Optima H6 YellowTop Dual Purpose Sealed AGM Battery
Optima H6 YellowTop is a sealed, automotive dual-purpose battery, designed as a maintenance-free battery for most demanding applications, not just passenger cars.
Optima H6 YellowTop is an Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) battery with densely packed flat plates, with increased resistance to vibrations and mechanical impacts, and improved deep discharge recovery.
Published: May 11, 2020.
Optima H6 YellowTop Features and Specifications
Optima H6 YellowTop belongs to the H6 battery group (hence the name) and is designed as a truly dual-purpose sealed lead-acid battery - thus, it is often labeled as Optima DH6 YellowTop to emphasize its dual-purpose nature.
Unlike many other Optima batteries that feature spiral-wound cells, Optima H6 YellowTop features flat plates, increasing overall battery density.
Optima H6 YellowTop weighs 54.01 pounds (~24.5 kg) and features physical dimensions of (L x W x H) 10.94 x 6.89 x 7.48 inches (278 x 175 x 190 mm) and SAE terminals - perfect H6 battery size match.
Note: it is generally considered that BCI equivalent battery size for DIN H6 battery size (also DIN L3 and EN 66L3 sizes - 278 x 175 x 190 mm) is BCI Group 48 (306 x 175 x 192), but the BCI 98R (283 x 175 x 190) is an even closer match. However, when comparing batteries, one has to compare physical dimensions, terminal orientation and type, battery hold-down type, lifting edge, etc.
The nominal voltage of Optima H6 YellowTop is 12 volts, while nominal (20h) capacity is 72 hours.
Thanks to its design, Optima H6 YellowTop features very low internal resistance of ~3 mΩ and thus it can provide large starting currents of 800 CCA Amps and 928 MCA/CA Amps.
As a deep cycle battery, it features the Reserve Capacity value of 140 minutes - it can provide 25 Amps for 140 minutes (2h 20 minutes, for an effective capacity of 58.3 Ah.
Optima H6 YellowTop is suitable for a broad range of applications, not only as a dual-purpose car battery when it can crank rather large engines and power a large number of devices while the main engine is offline.
As a deep cycle battery, Optima H6 YellowTop is designed to withstand 300+ charging/discharging cycles - in order to prolong the battery operating life, don't discharge it below 10.5 volts (preferably not below 10.8 volts).
However, if the battery is deeply discharged below, for example, 7.5 - 9.0 volts (1.25 - 1.5 volts per cell) it can be safely recovered using a smart AGM battery charger that allows recovery of such deeply discharged batteries.
Long Story Short: If you are looking for a new H6 size battery, consider Optima H6 YellowTop battery, especially if your car comes with a set of additional electrical loads, like multimedia center, GPS/Security systems, additional lights, etc.
If you are looking for an H6 size battery for general use, Optima H6 YellowTop is a well-balanced battery design, offering both good starting and good deep cycle characteristics.
For more reviews and recommendations, feel free to check Optima DH6 YellowTop Dual Purpose Sealed AGM Battery Amazon link (link opens in the new window).
