more finicky
I havent's seen anything lately about a new gel battery. The technology has been around a long time. I carefully considered gels 11 years ago when it was time to upgrade the boats and the RVs at the same time. The charging requirements were more finicky and demanding for the gels than for the sealed Optima wet plate batteries. I've been very pleased with the OPtimas. That easily take a 100 amp charge, but will charge to capacity at anyting over 10 amps. Will stay charged without any attention for 12 months and still crank an engine. I have four of them in my M26X and four in my travel trailer because they are smaller and lighter weight. They have never let me down. I have them in my SUVs. In one truck the optima was twice, accidently discharged down to 9.5 volts. It was brought back up to full capacity and stayed that way. No gas or acid emissions, no corrosion, no problems. Highly vibration resistant. Mount in any position. I highly recommend them after using them in both light duty and heavy duty applications for over 10 years. They cost more, but the reliability, ease of charging and not overcharging, the lighter weight and absolutely no maintenace required makes it worth it, especially for boats and RVs that don't get used every day.
