Hmmm....the materials used in the batteries are the same. This implies that the charging characteristics with respect to voltage are the same. The major difference in batteries has to do with the surface area of the plates. The larger the area the more current the battery can supply to a low resistance such as a starter under load. For starting this is a good thing. For plates with less surface area, a smaller amount of current can be supplied for a longer period of time. For either battery to be fully charged the voltage applied is the same. Only the amount of time at this voltage differs. The starting battery will accept a faster charge than the deep cycle because of the availability of plate material surface to the electrolyte. (that nasty tasting stuff that makes your clothes disappear). So if your regulator limits charging voltage to 14.1 VDC both the Optima Deep Cycle and the regular old Delco will charge just fine. The optima will take longer to reach a full charge. A major problem can occur if you connect a fully charged, high current battery to one that is almost fully discharged. The charged battery sees a low resistance and supplies a large amount of current into this resistance until the internal resistance of the formerly discharged battery rises. pensioner |
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