i'm going to mount a optima yellowtop battery in my trunk and am thinking about building a custom battery box for it.do nhra rules require a sealed box for optima batteries? thanks

I don't know about the NHRA rule regarding battery location. But I know of several people who have had bad luck with the Optima brand in the past. My old Optima broke after I had it about a month. The side mount came apart and fell completely out. The vender wouldn't warranty it. My next door neighbor who is a Super Comp racer had his old Optima break in half coming out of the burn out box with his R.E.D. Something to consider if you haven't bought it. But, I'm sure there are some happy Optima customers. Good luck!!!

I sell about 15 optima's a week, for every 100 I sell I get 5 back before the free replacement warranty up, mostly due to not keeping them charged for long periods of time (will trash any battery) I am a believer in them and have them in every car I own

looks like they would invest in a 40.00 battery maintainer.. graemlins/sad.gif

I got the Optima red top a while back for the daily driven C5 Corvette and have not had a single hiccup with it yet. I personally don't know of a single person who has had a problem with them.

I decided to go the Optima route after hearing the raving reviews over at Corvetteforum.com..

Great battery! Unless something drastic happens to change my mind, I don't think I will ever go back to wet-cell technology again..

I've had my red top Optima for a couple months now, no problems here. :D ...I love it, and that Nascar (I think made my Exide) battery is pretty good to, I have that one in my Burban. graemlins/thumbsup.gif ...only problem I have is that because of these rediculous gas prices, I don't drive my Burban much, so the only time I turn it on is when street cleaning comes. Now I gotta take it back to Kragen and exchange it for a new one...thank God for warrenties!!! graemlins/hurray.gif :D graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I will say the red top optima is top notch. I put on in my racecar in 99, still going strong when I sold it last fall. I will definitly be putting them in the new car. I dont run a alternator either and charged them maybe every other weekend if I thought about it. Two thumbs up from me.

I didn't have too good of luck with mine. Let me down several times. Once was in the semis and another time in the finals, several other times, also. I pulled it out and now have an Exide. It has been fine. After getting home with the dead Optima, it would show fully charged after 15-20 minutes on the charger (10amp). Maybe something was wrong with it, I don't know, but it is now setting in my garage and not in my car.

About the Red top Optima's...

I have had a Red Top Optima for about 5 years in my daily driver.It has faired better than my drivers.

Not one problem with it.

You need to use a 10amp automatic charger with them.

I only found that out because a friend of mine bought one and had bad luck with it.
He had a Camaro that he raced on weekends and it didn't have an alternator.

He replaced the first battery through the waranty.The same thing happend.Both times the charger said that the battery was good to go and after a couple of rounds...no juice.
I know because I was the one doing the work as my friend is handicapped and needs assistance with such things.

He called Optima and they told him that he needed to charge them at 10amps with an automatic charger.I was using his Sears 10amp charger.It was not an automatic charger :(

He bought one made by Exide (pt#31013) that has 10/2/60 AMP automatic charging.These chargers slowly bring the charge up by giving little current bursts.Not a full 13.5-14 volts full time as standard chargers do.

No problems ever since.
I bought one as well.Maby that Is why I have never had a problem with my Optima.At one point I had this battery sitting for a period of one year between daily drivers,still no problems.It has bean in my current daily driver for two years.

thanks for all the helpful input guys,optima it is! :D

If you are going to use the Yellow top deep cell I would suggest that you call Optima and ask them for a recomendation on the charger to use with them to avoid having problems.

thanks!will do... graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Digging up an old topic......

bowtie455's question was never answered and I need to know the answer to same question, does NHRA still require a sealed box with sealed batteries like Optima, Exide, and Interstate make?

Thanks!!

I believe so! Especially since the rules are so vague? Is your trunk sealed off from the rest of the car? It must be if it has a fuel cell in it, and if it is, then you don't need a sealed box.

I believe so! Especially since the rules are so vague? Is your trunk sealed off from the rest of the car? It must be if it has a fuel cell in it, and if it is, then you don't need a sealed box.

Its my Datsun Z (hatchback) so the battery is with me. I am running the stock gas tank too.

Since I only race a few times a year I was just hoping to avoid buying a sealed box and punching more holes in my car.