kb0nly
Full Access Member
There Platinum Series P4 uses 99% pure virgin lead as that battery is built by Odyssey for Sears and is the direct clone of the PC1500 just in a gray case instead of red/black.Odyssey does not use recycled lead in there batteries and are made in the USA where as the Optima's are now made in Mexich and most of Optima's best techs and engineers were fired when Johnson Controls took over and now work for Enersys who makes Odyssey batteries.And there's a big difference in recycled lead and virgin lead when it comes to batteries and how much juice they can put out.
I like my 1300cca's my Odyssey puts out compared to the 850cca's the Yellow Top I had could put out.
FALSE...
You can believe anything you want but its a fairy tale. Optima and others also used to say they used virgin lead in the grids but no more. Due to a federal mandate and regulations by the EPA car batteries contain and must be made from 60-80% recycled lead. PERIOD.
If a company is saying they are making a battery from 100% virgin lead then one of two things is happening.
1. They are lying..
2. They are cheating and should be fined.
I attended a course on recycling and lead safety through a previous employer, now granted that was about 5 years ago, but even then it was required. And i doubt they relaxed the laws any.
Edit: Nope, went to the EPA website and looked up regulations regarding the manufacture and recycling of Automotive Batteries. Still shows 60-80% recycled lead.
And many studies were done by the EPA, MIT, and i think another one by ASE, and they found the only difference is that what the industry calls CLEAN lead, which is recycled and chemically seperated lead, requires a slightly higher charge rate or a longer charge time. VIRGIN or PURE lead takes less charge time or less charging voltage to be fully charged, but that even a battery made from VIRGIN or PURE lead will quickly lose that ability during typical use.
There was also a study done to show that it doesn't matter since the average automobile charges at whatever rate is needed to maintain the battery, so a slight difference in charging voltage or time is not a significant factor. They also found that there is only a 5-10% difference in current flow between the two, and that over time the VIRGIN lead battery will lose that advantage.
So does it matter?? Nope...
Why do i know so much? Because i can i read and i'm deeply interested in how things work.
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