Optima Yellow Top?

[phn]

I want to change the battery in my C5 sometime in the near future and was thinking of an Optima Yellow Top.

My C5 only gets used once every week or two (at the moment) and the voltage tends to drop to 11.3V or below if left for a week without drivinig it.

I do try to trickle charge the battery with my CTEK charger but as the car lives outside I cannot leave it hooked up all the time, so it gets charged when weather permits, usually every week if I can.

I was thinking that the Optima Yellow top might give me a bit more time before having to charge the battery, and may also take being drained a bit better than a conventional battery.

Does anyone have any experience of the Yellow Top fitted to a C5 - how did it perform?

Many thanks!

Philip.

 

[teamzr1]

Optima company was bought up some time ago and the quality of their batteries are not the best now
Really in your case is going with a vehicle solar battery charger that is waterproof so can be left plugged in all the time
Charging even in indirect light, so outputs even in cloudy weather

I have tested one for 1 year now and has had no issues with days of heavy Texas rains

11.3 volts at the battery with voltage drops of the wiring means it is even lower than at the controllers which is not best for them

 

[phn]

Thanks JR, do you have any links for the solar charger you recommend, also does it have (or need) any kind of protection against overcharging?

 

[teamzr1]

Yes, the one I use has a clipper D/C function so will not output more than 13.5 volts and lower when battery is charged
This is a maintainer, so its purpose is to keep a charged up battery maintained to full charge

Read this thread as I point to the one I bought at Amazon, only $23

Solar charger ?.

Iv'e just had to order a new battery for my C5,I'm thinking of buying a solar charger to help my battery.After reading some posts i assume the cigarette lighter is live when the ignition is off,it must be or a solar charger wouldn't do anything at all.Would it.

www.corvetteclub.org.uk

Been testing and monitoring this for 1 year with a remote battery monitor through months of hot Texas temps to colder weather to
many cloudy days and even when my old 1993 Caddy is not used for a couple of weeks, when I do go to drive it the engine cranks quickly
and battery State of Charge and State of Health is good.

It can be set inside the windshield or as I do with suction cups to the hood of the car.

 

[Nassau65]

My dad used a solar/sunlight charger for years on cars that were left outside. Leave it on the dashboard
Plugs into the cigarette lighter, away you go. He never had battery problems.