Batteries are about like oil brands..
Optima has treated me well, I keep a yellow top group D34/78 around (the one with top and gm side posts) as my run around battery because it will work in everything. Might be in a welder, vehicle or sitting on the floor for couple months then pulled out to go start something that should be in a junkyard. It gets abused but I do try to keep it charged. I don't use any fancy chargers besides a 1.5 amp Schumacher automatic tender, voltage sensing type, idk if that makes a difference but sure is handy for some of the 6v stuff I have floating around. current optima is probably 5yrs old last one only died after I forgot to strap it in and literately ran it over.. Threw it back in and away we went but it eventually died a slow death lol. I also heard the rumors that they aren't the quality they once where since Interstate now owns them. But my last one was after the buy out and has been great so who knows.
EastPenn/Deka has a factory here in my very small home town. Currently undergoing a 146 +/- million dollar expansion. A big deal in the town of 1600 people to supposedly add 200 jobs. My shop sits kitty corner to them by about a 1/4 mile. I have many friends that work there in all aspects, I have been in the factory and seen the different labels put on the exact same battery. So I support them for that reason.
But my experience with there product has been mixed. My 7.3 Superduty has a set of Napa AGM's (Deka) they are 7 years old but will need replaced by winter. My day job is with a local manufacturing facility that builds lawn mowers, we use about 30+ batteries a day. For a period couple years ago we started using Deka in a few of our machines. Obvious right? Two small town businesses working with each other a win win! Sadly that was not the case. They had to be brought out here from Pennsylvania as they don't make that size here still not a big deal as trucks go back and forth weekly and that helped keep costs down. The real problem was the failure rate was astronomical compared to the brand we had been using. On top of this while at a trade show I approached 2 of their salesmen as an OEM rep, they where exceedingly uninformed of there warranty process and just flat rude. Probably because I'm a younger guy and they didn't take me seriously, either way it left a bad taste in my mouth. Continued promises left unfulfilled by there reps eventually led to me putting my foot down and saying no more. By the time the main bosses came into the picture it was to late. Made me kind of sad really, not being able to work with a hometown company. We went back to Interstate. With that said every other individual I have had contact with at Deka/East Penn has been very polite and down to earth including upper management.
So moral of the story is use the proper weight, and whatever brand of oil that makes you feel warm and fuzzy.
