. Guess what, once it runs out of and it's dead, you engine stops and you don't restart it.

So, what is the moral of this story. Size the alternator to exceed the load you place on it. Chose the battery that best fits your application. Size your battery to exceed the load you place on it. Do not rely on one to do the job of the other.

 

Right, obviously I know that the 130A alternator will keep the battery charged more efficiently.. I'm looking for downsides that I may not have considered.. I'm sure that power isnt' free, the 130A unit MUST put more drag on the engine, among other things. I thing Ford redesigned part of the ignition system for the Tremor (damnit, now I have to go spend my lunch studying the damn service manuals on my lunch again.)

 

I do believe it is all just bolt on. There are a few smaller wires and one big **** wire. They all unplug from the old one and plug into the new one. They all operate the same, one just has more capacity than the other.

 

There are considerable arguments in the links I posted that a larger alternator may be essential to keeping an AGM battery healthy if it takes deep discharges. Part of the 130 amp upgrade is the future Optima I will be adding.

 

Speaking from what I have gathered over the years your bat. is not made to "help out" when your truck is running but if your alt. is overloaded the compensation has to come from somewhere, that being the bat. In regards to wowak's Q it is not more of a burden on the engine in any way that I know of. It is made better through better design of just that peice and it may come with a little bit smaller pulley to spin faster and therefore create more power.

 

Probably involves a stronger rotor field, heavier stator winding, etc. Standard fare for a beefed up alternator.

I don't know if the pulley is smaller, that would be possible. Still, even if you spin faster, you need the wiring inside the alternator to be able to handle it, and there are magnetic limiting factors that make increasing rotation rates not give you proportional outputs.

 

Get a Red Top. I love mine.