It’s all about the battery journey in life! My lengthy experience with Optima goes as far back as 2004. Definately try to keep them topped off whenever you can. Went through a few of them personally that were < 1 year old because they were installed in track cars that sat most of the time; their batteries are sensitive to sulfation. Eventually, Optima released a special $200 Optima Battery charger to recover these batteries that worked most of the time.
In my experience -40F will wreak havoc on most batteries (including lead acid and AGM) in the long term. I did pull the DL+ (as well as our other vehicle batteries) the other day when our local temps dipped below the -20F just to protect the cell’s longevity.
@Bobbyduracel - the powerbox is a pretty cool solution (we use one with the DL+ 60ah for powering the electric motor on our canoe). We do run our 135ah as a drop-in replacement for our stock starting battery, direct connected to the 80amp alt, but I don’t think it’d be a good idea to direct connect it to a lead-acid/AGM starting battery without a DC-to-DC. Would think this would cause the voltage regulator to either send too much voltage to the starting battery or too little to the DL+
Thanks, and yeah… I have a box filled with components waiting for install, based on lots of forum searching and browsing.
Ultimately, the powerbox 135+ will be mounted in the truck bed with ability to quickly disconnect for storage in the garage between trips. The more permanent portion of the rig consists of the RedARc BCDC1225D charge controller and the 2 port 12V connector panel from Dometic. My 100w Renogy panel will be wired into the RedArc as well.
The last bit will be another power outlet/panel to connect Matt Gecko’s LED kit permanently to my board. We are looking at little distro panels as we speak, specifically for the lights. Alternately, we may just add more CLA ports.
I will use the onboard USB ports on the powerbox for basic charging of devices, and for heavier charging nights I will just open the box and use the inverter from Dakota.
I imagine my LED lights, Dometic fridge and diesel heater will all benefit from dedicated ports on the board, mounted to the truck bed. A couple of quick connects and GO!