Over on one of the Mopar boards I visit there is a thread about what type of batteries to use. Some like to use Optima and others say they have had problems with them. One of the members said he uses a Deka battery.
Does anyone know anything about them or use one?

It looks like the Deka are wet batteries. The appeal of the Optima is that it is gel and won't leak.

I had a deka come with my honda generator it lasted less than 3 years and was completely dead. Went to get a new one and my flaps could not even cross reference it.

does that help?

I'm not sure but this may be something similar to an Optima. Intimidator

DEKA is just another wet-cell battery. We have an old motorcycle DEKA laying around our shop. It's been dead for a long time.

Deka . com

Twystd1

In my opinion (I know, less that $.02 worth) if you just want a solid proven product (and don't even consider an non-sealed battery in a 914), use an Odyssey PC680 (small and light), or if you run accessories/lights than need extra reserve power then go with an Optima.

Lots of other products get talked about, and it's cool to experiment and share experiences with other products. But I don't think there's really anything significantly better.

As an alternative to the Optima, I have been using a Miata battery from AutoZone for the last year. It is an AGM battery. Started the car fine all winter. It hasn't given me any trouble. I think I paid about $80, but my memory is not reliable. I know I bought it because it was cheaper than the Optima, and readily available.

Looking around on their website I found this Gel battery. It says it's for marine use but I don't know why you couldn't use it for a car as long as the CCA is high enough.
I'm not looking into buying a battery just yet. Car is a ways from being on the road. Just a little curious about options.
I have read some threads about Optima's where guys are not having them last as long as they should. Some are getting only a year or two and others are getting 5 or more.
They were bought out by another company about 6 years ago and I don't know if maybe the quality is not as good or maybe more people are buying them and I'm hearing about more of the problems but the percentage of problems is about the same.

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Marine batteries are supposed to be able to take deeper charge / drain cycles. Other batteries are "starting" batteries and don't like to be deep cycled. The optima yellow is a deep cycle "marine" battery. The red top is a "starting" battery.