Thanks everyone for your ideas. Yes, I should have drove my van more this January since it is so cold, my nuts are freezing to my gel cushion. 0-10 degrees at night. I usually start my van before operating my lift but I was in a hurry to leave. I cannot run my lift while van is running because of some safety issue. I guess they do not want me to open my lift while driving down the road.
With all my EMC equipment and lift, I plan to buy the yellow top optima. I've had people look at my van and nobody coluld say if there is a trickle discharg happening or where. EMC now makes the 2nd battery usable if 1str battery dies. My old equipment with 2nd airplane battery will not take over to start the van. On my old chevy fan, we put a battery switch on my van so that we could switch it off to keep the battery from discharging. I was told that I cannot do this to me EMC equipped van. I cannot jump start my van due to computer. Not sure if solar charger would work. " guy my dad works with at boeing told me to buy a desulfanator and wire it into the battery .....this will bust up the sulfer bubbles and allow the battery to last many years......I had my dad install one and Im waiting to see the results of that" Under tech tip 3, it talks about breaking up sulfer. http://www.optimabatteries.com/product_support/techtips.php Also, these videos discuss how to charge an AGM battery. ----- Original Message ----- From: RONALD L PRACHT To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2011 11:22 PM Subject: [QUAD-L] optima red top battery I have a 2000 gmc Safari van that I have owned and driven for 7 years. Every year I have to replace the battery when it gets cold out. Last year I decided to try an Optima , at about the one year mark the van wouldnt start. I purchased a solar charger from Harbor Freight.......it sticks on the dash board and plugs into cigarette lighter. Things have been going better now, always starts up and the little charger was only 20 bucks. As far as Optima batteries being better , I think the proofs in the pudding.......it didnt perform any better than the walmart battery. A guy my dad works with at boeing told me to buy a desulfanator and wire it into the battery .....this will bust up the sulfer bubbles and allow the battery to last many years......I had my dad install one and Im waiting to see the results of that. I believe the problems with batteries and wheelchair vans stem from 2 main reasons......the first is that most arent driven daily.......and the second is most people are running the lifts and accessories with engine off. Always try to get engine running first if possible b4 running the power accessories. Ron c7
