Jaster701

How would a Kinetic power cell compare to an Optima when starting my vehicle in the winter? when its like -30 out?

danyman

iTrader: (1)

witchever is the gell cell.. if neither look elsewhere if u want a kick **** winter battery that wont lose its power

SOULMUSIC

iTrader: (8)

They biggest Kinetik is far more powerful than the biggest Optima, price to match. If you have alot of gear and bump alot and have the cash..I'd go Kinetik

goalie 35

i would stay as far away from kinetic as possible.. the optima has a proven track record.. but i personally would go with a powermaster.. talk to scottie j. on facebook or term lab. he is the man about batteries.

nghtrdr

odyssey will surpass all ur expectations and come with a very nice warranty

here is a little writeup from another forum

Your Question: Why is the Odyssey better than Optima and is it worth the cost difference?


When comparing Optima to an Odyssey, you are comparing a 10 year old technology to a brand new one. To be more specific, the parent company (Enersys) invented and has owned both products. They owned the Optima technology and plant and finally sold off Optima over ten years ago to move on to creating Odyssey. The older spiral product and technology was abandoned because of the new technology which is now Hawker, trolling thunder, and now Odyssey.

Specifics:

Warranty
4 year full replacement vs. 1.5 year prorated

1 to 2 psi vs. 6-8psi bunsen valves
lower psi still vent while charging and this alone can contribute to failure as well as gassing

pure virgin lead vs. recycled lead
pure lead lasts longer

old spiral agm vs. thin plate
spiral equals less usable space, less reserve, less shock and vibration ability

lower resistance
charges faster, puts out higher cranking amps, contributes to longer life

more lead in the same physical size
The last one here is critical for the troll motor application. The amount of lead in a battery is the contributing factor when determining reserve capacity, or the ability to run electronics, pumps, lights, or a troll motor. Look at the physical weight of a battery compared to the same group size of a competing battery. For example.

Optima grp 24 weighs 38 lbs (34M) and an Odyssey grp 24 weighs 55 lbs (1500T).
Optima grp 31 weighs 59lbs D31M and an Odyssey grp 31 weighs 78lbs (2150)

Flooded vs. AGM (a personal choice)

Flooded product is less expensive and lasts a couple of years. The good thing about it is it is cheap. The bad thing is you have to add water, you have to deal with corrosion, and you have to replace every couple of years. There are reasons why they do not last long. By design they calcify faster because they loose charge faster. This is an issue because it leads to internal failure. The more calcification the more resistance, the more resistance the more heat and finally failure. By keeping them on an onboard trickle charger you have serious gassing issues and drying out concerns unless you constantly maintain them. Most manufactures of flooded product use recycled lead with calcium and antimony which contribute to the internal failure of the product. It makes life shorter, but it makes manufacturing cheaper. That is why you can save money and buy a 50 dollar grp 24. I wanted to get away from all of that flooded maintenance. If you do go the flooded route buy the heaviest one you can find in the size you like because weight equals reserve capacity.

AGM is more expensive, it lasts longer, and can be a set it and forget it solution for many years. The bad thing is the initial cost and there are a lot of garbage AGM’s out in the market. Some AGM's dry out in the first couple of years because of poor bunsen valve technology. Some have little lead and are not good for reserve capacity. Some claim to be AGM and are a flooded/AGM product. A Odyssey AGM has a service life of 6 to 10 years. They are maintenance free and can be left on an automatic charger like a ProMariner for the life of the battery. No worries about gassing or drying out. Look at the warranty of the product you are going to buy. Most of the Odyssey batteries have a 4 year full replacement.

I spent some time putting this together and I really enjoy discussing batteries. I tried to just give the facts, but I am an Odyssey fan and have one in everything I own that takes a battery.


btw i have two in my truck and can tell u these batts are strong as hell

gl
Dan

SOULMUSIC

iTrader: (8)

Why? Kinetik's track record isn't good? Won't see many ppl running optima and winning at a show, Kinetik? Yep.. Our HC2400 starts us evertime, freezing cold or hot.

BTW He, never mentioned Oddessey.

ScottS

Had to have my Optima replaced twice, and the third time I replaced it with an Odyssey. Haven't had an ounce of trouble since. More money now is always better then headaches.

JohnVroom

since your post is on starting your car, I would be looking at the CCA rating of the battery, that is the apples to apples measurement for car starting batteries... MANY car audio batteries dont have a lot of the specs to do comparisons. I think they are both AGM type batteries not gel cell. I like the info, price, and engineering illustrated in the Optima site while Kinetik gives bare bones info (AH???) and they are very expensive. YET the kinetik is a great battery but does a **** poor job justifying its price... advantage Optima

Jaster701

I will have to research Oddessey now lol.
thanks for the input I hope this isn't the end of this thread I see some people out there are really loyal to what brands of batteries they run in their cars.

I myself have never had any issues with Optima's, but I feel I need to try something different for when I upgrade.

Iam hearing lots of good stuff about the Kinetic power cells, I just haven't seen or herd anyone talk about their engine starting power yet.

I think i'll try a Kinetic when I do the upgrades to my gf's car, should be a good test for it.

Any other batteries out there a guy should think about?

JohnVroom

you really need to compare price to performance, every battery publishes specifications (not so much kinetik or Batcap) then you can see who (if anyone) really out performs the pack. The standard wet cell lead acid will always be least expensive and should meet your needs (under $100) while I am sure a $350 Kinetik would too... there is also a lot to be said for warranty's and local service.