Re: Tiny Optima YT's

[John Wayland <dat1200@europa.com>]

Hello to All,

>From Ricky Suiter:

>...I noticed John Wayland had a small Optima YT in the White Zombie for

his
>12 volt. That was the first and only time I've ever seen or heard about

one.
>Does anyone have any info on these?

    Optima calls them 'Gen II's", but we Optima religious call them
'Baby Optimas' or 'Baby YT's". Optima had a short-lived contract with GM

to make these 15 ahr batteries for a hybrid car project, which
ultimately was just a big stock offering tease...to my knowledge, only
one prototype car was ever built. A friend of mine who was working at
Aerovironment for a while (might still be?) knew even more about the
project, as he helped design small charge/discharge circuit boards that
used a temperature probe designed to drop down in the center of one of
the battery's spiral cells. If you take a close look at a Baby YT, you
can find the small hole in the plastic casing for the probe, as well as
a rectangular recess where the circuit board rested, too.
    The Baby YT is a terrific little battery, but it can only withstand
up to 300 amp discharges before its intercell connectors fuse open.
Those of us who were lucky enough to snatch up some of these cool
looking batteries, love them for use as an EV's 12v system
battery...they are awesome for powering-up car stereos and have roughly
twice the power density of Optima's larger group 34 YTs!

(1)   I used a pair of them to power up 'Pee Wee', my twin motor,
mutated muscle scooter (you
       can see it and the Baby YT's at Mike Chancey's EV Photo Page).

 (2)   I've had a Baby YT in Blue Meanie now for nearly three years, and

         with my DC-DC converter always on (it switches down to 13.1
volts for
         standby trickle charge, and up to 14.5 volts when the ignition
switch is
         on) it is in perfect shape, always ready to make the
competition sound
         system rock!

(3)    I also have one in Orange Boy, my three wheeled micro
        truck, and it too, runs the 12v system and a crank'n stereo
system.

(4)    As pointed out, I use one in White Zombie, and it handle all the
12v duties in the car.
        Because it is a drag rac car, I don't have a DC-DC converter to
help the Baby YT out, so
        it just gets an occasional recharge via and off board 12v
charger. The baby YT's excellent
        shelf life assure me that the Zombie's 12v system is always
ready to go, and it has never failed me.

(5)   I use a Baby YT to power the contactor on my 'dump charging'
board.

>If they still make these how much do they cost?

    Nope, it was a one shot deal, and these batteries were all
hand-stuffed and assembled. I was told by Optima, that they figured each
one cost over $700 to build, but that sounded more like 'bean counter
logic' than anything else. I got mine for free, but I do a lot of
battery business with Optima, and Optima knew that I would put the Baby
YTs to good use in my show vehicles. I have four extra ones on the
shelf, but they're earmarked for future projects...sure wish I could get
more of them.

See Ya......John Wayland