Optimas - less heat?

[Trunk Monkey]

As I've been on the summer conquest of better cooling, talking with Christo he mentioned that one thing he'd done was to move the dual batts out of the engine bay, remove two sources of heat.

Got me wondering if the Optima style or gel cell batteries produce any less heat than a normal auto battery. I've looked around Optima's site to see if they push it as a benefit and didn't see anything, just about longevity. Anyone noticed if their spiral/gel battery is any cooler to the touch than a normal batt?

Thanks.

 

[nuclearlemon]

don't know about heat, but one of the biggest advantages, besides not leaking acid, is their resistance to vibration which is prominent in ohv situations.

 

[SteveH]

Unless they're being charged a higher rate, I don't see how/why they should be generating heat. Any heat would be generated from a chemical reaction.

They would act as a thermal sink/mass under the hood, so in that respect, getting them out from under the hood might allow the engine to cool more quickly. I've never sensed that they 'run' hotter or cooler than any other battery.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

I'm sure it's also removing them just for air space around the engine.

 

[haulin79]

The heat generated by a battery is proportional to the current in/out of the battery multiplied by the internal resistance of the battery.

I am pretty sure Optima claims they have lower internal resistance than standard lead acid batteries, thus Optimas would give off proportionately less heat.

 

[alia176]

Are you sure he didn't mean that the lack of the batteries allows more air flow through the headlights area into the under hood location?

 

[RavenTai]

my batteries are much cooler than the surounding engine bay, I am sure that Slee meant it as an air flow diffrence.