I just got done cleaning friggin battery acid from the compartment in our Sequoia. Bitchen truck, not a rattle to be heard, and there's friggin acid coming out the top of the battery. What the dillyo? I would be even more pissed off if that stuff came out inside the boat. Turn the Optima upside down and submerge it in bilge water - it won't care. Oh, sorry, you expressely forbid use of the Optima. BTW, it's not gel - gel will overcook with a decent alternator. Absorbed Glass Matt is the Optima (and other similar brands) construction. Take fiberglass cloth, saturate it with electrolyte, slap a layer of yummy lead on it and then roll the whole thing up. No free liquid, thick plates, super vibration resistant and 1/10th of the self-discharge rate (loss during storage) of lead-acid batteries. Oh yeah, the things can recharge at like a 1C rate, which means that if it's DEAD and you've got a 200A alternator, it'll recharge in an hour without blowing up like all liquid or gel-cells would. In your cost/benefit, plz consider more than reserve capacity vs. price.
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