How long can an Optima battery be on its side? Options

[BCinSC]

Needed to shoehorn my Optima RedTop into friend's Jag X-Type this morning and to get cables connected, laid it on its side. I know you can do this, being gel, but for how long?

[bondo]

they're not gel cell battries. basically they are just 6 large capacitors wired together. I think almost identical to the stiffening caps used in high end automotive sound systems. they can store large amounts of current, then release it when needed. A friend used one as an extra battery to run his system, mounted it sideways inside the car covered by custom access panels. so they don't have to have a lot of venting either.

Almost right. They are built like a capacitor, but they are still a lead acid battery. "Valve Regulated Lead Acid" and "Absorbed Glass Mat" are names for the technology. It doesn't have to be wound in a spiral, Hawker does the same thing with square batteries. The lead plates are thinner, and sandwiched between them are sheets of fiberglass mat soaked in sufluric acid. This gives them the high current capability of capacitors, but the desiarable discharge curve of a lead acid battery. (a 100% charged 12v capacitor is 12v, a 50% charged 12v capacitor is 6v... a 100% charged 12v lead acid battery is 13.8v, a 50% charged 12v lead acid battery is around 11.5-12v depending on battery chemistry. Most battery companies will have specs relating to their open circuit voltages at various charge levels, if anyone cares that much.