Optima Batteries, getting better or worse?

I'm glad this topic came up. I'm about to buy an Optima from my part-time job Advance store. The good news is, as an employee, I'm all but guaranteed I'll get some leverage if necessary on any replacement/warranty problems. the reason I've opted for this "gel" type of battery is due to the location in my 27 T RPU: It'll be under the cowl right in front of me. I really don't want to be concerned with any leaking from a conventional "non-gel" type of battery. Time will tell;... I'll keep you guys posted on the results of installing the "redtop" Optima. Thanks for the input!

 

I hated to read this. I need to mount my battery on its side for my model a. It is mounted between the driveshaft and frame rail. I welded in a battery box from speedway. What other brand options do I have so that it can be mounted on its side? Thanks for the help.

 

Ive got two RedTops, both of which I bought about 4 or 5 years ago and ones been in the hotrod and the other was for what ever my daily was. The one battery has been thru probably 35 cars. easily. Never had a problem to this day. One even feel into the fan in my woods truck its got a huge cut in it and still works, just cant turn that one upside down now ;-)

 

I went through 5 of them "all red tops". Won't buy another that's for sure!

 

I think you pointed out the key point there... Deep cycling the battery then using a high currrent source like an alternator to recharge. Whats a basic alternator put out, 70A or so? Well, you're not supposed to charge 'em with a charger bigger than 10A, so if you're running the alternator as a charger, that's exactly what's happening. A dead battery will draw a tremendous current from the alternator, LOTS of heat and no good way for the battery to disipate it... Optima claims they're OK with high output alternators, which they are. The problem is, like you said, when you use your alternator as a battery charger. It actually IS OK to use a deep cycle to start your car, but because of their reduced discharge capacity, you need a deep cycle a good bit more powerful than the standard battery that would normally be used.

I've had more than my fair share of battery problems... The one in the Galaxie would test OK, but it had an intermitent bad cell (I didn't even think it could work out like that, they've always been bad or not in the past) that would cause it not to start, usually at the WORST time (the worst time bein' when a cute-lookin' girl walks by, you go to crank your hot-rod and get the click-click-click. NOT a turn-on!). I had an Interstate battery EXPLODE back when I delivered pizzas in college (literally explode, like a bomb going off). I had to hang out with all the drunk fellas at the rattiest trailer park in town until my boss came and picked me up to get a new one. No one had the tools to get it out, one of the drunkin' rednecks was going to try to TEAR IT THE REST OF THE WAY APART to get it out. My boss almost had to physically restrain him from doin' it. I've eaten more alternators than I've eatten sushi, and let the smell out of a couple voltage regulators. The ONLY one's I've not had problems with are the Autozone, everything else has ****ped out on me at one point or another. Every Autozone battery I used (I get the Gold series, not the cheapies) has outlasted my ownership of the car.

 

Is there a trick to charging them? Batteru tender, smaller trickle charger or once low they just dont come back? I have threethat are low when you test em and dont seem to get better after you charge them at low amperage. Thanks for any info?
Dave

 

it's just very bad to try to put a bunch of current back into a deep cycle all at one time, made for powering trolling motors and back up lighting systems, they can discharge a lot of current over time,but takes time to put it back in.

 

http://www.optimabatteries.com/product_support/charging.php

From the horse's mouth...

 

Oh yeah, another thing for you guys buying the Optimas... The Advanced Autoparts store next to my office had a **** pile of them by the front door, all $50-100. They only had blue tops and yellow tops, but there were quite a few in several different sizes. I asked what the deal was and the guy told me that they have a date on them, after which has p***ed they can no longer sell them as new at full price. Nothing wrong with them, just been there for a little too long. If they woulda had a red top I may have bought it, it was right when I redid the Galaxie's electrical system which revealed a bad battery... Sorta glad I didn't, I got a big honkin' wet cell instead, the Optimas tend to have lower CCA than a typical wet battery of the same size. Check around, maybe you can find some too for the discount price.

 

they must have gotten rid of the deep cycle only batteries

 

I sell car audio, optima batteries, and high output alternators. I have 3 vehicles with SC34U red top Optimas in them and one of those cars has a high output alternator. The biggest problem I see with most customers and their battery is people let a car sit for extended periods of time without a battery tender on them or without disconnecting the battery. If your car has ANY draw on it, it WILL run the battery down. That is not the fault of the battery, it is abuse. Once the battery has been below 10.5V it will not come back to the original performance level. Modern cars can not sit longer than about a week due to the number of computers and electronics drawing current 24/7. As stated above, AGM batteries require a special charger and you should not try to charge a dead battery with an alternator. AT least with an Optima red top, you get three years non-prorated. With Kinetik, Stinger, SVR, etc most are a one year warranty, period.

 

I got two red top a few years ago,and another set later that were the same but not as good,first two were great with good Amp hr,the next 4 in 2 bat sets a year ago were same # and size,but had no were near the real use Amp hr.s of first set even though there are same model and #,
I use these for power of my race car;
http://electrathonfl.homestead.com/
dose so far seem that the Q dropped some.

 

I had been using optimas for a long time till I got 3 bad in a row.I replaced it with an Orbital Purple Haze that went bad in 1 week....maybe old stock because the replacement has been good ever since.

 

what are you using now? i have a 72 authetic electric street legal motorcycle, it was designed for wet type deep cycles in 72,but the batteries are so much better now, takes two of them to produce 24 volts. I need to find some that will hold up, and i need to dismantle a charger that will work on both, so i can install the circuit board and transformer back into the "tank" like original. little ******s will hit 30 on a level surface. and on the wet cells that were supposed to have had a range of 50 miles, thats 1972 batteries.

 

I must have the older (higher quality) Optimas, because I have NEVER had a problem with one of their batteries. The red top in my brother's truck right now has been in various cars in our family since 2003 or so, and the red top in my spare car has been there since 02 or so.

Hell, I even have a backup red top that just sits in the garage on the floor, and it holds a charge forever. Take it out of the garage to jump start a car, and it cranked it right over despite having sat untouched in the garage for over a year!

I don't have any experience with the newer ones, but I have heard of more failures on the new ones vs. the ones made a few years ago. Here in Vegas, regular batteries seem to last about 2 years, tops, because of the heat. The Optima was the only battery I found that would last longer than that reliably.



Nick

 

it's because the plates are now made out of taco shells

 

Heh... They probably only got rid of the "deep cycle only" stickers.

 

I bought a Motorcraft 850 CA battery about 5 years ago, still kicking now..Dont know where its made but its a good battery.

 

Just bought, my first Optima... The stupid thing was completely dead before I even got the car out of the driveway... It was a complete waste of money.

 

I put a used red top Optima in my sedan back in 2004 when it first hit the road, it had been in several vehicles by then and I didn't think it would last very long. It finally died on our road trip last month. I stopped by WalMart in Rochester, Minnesota for a new battery. Yanno, they advertise "free installation" when you buy a battery....when I told them the car was a 1935 Ford and the battery was behind the back seat they PANICKED!! They said they can't do it.

I replaced the battery myself in the parking lot.....I wouldn't have let them do it anyway but it was an interesting experiment in human nature and business ethics.

 

Had a Red Top for 7 yrs finally wouldn't hold a charge. Went to a local Bat shop know the guy, straight shooter, told me save your $$, got a good bat with 3 yr warranty for about 2/3 the price of a Optima

 

In defence to this statement, I was just in the Canby, Oregon Johnson Controls "manufacturing plant" . They do still build batteries here in the good ol USA as well as about at least a half a dozen other countries including Mexico. The Canby plant had everything from Interstate , NAPA , Energizer /Wal Mart , Kirkland,Costco , Delco , Motorcraft, CSK , Les Schwab .... and many more being produced right there in the USA . All of them were manufactured the SAME , ie a 800 cca battery was a 800cca battery regardless of label and identical inside no matter which color case or label was on it. The difference is all in the marketing and warranty offering of whichever distributor has created and is offering. They also do not produce every battery they offer. Some are sourced from other battery manufacturers such as East Penn. The batteries they do produce look far superior than what Exide produces.

 

I bought and optima about 3 years ago, and the damn thing only gave me problems. The parts store "powerfuse" battery I have in my impala has been in there for 4 years, and not a single problem ever.