faultywarrior Posted May 9, 2010 Report Share Posted May 9, 2010 I searched, but came up with nothing, and since this is related to audio, I'm throwing it here. May not be the right spot though. I saw a thread that someone had about fitting an Optima Red Top in an 850R. I'm wondering if it's possible (with mods, lol) to fit a blue top in a '98 S70. Speaking from experience, my brother had a Yellow Top in his car with the same alternator rating as the S70, and he was blowing though them fast. Worse, I have an OEM replacement in my Mazda with a 110 Amp alternator. I've had the car in my possession for about a year and a half [prior to that, my dad had it since the Fall of 2000 when it was bought new] When I got it in the fall of 2008, my Dad had just replaced the original battery. I'm getting close to replacing it for a second time since I've had it. {I'd say a battery that lasts about 9 months is pretty crappy, right?]) If I buy the S70 I'm looking at, the audio system I have in my Mazda would be moved into the S70, and I want to make sure that I can fit a decent battery in it, or I'll be blowing $200+ a year on batteries, since IIRC, the S70's alternator is rated lower then the one in my Mazda. FYI - The master fuse for my audio system is rated for 100 Amps, fast blow. IDK if that helps, but... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEJinFBK Posted May 10, 2010 Report Share Posted May 10, 2010 If you're talking about a primary battery for your car, you want a Red or Yellow top. A Blue top is a deep cycle battery for stuff like golf carts, RV campsite power and trolling motors, etc. It's not designed to kick out the high current that a starter needs, it's for long term, lower peak current apps. But ya don't have to take my word for it: http://www.optimabatteries.com/home.php BTW - If you're going through batteries that fast, you're doing something wrong... Batteries in a correctly functioning charging system don’t just “ Go Bad “ in 9 months. You’ve got a basic issue with your car’s electrical system that needs to be addressed. Time to bone up on 12 volt automotive electrical 101. I'm not trying to dis anyone here, that's just how it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Betty Posted May 10, 2010 Report Share Posted May 10, 2010 You'd be better off to measure your working space and then look up the battery specs. I can't recall if anyone has fit an blue top. You could always relocate the battery to the trunk and fit whatever the hell you want in there. But seriously look up the battery specs and cut a piece of cardboard to the same size and then play with it in the engine bay. You might have to redo your power and ground wires. I recommend going with a similar sized gauge wire if you do, you don't want to increase or decrease the inductance too much in the wire (also the reason to not change a braided ground to a circular gauge wire). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faultywarrior Posted May 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2010 If you're talking about a primary battery for your car, you want a Red or Yellow top. A Blue top is a deep cycle battery for stuff like golf carts, RV campsite power and trolling motors, etc. It's not designed to kick out the high current that a starter needs, it's for long term, lower peak current apps. But ya don't have to take my word for it: http://www.optimabat...es.com/home.php BTW - If you're going through batteries that fast, you're doing something wrong... Batteries in a correctly functioning charging system don’t just “ Go Bad “ in 9 months. You’ve got a basic issue with your car’s electrical system that needs to be addressed. Time to bone up on 12 volt automotive electrical 101. I'm not trying to dis anyone here, that's just how it is. I know of the fact it is a deep cycle. Blue top is also their marine line, which I'd think qualify as starting. But I don't really care if it's primary or not (doesn't matter. Batteries "going bad" is my fault. The alternator is WAY under-rated for the audio system (as I said in the OP, alternator is 110 amps, and the fuse is 100. [it's not a best illustration, but I'll say this - car running at idle gets me 14.4 Volts on my meter. {at the amp distrubution block}. Turning the amps on with no music gets me a solid 14.0 Volts. With music playing at the average level I drive with, on normal stuff {no bass tests} I get 13.5 Volts. Decent bass will dip to 12.5 Volts, and if it's a bass test, 12.0 Volts down to 11.8 Volts is the lowest the meter will dip.]) That said, that is BELOW the 12 Volt nominal output of my battery, and WAY off from the original 14.4 Volts from the alternator. You'd be better off to measure your working space and then look up the battery specs. I can't recall if anyone has fit an blue top. You could always relocate the battery to the trunk and fit whatever the hell you want in there. But seriously look up the battery specs and cut a piece of cardboard to the same size and then play with it in the engine bay. You might have to redo your power and ground wires. I recommend going with a similar sized gauge wire if you do, you don't want to increase or decrease the inductance too much in the wire (also the reason to not change a braided ground to a circular gauge wire). Truck relocation seems like a good idea.Oh, and 11.8 Volts bottom is better than the old amp setup I had. I'd go below 10.5 Volts, and cause the amps to shut down on low power error!:ph34r: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bah Posted May 10, 2010 Report Share Posted May 10, 2010 I know of the fact it is a deep cycle. Blue top is also their marine line, which I'd think qualify as starting. But I don't really care if it's primary or not (doesn't matter. Batteries "going bad" is my fault. The alternator is WAY under-rated for the audio system (as I said in the OP, alternator is 110 amps, and the fuse is 100. [it's not a best illustration, but I'll say this - car running at idle gets me 14.4 Volts on my meter. {at the amp distrubution block}. Turning the amps on with no music gets me a solid 14.0 Volts. With music playing at the average level I drive with, on normal stuff {no bass tests} I get 13.5 Volts. Decent bass will dip to 12.5 Volts, and if it's a bass test, 12.0 Volts down to 11.8 Volts is the lowest the meter will dip.]) That said, that is BELOW the 12 Volt nominal output of my battery, and WAY off from the original 14.4 Volts from the alternator. Truck relocation seems like a good idea. Oh, and 11.8 Volts bottom is better than the old amp setup I had. I'd go below 10.5 Volts, and cause the amps to shut down on low power error! you do realize that the alternator doesn't produce 100 amps just because you turn the car on right? You had to be probably near 3-4k rpms for its nominal output......all car dependent. The bosch alternator on these cars is pretty damn good in this sense. The fuse being 100amps i've seen before, if the user replaces with a 110 amp alternator, put a 100 amp fuse in. We put a 100 amp fuse or something lower then that rated into the 3000gtvr4 after my friend blew it up putting jumpers on wrong somehow...never once blew. invest in good copper wire for all your audio setups..that's all i'm going to say. With the weak nuts alternator on the 93, and the 1F cap which was pointless but to have a VMM in the back of my car, i don't think i've ever seen drop below 12V while parked and idling. This was w/ a 600wRMS amp, dunno what you've had =p . Invest in a stinger relay, there's a 200 AMP one, more then enough. Have it turn on w/ the car, run a battery in the back. I wouldn't get an optima for it PERSONALLY, having spent the past 4 hours and not sleeping reading about every damn commercial manufacturer out there that sells a battery.... http://www.batcap.net/ - If i had the money and a system that needed it, that's where i'd buy my 2nd battery from. Check it out....you'll see that they are what you want, not optima, as a 2nd battery of course. and people have put blue tops in their cars on here..saw some pics earlier today but definitely need to rebuild your wires and oh, optima sucks it turns out, don't waste your money. I'm gonna get a diehard platinum...much better design, much better battery. Look up odyssey who is made by energysys or something like that, they make the batteries, and they are pretty much what you want as a main battery. =p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volvowith18psi Posted May 10, 2010 Report Share Posted May 10, 2010 Sounds like you have a little bump in teh trunk. hehe. IMO- Yellow top and Big 3, 1/0 Gauge, would be first. That will help. Dunno what size Yellow top, but do the cardboard cut out thing, go to autozone and measure. If all else fails, you will HAVE get a High Output alt. Will be costly though. (Ohio Gen Quoted me over 500 for a 180/200 amp alt.) 30 daisy chained battery's will still be being charged by the same 100amp alt. It will just take more time before failure sets in. Trust me, I had 4x Thunder 7000's in many years ago and burned up batteries in hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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