Optima Batteries, getting better or worse?

Thanks everybody! So I guess I'll look into all those other brands you guys recommended and see what I can get locally or maybe pay big bucks to get one of the better quality ones.

Man, the prices of batteries sure have shot through the roof lately.

 

only thing to remember about the odysseys is if you run them completly down,you need to use one of the brands of chargers they list, or you risk the charging voltage being too high and damaging the battery. they will come back 100 percent from a totally dead battery,as long as you use one of the proper voltage control chargers they list. you can jump start them like any other battery. I think it's 400 times you can run them down to nothing and still bring them back 100 percent.

 

Optimas are not and never have been GEL batteries. Perhaps the Odyssey ones are?
Optimas simply have the electrolite captured in a spiral wound "fabric plate" setup to reduce the outgassing common to regular lead-acid batteries.

The biggest problems we had when I worked at CarQuest for several years and sold
many many Optimas was the buyers lack of understanding about how to take care of and recharge the Optimas. We tried several other "odd" gel and dry cell batteries too and dropped them after huge return rates killed the profitability. They may have been a good product but nothing can survive an ignorant customer.

 

ahh ok..wasnt sure. Just new there was a MFG. out there..Probably remember the name from owning an aircraft...I bet if they offer a 12 volt it will probably never let you down, although it will not be cheap.

 

maybe true..but I took care of mine as perscribed and they all died way before they were supposed to..I have an 8 year old a 5 year old and a 4 year old lead acid batteries still going strong..also taken care of properly..so?

and the cost of all 3 of those batteries probably came up to the cost of one of those High falutin Pcs, of junk

and when they give you a new Optima battery as warrenty..and they dont guarentee it..that ought ta tell you something.

 

My understanding from my Interstate guy is that Johnson Controls manufactures them for Interstate, hence made in Mexico these days.

Yep......

 

I'm glad I found this post..
I was trying to justify $200.00 on an Optima battery...

I'm headed to Costco. screw it.

 

I highly recommend the orbitals. I used to be an Optima fan when they were good batteries but my last few purchases have been Orbitals.

I have a Select and a Deep Cycle and both are wonderful. Our local auto parts store does carry them however so you may get lucky and find them somewhere.

In my bucket I have a tiny Odyssey (PC625) that was ~$85 that works great for such a small battery.

 

I had a optima red top, went bad after 16 months. I went back to interstate, have had real good luck with them in the past. Also AC delco, real good luck with them.

 

I use Delco Batteries when i can, My Truck has the stock battery in it, and its 9 years old.

never once had an issue.

Never used optima, but i have used Orbital. Good stuff. I run an interstate GelCell in my T laid on its side. 3 years on it, i just went out after it sat 5 months and it turned right over. never even unhooked it.

 

im cheep and run the marine walmart battery's, i have never had a problem with any of them and they usually last around 5ish years

 

I WAS a die hard fan for many years, bought a Optima 2 yrs. ago, holds charge fine over winter dead zone time, after 2 mos. trickle charge overnite,---KAZOOM!! Back to normal!!-----I like mine!!!----No mess either, its sealed!!!-----------Don

 

I have had good luck with the Exide dry cels (Orbital ?) for while, so I put one in my Suburban and am now on number 3. I suspect it's a vehicle problem rather than an Exide problem on that thing though. A buddy of mine is the district manager for Kragen/Oreilly a he says the dry cell batteries don't care for high-output alternators. That might explain why my '68 is fine and my Suburban isn't.

 

I recently needed a new battery for my 57 Olds. Books call for a 27 but I use a 65, about the same just less tall. Went to check out the Optima's but after reading a battery comparison done by Consumer Reports I bought a new battery from Wal Mart. The brand sold by Wal Mart was rated very good (much better than Die Hards and just about anything else as well) and a lot less expensive to boot.

The battery in my 34 was built by the Utility Battery Company in Tampa Florida. Nothing fancy just standard battery, black case. It will be 7 years old this summer and still going strong.

One car in our family has had a red top optima for over 5 years now and it is still good. But most people I know have had several failures and refuse to buy them anymore.

 

My buddies red top lost a cell and drew the whole car down and dead right in middle of Congress during the Roundup. Wal-Mart to the rescue!

Junk! I'll stick to Deka.

 

I had one yellow top. Worked good. Going to an Odyessy in my next rod because of space. Little differnce in power, from the spec sheets. And, Summit has a nice hold down box for mounting them.... Gary

 

Exide has a battery that is comparable to the optima, it is called the orbital. I was under the understanding that Optima was made by Interstate, but a visit to Optima's sight did not appear that was correct, but I did see they are made or owned by Johnson controls.

 

thats the one i'm going to be running,is it holding up good? built an old tool box into a battery box with the main breaker and all the fuse blocks in it, will bolt to the floor behind my seat. i read the specs and that little battery has a heck of a kick for it's size. they compress the plates in there when they install them,so they utilize all the wasted space in a standard size battery. they also use a high purity lead for better output. it's an absorbed glass matt battery. A lot of people i know swear by these,there are supposed to be some Oem's using them now, because they can install them in a tiny space in the car body.

 

I ran yellow Optima's in all my racecars and put one in my black Ford shop truck. Never had a problem until the one went in the truck. It was dead from day one. Changed alternators, wiring, etc. Never guessed the battery was bad until we were at the Nashville GoodGuys show. The Optima factory rep replaced it and never had another minutes trouble. Still going strong as far as I know... It's in kwiksilvers hands now though.

Kevin
Ooltewah Speed Shop

 

Absolutely no issues, I love it. Its sideways under my seat and runs right to a cutoff switch. We used the battery to time the car, constant starting & shutting off, etc and about the 10th time it cranked slow but still fired the car, a couple mins of running and it was perfect again.

I have a battery tender lead hooked up to it, but I have yet to use/need it. Its only got a few weeks of road use under its belt but I have not had a reason to question it and I am overly paranoid of breakdowns so the first day I drove around with a jump pack just in case but as I said it never gave me a thought that it would not be strong enough and for the price if it lasts a year or 2 its money well spent.

Charges well, starts well - I highly recommend. I have it on a basic build SBC 350 with standard 1 wire alt, gauges, lights and a mini amp for my ipod.

 

just make sure to use the proper battery maintainer they are supposed to have a ten year lifespan

 

I've got 3 Optima's, a Red Top in my roadster for 7 yrs., a Marine version in our trailer for the last 2 years and a red Blem. in my daily driver truck for 6 years. NO problems with any of them; though I keep a battery tender on the roadster and trailer as they're used infrequently. I'm sold on the technology, no acid to mess with and no acid mess in the battery box or on the cables to clean up. Guess if Optimas are no longer any good I'll have to go to Orbitals. I know I ain't going back to conventional lead-acid batteries!

 

the Orbital is an exact copy internally as the Optima. When the Orbitals came out we bought several and cut them apart in the lab. Plate length, separator paper, paste and acid contents were all identical. The reason Optima was copied is because from the early 70s to the mid 90s they were the best you could buy. I designed the new style Group 34, Group 75, 35, 25 and the Group 31 that never went into production. Since the buy out by JCI (which is the reason I left) they have gradually been made with cheaper products. I finally quit buying them in about 2002.

Just for the record, an Optima nor Orbital is not a gel cel. They are absorbed glass mat. They are an excellent design but require great machinery and skill to produce properly.

 

COSTCO COSTCO COSTCO!!!!

The Costco batteries are the cheapest price, highest rated, and longest warranty battery on the market. The give free replacements for longer than most batteries have their prorated warranty.

 

I had a real battery tender but eventually switched over to the Autometer Battery Extended at the recommendation of a battery supplier around here and I love it.

10yrs would be great - a small footprint, great starting battery for $8.50 a year isn't a bad deal

 

I've been using a 6v Red Top for over four years, and never had a problem. No battery tender, but it's always ready to go, no matter how long the car has been sitting.

 

I hope I don't have problems with my Optima. I fabbed a custom SS battery box to fit my optima with radius ed corners and the battery is laying on its side under the floor> Is there another brand of battery that can be lay ed over and has a size the same as an Optima?




Ago

 

I have a hard time buying what your buddy said... They market the yellow tops DIRECTLY to car stereo guys, and anyone that gets serious enough to consider a deep cycle battery (for sitting around at a competition without the engine running) would also likely consider running a high-output alternator, some of which are capable of delivering 250+ amps. My Navigator even has a 140A alternator stock (I assume to deliver enough current to the air bag compressors), high output by most standards; if they weren't capable of withstanding high current, I think it would be a pretty well-known design flaw by now, I'm sure plenty of cars come with factory "hi-output" alternators anymore.

Don't forget, just because an alternator is able to deliver high current doesn't mean it does. In most situations only a fraction of it's maximum current is being drawn, your standard 12V battery is going to draw the same amount of current from an alternator regardless of it's maximum output.

I still love the Autozone batteries, I don't think they can be beaten for the price. They always seem to be able to deliver more CCA than other batteries of the same size, and they really DO deliver as claimed; I make 'em test it before I'll buy it, and every one has exceeded it's rating. My Navigator can draw some serious power, lots o' horrible freakin' electronics, air suspension, and a stereo that draws 120A if it was to ever full-pull (which ain't EVER gonna happen), and those Autozone batteries will deliver the power without even flinching. I just put one in the Galaxie a week or two ago, and that thing will feed so much power to the starter you can feel the thing rocking the car.

I hope I didn't come across as a jerk, not my intention, just a friendly discussion, but I knows my electricity.

 

the deep cycle batteries don't like alternators at all, deep cycles have to be charged back up at a low current over time, the changing high current from an alternator is very bad for them. this is why so many people return the yellow tops, they think they can install them as a starting battery. actually a lot of people think the alternator is a battery charger period, the alternator is there to power the car while the engine is running,and top off the battery. unless you exceed it's current output, everything in the car runs off of it. the alternator isn't designed to charge a badly run down battery back up, you can cook it that way. thats why they make batttery chargers. if you do something like leave your lights on and need a jump start, first thing you should do when you get home is put the battery on a charger and bring it back up. if you want to run deep cycle batteries off of an alternator, i think there are electronic charging circuits made, such as the ones they use on boats, to give the proper charging current for deep cycles. another good point on agm batteries, not sure on the optimas,but on the oddyseys, if you are running too high of a voltage in your charging system, it will cause the emergency vent on the battery to open,the battery to outgas,and then it's ruined. if you running high output alternators, check your system voltage, i'm not sure of the exact voltage it is,odyssey has it on their site, but it's a never excede voltage. since optimas are agm, this could be ruining them also.

 

I agree these are made in the states and are a very good battery The make alot of the O.E batteries for the big truck line and I believe they make the o.e for a lot of the upper line cars also, There called Super Start at Oreilly A/P