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red 35 installed

Gels don't like cold either and if they have less than a full charge they can freeze and crack as their freezing point is tied to the electrolyte charge. That's only for us northern guys to worry about.

[quote name='DaveN' timestamp='1362685975' post='139627']Gels don't like cold either and if they have less than a full charge they can freeze and crack as their freezing point is tied to the electrolyte charge. That's only for us northern guys to worry about.[/quote]



I've had both red top and yellow top in Alaska through winters at -50F and I did not experience them cracking. Once warmed up with a heat pad they started with no problem.

Yea, they're OK as long as the charge remains full. If they are not maintained the freezing temp rises to a point where they can solidify. You have to store them off cold ground as well and charge them at a different level than lead acid. They are a lot less tolerant of extremes.

Dave, I don't doubt your expertise. I was just giving my personal experience, I must have been lucky.

BTW the optimas are not gels - they are AGM (absorbed glass mat). I've read that the gel batts are as described here but the AGMs behave more like flooded batteries - they just don't spill.

i'm not sure what the suspension fluid is, but there is very little of it, and it looks like a gel. i had one boil out. there is no water in them.

JTP, no prob, just spouting my past experiences. We didn't use a lot of gels for that reason and substituted glass/antimony batteries. Sounds like that might be what these batteries actually are.