Alternator or Battery???

[tomtom72]

I thought that the Optima's were "gel-cells"? How do you do a S-G test on a gel electrolyte?

My gold top A/Zone battery is just starting to yield the same symptoms as yours. Mine is 4.5 yrs old. I had to look up my receipt as I forgot how old it was exactly.

Your test of the alternator's output seems to be well within the specs. A load test would be best. I would suspect that if you can't recall exactly how old the battery is, that it is 5 or 5+ yrs old.....usually we remember spending big doe and getting short changed....that it is past it's prime. just my two cents.

This was told to me by an Interstate rep a looooong time ago, so fwiw. Usually the electrolyte only has so much life. The reaction due to the charge/discharge cycle creates salt which collects at the bottom of the case and eventually reaches the bottom of the plates and thus creates a short across two plates. The better the salt connection, the better the short. The longer the posted life of the battery, the bigger the space from the bottom of the case to the bottom of the plates. Taken together these two circumstances kill the battery's ability to hold a charge and have output. I don't know if this applies to a Gel-Cell type battery with spiral plates, but the chemical reactions that take place have to be analogous and the "plates" still have to be suspended for it to be a battery.


Tom