Yellow Top Battery

I am planning...maybe...on getting a new battery.  I am simply wondering if the yellow top battery would be worth it.  I am looking into them b/c sometimes when I have my bass up more than normal, when I am stopped I see my tach bounce trying to power the subs and I already have a 1 farad cap.  Though maybe this is due to all the corrosion on the terminals.  Anyways, will this be a waste since I will still have the stock alternator or what?  Or will I even notice much of a difference?  Thanks!:)

I just installed the yellow top in mine and I noticed that the surge in the tach is gone.  ( I hated that!) The Optima's are really worth spending the money on.....BUY IT!

Does it start up quicker?

i am ignorant.  what is a yellow top battery?

Have you thought about doing a "Big Three / Grounding Kit"?  Here is a basic description taken from Wildman at 6thGenAccord.com "The point of this mod is to upgrade your grounds so that your electrical system remains more stable. Less dimming lights, etc. This is mainly for people with audio systems, doing this upgrade will make a big difference in preventing voltage drop."
Here is a link to his DIY: http://www.6thgenaccord.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1487
It only costs about $30.  Plus is dresses up your engine bay a bit
If I had a sound system, I would definitely do this.  I am thinking about doing it anyway since it is pretty cheap.
 
Oh yeah...Smaglik, the yellow top battery is the Optima battery.  I think they are one of the most expensive batteries you can buy.  You can get other colors too I think.

^ doing big three would but strain on alt if alt is not upgraded. I would suggest Kinetik powercell. I feel that they are better than optima and come in a better variety to choose from. also optima's are known not to take a charge when they go down to much.

The big 3 doesnt put a strain on the alternator, at least not that Ive ever seen.  Its an easy way to increase your charging systems capability.
 
A Yellow Top battery is a very good investment, much better than a cap which Im not a very big fan of.  Plus a cap increases the load on the charging system albeit slightly.
 
You should also look into Kinetic batteries.  Theyre quite a bit more expensive like around $300 but theyre also 1800 CCA's and up!!!

^ it's an accord stock alt keep that in mind  

So is this battery better than Optimas yellow top?  I notice its  cheaper.

http://cgi.ebay.com/KINETIC-HC600-CAP-KILLER-CAR-POWER-CELL-HC-600-BATTERY_W0QQitemZ300127147652QQihZ020QQcategoryZ50552QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

quote:

ORIGINAL: 00AccordLX5spd

Have you thought about doing a "Big Three / Grounding Kit"?  Here is a basic description taken from Wildman at 6thGenAccord.com "The point of this mod is to upgrade your grounds so that your electrical system remains more stable. Less dimming lights, etc. This is mainly for people with audio systems, doing this upgrade will make a big difference in preventing voltage drop."
Here is a link to his DIY: http://www.6thgenaccord.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1487
It only costs about $30.  Plus is dresses up your engine bay a bit
If I had a sound system, I would definitely do this.  I am thinking about doing it anyway since it is pretty cheap.

Oh yeah...Smaglik, the yellow top battery is the Optima battery.  I think they are one of the most expensive batteries you can buy.  You can get other colors too I think.

 
They also make them in Blue and in Red...

Yeah but I thought the red was for better/quicker starting, and the yellow is more for high audio loads.

the kinetik hc600 is like a optima red top

I had a yellow top in my previous car, which was a suburban. I had about the same system I have now and I never noticed any voltage drops with the bass. But one day my battery went bad, and I needed a new one so I thought why not get the best. So I got a yellow top, but I never noticed any difference at all. I think this b/c the alt on the suburban was bigger then I needed. But I would still kill the battery for time to time pulling up some where to "do some thing", and turn of the car and watch some family guy. The yellow tops are great for high amp output, not so much battery life. I don't have a problem with voltage drops in my accord, and I eventually want to upgrade my battery. But I want a battery with the longest life? Would I have to go with two batteries?

brands to consider are: kinetik, optima,stinger,odyssey,powermaster, ect.............

quote:

ORIGINAL: t00fatt

I had a yellow top in my previous car, which was a suburban. I had about the same system I have now and I never noticed any voltage drops with the bass. But one day my battery went bad, and I needed a new one so I thought why not get the best. So I got a yellow top, but I never noticed any difference at all. I think this b/c the alt on the suburban was bigger then I needed. But I would still kill the battery for time to time pulling up some where to "do some thing", and turn of the car and watch some family guy. The yellow tops are great for high amp output, not so much battery life. I don't have a problem with voltage drops in my accord, and I eventually want to upgrade my battery. But I want a battery with the longest life? Would I have to go with two batteries?

lol     So how long would it last?

depends on how u use it, if drained to bad may not take charge. I listed other brands just as good/better pending your price range

man is there some poor info in this thread!  to the original poster, first thing you should always do is upgrade the Big 3.  its the cheapest way to get better performance out of your electrical system.  if you have done that and feel its inadequate, then consider a high output alt next.  thats basically all you need to worry about.  a yellow top is a nice thing to have but its really not anything special unless you like to play your system without the car on.  same goes for multiple bats.  and its my personal opinion that caps are just a waste of money.  theres a large debate on whether they are worth it or not to which there will be no answer.  just do what i said, and youll be ok bro.

oh and big 3 does NOT add strain to your electrical system, it RELEASES strain if anything

caps serve a purpose,    if you have a car with a stock alternator that the headlights dim while youre driving on the highway you need to upgrade something, and regrounding the big 3 isnt going to solve your problem.     Personal opinion doesnt hold up to much when it comes to fact that caps do exactly what they are suppose to when used properly.  

quote:

ORIGINAL: marbro

caps serve a purpose,    if you have a car with a stock alternator that the headlights dim while youre driving on the highway you need to upgrade something, and regrounding the big 3 isnt going to solve your problem.     Personal opinion doesnt hold up to much when it comes to fact that caps do exactly what they are suppose to when used properly.  

ok, first, the big 3 is the best thing to do for dimming thats within a reasonable price.  yeah, if your running 2500watts, big 3 alone wont cut it.  but if your not running a whole lot and you got a little dimming, big 3 outta knock that out.  btw, big 3 isnt just regrouding.  big 3 is upgrading the alt to bat (+), bat to chassis (-), and chassis to block (-).  and you should always use excessively large wire (i.e. 0awg).  
 
caps prevent dimming to a degree, but does that make them good?  no.  they are another load on the alternator.  just cause you cant see dimming doesnt mean everythings cherry.  and just cause you got a little dimming, doent mean your gonna toast your alt.  whether caps are worth it or not has long been debated, and there really is no answer, and there is no "fact" either

Here we go again....

Haha!
I have not done the big 3, but I have read good reviews about it.  Several guys on another forum were experiencing lights dimming from sound systems and all they did was the big 3 and problem solved.  That's why I posted the link to the big 3 in the beginning.  I am not taking sides here, I'm just showing you what I read.  I don't really see how the big 3 could put strain on your alternator either 

you dont even need 0awg wire for grounding those out,   grounding like that is in consideration of over 300amps which nothing in the car will have that much current running through it that would need that kind of grounding,   thats just one of those over kill things that make people go, "dude look at that"    
and i never said it was going to toast your alternator   
and by saying theres no fact its like saying caps have no use in electronics,  there is more then enough fact behind what its suppose to be used for, their purpose was kinda defined a while ago    

I dont know a lot of theory and physics but Ive seen a lot of SPL competitors cars and most of them use very heavy duty batteries, aftermarket alternators and about 25,000 watts.  No caps. 

Caps are more of a band aid.  Nothing wrong with them but nothing really right about them either.  If youre charging system is up to snuff there is no need for a cap.  If you have charging issues, youre always much better off by doing the Big 3, and using a higher powered alternator and battery.

Honestly tho, if youre listening to music at NORMAL levels and not trying to be the loudest guy on the block, your stock charging system will work just fine.  I know several SQ competitors that are running 3000 watts on the OEM battery and alternator and have no issues.  But then again they dont drive around listening to Bass Mechanik CD's at full volume either.     Heck, Im running 700 watts and using the stock 400 amp battery and alt and have no issues.
 
And as far as too large a gauge wire - there is no such thing.  Resistance is the key here.
 
For example - say youre drawing 80 amps.  Thats about 600-800 watts.  Thru 10 feet of 8 gauge wire youll drop 1 volt.  Thats pretty substantial going from 12.5 down to 11.5.  Now say you use 1/0 gauge for the same 10' run.  You now lose .1 volts.  Essentialy you get the same voltage at the end of the run as you do at the beginning.