Optima Battery Discrepency

[snowcruiser]

Compared the specs on my two Optima Red tops today and low and behold they are different. The main battery is a 34R but has a higher reserve capacity and cold cranking amps rating than the other Redtop which is a 34. I believe the 34R used to be called an orange top. What gives? Thought a Red top was a Red top! By the way I have had really good luck so far with these batteries and no complaints.

 

[Landpimp]

I have seen a few different ratings, no that are not all the same

 

[boerboel313]

Whats the difference between all the colors?

 

[hj60]

Red Top is standard automotive starting battery. Designed to be loaded and then
immediately recharged.
Blue Top is Marine/Deep Cycle. Designed to be repeatedly loaded with infrequent
recharging.
Yellow Top is Commercial. Also called a Dual Purpose. Combines the features of the Red and
Blue Tops into one battery.
Orange Top was nothing more than a Red Top specifically designed for Japanese cars. They
don't appear to offer it anymore.

The difference between 34 and 34R is not Optima, but the Battery Council International.
They came up with standards for different battery ratings.
Normally a ## and ##R would be the same battery with the terminals reversed, but that's
not always true.

Hope this clears things up for you a bit.

BTW, I used to sell these, so standard disclaimers apply.

 

[dd113]

they also make a marine starting battery, blue top but more like a red top in performance