1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Well, after three dead Saab batteries in seven years, I finally have an Optima (34R). To answer my own question awhile back, which nobody answered, the Saab clamp fit perfectly, to my great surprise, even though the Optima doesn't have the depression/lip on its side that the Saab battery does. Not a fraction of a millimeter too tight or too loose, width wise. The clamp basically just butts up against the cylinders. As you tighten the clamp, it presses against the cylinder (mostly the middle one, it seems). I hope not too much.
I put an meat thermometer on the battery. It read about 160°F. (Which is about where I gather the SAE J-240 test standard of 167°F is.) I sure hope that Optima's claim of having a J240 "life cycle" of 10,000-12,000 cycles (compared with Interstate's 5,300 cycles) is true. At $125, with 6 yr. warranty, I hope this battery lasts 10 years, like a recent poster said his/hers has.
Some questions: About those "anti corrosion" felt pads for battery posts. What is the principle behind them? Do they work and how? Are they needed if the battery is really sealed (as I am led to believe the Optima is)?
What metal are battery posts made of?
Where did you get your gold(-plated?) battery clamps? Isn't it a bad idea to have dissimilar metals in electrical contacts (such as would be the case if you had gold or brass battery terminals)?
Is it OK to have battery cables that are larger, perhaps significantly larger, than the stock cables? I wouldn't think so, but I wonder if the Saab engineers have done their electrical design assuming a particular resistance (or range of resistances) in the battery cables, and if the resistance were substantially lower, it might screw something up...?
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