<VV> Gel battery

[tkalp at cox.net]

Just to add a little information to Seth's post.

>From Wikipedia:

"A VRLA battery (valve-regulated lead-acid battery) is the designation for low-maintenance lead-acid rechargeable batteries. Because of their construction, VRLA batteries do not require regular addition of water to the cells.[1] VRLA batteries are commonly further classified as:

Absorbed glass mat (AGM) battery
Gel battery (gel cell)
These batteries are often colloquially called sealed lead-acid batteries, but they always include a safety pressure relief valve. As opposed to vented (also called flooded) batteries, a VRLA cannot spill its electrolyte if it is inverted. Because AGM VRLA batteries use much less electrolyte (battery acid) than traditional lead-acid batteries, they are also occasionally referred to as an "acid-starved" design.

The name "valve regulated" does not wholly describe the technology; these are really "recombinant" batteries, which means that the oxygen evolved at the positive plates will largely recombine with the hydrogen ready to evolve on the negative plates, creating water and so preventing water loss.[1] The valve is a safety feature in case the rate of hydrogen evolution becomes dangerously high. In flooded cells, the gases escape before they have a chance to recombine, so water must be periodically added.

Absorbed glass mat (AGM) is a class of VRLA battery in which the electrolyte is held on the glass mat separator by way of capillary action.

A gel battery (also known as a "gel cell") is a VRLA battery with a gelified electrolyte; the sulfuric acid is mixed with silica fume, which makes the resulting mass gel-like and immobile."

The Optima is an AGM battery.

Terry Kalp
Wichita, KS


---- Sethracer at aol.com wrote: 
> Optima Batteries are NOT gel cells. They are sealed lead acid batteries  
> with a special (they say) "spiral cell" technology.
>  
> The Gel battery used in Rick's race car is a Dyna-Batt Gel Cell produced by 
>  Davis Unified Ignition. They are available from Summit racing. I do not 
> know  what batteries Rick is using in his street cars.
>  
> - Seth Emerson