charging an optima red top good or bad?

I just recently bought an Optima red top battery for my truck. I drained two normal Duralast batteries and decided enough was enough. I believe that the Duralasts didn't last because my alternator is not strong enough to keep up with the demand of my audio system. And I do not listen to the radio with the truck off, for those who are wondering.

My question is, until I can get a HO alternator, would it be wise/necessary/practical to every so often charge my battery to keep it from draining? Or would this cause more problems than just operating as normal? My truck is a daily driver, so it's not like I spend a whole lot of time in it to play music.

All the pertinent info is in my sig. What do you guys think? Thanks.

Red Tops are built to withstand physical, not electrical abuse.

If you drain it below 10~11v, it won't work properly again.  It isn't made to be recharged - it needs to stay at 12.5v for it to work properly.  So you have *some* headroom - but certainly not enough to recharge the thing back up to 12.5v.  If you find yourself doing this, you might as well head to the auto-parts store. . . .

Get a Yellow variant - the design is built to withstand electrical abuse AND be recharged - the Red isn't designed to do either of those things.

There will be like ten posts following mine with crazy-talk like "Red Tops are actually better" - please remember that Optima itself expressely tells people that Red's are NOT designed for car stereo applications OR for Deep Cycling - this myth - unlike the Red Top - won't die.

Good info, sedate. Thanks.

I will admit to two things here that influenced my decision on the Red Top - price point and what I had seen here on the forums. I was able to get the Red Top for $105 after core returns and "refund" since this last Duralast battery was out of warranty.

The other thing I failed to mention in my original posting was, I have not yet upgraded to the Big 3 yet. I think this would only prolong the inevitable, but I'm sure it would help. I'm guessing a HO alt is in my immediate future...