Is it true the higher the CCA amps the thinner the plates in the battery? Which means its not as good?

 

i am debating if i should get the MT-86 OR MTP-86 from Interstate.

 

i guess no one knows....

 

For the same size battery case, the higher CCA rating is achieved with more plates meaning the plates are thinner. The MT-86 and MTP-86 are the same external size so the MTP-86 has more/thinner plates but more CCA/CA/RC. Does that mean it's not as good??? The MTP-86 has a longer warranty than the MT-86 (85 mo vs 75 mo) as well as higher performance ratings so I would say the MTP-86 is the better battery. If not, you always have the longer warranty to fall back on but I don't think Interstate would give a longer warranty if the thinner plates meant it wouldn't last as long. The thinner plates are more sensitive to being discharged with most "long warranty" batteries failing after ~3 complete discharges from say leaving the lights on or letting the car sit too long without starting so there is a downside to thinner plates. They work best in cars driven every day that have a feature that shuts off the headlights so many minutes after turning off the engine. Deep cycle batteries have very thick plates but their CCA/CA is lower for the same size case and their warranty is much shorter. I always get a battery with the longest warranty and the highest performance ratings that'll fit in the battery mount I have...some cars I've had to "adjust" the battery mount with a small sledge hammer to get a little bigger battery in. But I also keep my cars for a long, long time...

Here's more info:
http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm

About a third of the way down talks about plate thickness.

 

Don't get hung up on the CCA figure unless you plan to drive in extremely cold weather. Reserve Capacity (RC) is a very important rating especially for Vette owners that don't drive them for long periods of time. Later! Frank

 

ok if i run a trickle charger when in storage then which one shall i get?

 

From the two choices you mentioned I would buy the MTP-86. Later! Frank

 

Don't use a trickle charger if you put your car in storage...you'll come back to a battery with the water "boiled" out of it. You want to get a float charger sometimes referred to as a battery tender or battery maintainer. Here's a link to one of many out there:

http://batterytender.com/battery-ten...-at-1-25a.html

They also have a .75 amp "Junior" size for $39.95. If you get the MTP-86 battery and you're going to store the car for any length of time, a charger of this type is a must to make the battery last the 85 months of its warranty. A guy at work uses one continuously on his car and the battery is ten years old...if you never let them fall out of their optimum range of charge, it's possible.

 

sorry i used wrong term. CTEK ok? so i should go with the MTP

 

CTEK is ok, whichever is your favorite. I would go with the MTP but it's your car and you may not think the price difference is worth it. Having said that, there's nothing wrong with the MT...basically, you can't go wrong with either one.