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battery gel or not gel???

gunnut

Junior Member
Hi,seems I'm haveing a run of bad luck kinda,had this glide for 3 years,battery has bit the dust,no idea how old the thing was before I had it.The question is.....I can get the proper battery for the bike only its not gel,for about half the cost of a gel on,so,whats the difference,and does it matter anyway????
Thanks again guys.(and the ladies however few)
 
I like the gell..+ for it,, they like to stay charged if u only ride one weekends get a smart charger. if u ride every day its OK ..
 
I myself like maintenance free lead acid batteries. The reasons why is no other battery can take a beating like a lead acid and still survive to the next day. Run a Gel down to near zero charge and it's toast. Overcharge a gel and it's toast. Most gel batteries are rated in a "calculated" AH rating other than 1 hour because if you test them at the single amp hour rating you will hurt them. Another big plus of a lead acid is it's death is predicable with symptoms that show up before it leaves you stranded. Every gel I ever owned was good today and dead tomorrow with no real warning signs..

But the gel does in fact have a lower self discharge rate unlike the lead acid because it's internal resistance is higher. A gel also has a better tolerance to vibration than a lead acid.

Everyone has their favorites and their reasons so shop around and decide.
 
gel should last longer and give better cranking power and the gel does not evaporate like the liquid acid
prior to fitting the battery ensure it is fully charged they usually come with a charge in them but its not a full charge and can reduce battery life if not fully charged prior to fitting
optimate is a good charger and battery maintainer available throught uk and comes with a pigtail lead for attatching to the battery for easy plugging in after every ride

Brian
 
Hopple i thought gel bats were the cats meow. i see now they have there shortcomings thanks for the info..... :s
 
Hopple i thought gel bats were the cats meow. i see now they have there shortcomings thanks for the info..... :s

Well I am not saying they are bad because they do have their strong points.
I just kinda favor the old maintenance free lead acid because of their ability to put out huge CCA and can take abuse (over charge, deep drain) like nothing else. The price is also pretty good considering what you get. And I do like the "heads up" warning signs of lead acid going deep six.

When you look at all the types of batteries you can buy today, NiCad, NiMH, lead acid, spiral, paste, gel, LiPo etc, they all have their strong points and their weak points. Some are fragile, some forgiving, some with monster outputs, some with long shelf life, and some flat out dangerous if used improperly(LiPo),, you just have to choose what your application fits best.
One thing I can tell you with certainty. No one battery type does or has it all.
 
I have a factory HD battery 6 years old. Would not buy anything else period. Only my thought...................
 
Thanks guys,certainly food for thought.Guy in the battery shop says the lead acid last better.and for the price £80-$120 ish are better value for money than gel.So with your advice,all of which is greatly appreciated,I've gone for the lead acid and an Optimax.
 
Optimax is a lead acid? I though Optima was a spiral battery. (?)

Isn't Optima the battery that looks like 6 of the old round tall dry cell batteries stacked together? You know the ones used in Burglar Alarm systems back 25 years ago.
 
Optimax is a lead acid? I though Optima was a spiral battery. (?)

Isn't Optima the battery that looks like 6 of the old round tall dry cell batteries stacked together? You know the ones used in Burglar Alarm systems back 25 years ago.

Hoop, you are correct, they use spiral core tech and 99.9999 percent virgin oops dare I say that lead
 
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