I've never had a problem with mine, but I have one that is pretty old. I keep it when the cars go to thier new homes. I went to the Braille website and that will be my next battery! I'm tired of american companies outsourcing the products that made this place great, just to sell a ****py, cheaply made, copy of the original, back to us for a couple extra pennies of profit. This practice should be made criminal. Sorry 'bout the rant.
This Optima thing has been heavily debated on every forum I have ever been on. If I had read some of this stuff before buying one, I likely wouldn't have. That being said, I did put a red top in my car with a one wire alternator half a decade ago. I have had zero problems so far. I do have a built in sensor type charger in the car that I keep plugged in during the winter months. A while back, I left the ignition key on for about a week or so (meaning the gauge lights were on as well...) My buddy noticed the tach light on after about a week and I thought I would be screwed. I plugged the car into the trickle charger and let it peak over night. No problems charging back up and no problems since. Must be lucky.
No misrepresentation. Here are your quotes. Your words, not mine. Here are the facts. 1. Many of us HAD older Optimas that were fine 2. Many folks here have had issues with Optimas made in the last 5 or so years. 3. Optima treated Denise and others pretty shabby with their customer service. 4. We are starting to see quality come up but it is unproven at this point. Those are the facts as of now. Nothing misrepresented by me
Mine's been good for a couple years. I let it sit for probably 6 months at a time before re-charging it. I fully expected it to be dead but it works great now that my car is kinda sorta running sometimes. I've seen them as cheap as $60 at the long beach swapmeet. Fakes? who knows. I bought mine off craigslist from a closed business(I hope!) They have THE worst reputation. I have to hear a story/lecture everytime someone sees it. That's been the worst part about owning one for me.
I did, and requoted. Aparently sarcasm is lost on some of you, even with smilies. His battery was 12 years old!! ANY battery of that age is going to be at the end of its life. THEN the relay ****ed up the battery. This is wholey unrelated anecdotal evidence and has NOTHING to do with the discussion. I am not defending Optimas, just pointing out the absurdity of his comment. I had some tires once, drove 120K miles on them then a nail popped one. Not sure if I would buy the same tires again?
Perhaps for all of us that have good optima batteries, how about putting the date purchased, or the date of manufacture so that we can see what years were good, and when the quality took a ****. I have an older optima in my car, and it has been in there for years. I park the car in winter, disconnect the battery, and in spring I hook the battery back up, and it starts right up.
Guy I talked with at Optima told me the same thing. I keep mine on a Batttery Tender and have had no problems in 2 years. It's in a '32 5-window with a 59A and generator. I have done numerous 100+ plus miles round trips and lots of local driving with no issues.
I have a used one that is in my dragster. I use it to start the car and run my electronics and it performs well, no complaints.I charge it between runs and it sets dormant for weeks at a time.
+1 for Braille. They sponsored my SAE team at University of Delaware and donated the battery we used in our car. We tended to be brutal on batteries with constant experiments with our fuel injection, and the batteries take a beating as the charging capacities of the engine we were running were overloaded by the electrical demands of the car. The Braille batteries lasted a long time and were cycled more times than I'd care to admit. Outstanding product.
I don't feel like I should have to put my car on a trickle charger to keep the battery in top shape. Big Olds might sit for a couple of months over the winter. I like the fact that with a regular battery I just head out there and he starts right up.
I don't have one because they cost too much for me . When I bought my 55 Ford over 3 years ago it came with an Exide battery . It sits way more than is running . It sits all winter here in Pa in a garage with no heat . I have no trickle charger on it either . In the spring when the weather breaks I go out , turn the key and grind on it till the engine starts from sitting . I use them in mu boat also and have never had a problem with them ! They don't cost an arm and leg either . I don't think much of these Super Batteries and still like the old style acid type batteries ! They lasted for years ! OK I forgot , they were made by US WORKERS IN THE USA !!! RetroJim
I have one in my dune buggy just because i had to lay it down on its side to even get it in and that one is doing fine i can leave it set for 3 months and go out and it cranks right up, it always sets all winter and only get started maybe twice. thats why it p----- me off that they won`t take care of the on thats giveing us trouble... Mike Bourg
i had good luck with the one i had .was in my jeep ,only thing that would hold up to the bouncing around. the battery box broke, it fell onto the inner fender(jeep cj) shorted out the wiring harness.cooked the shifter cable,oil pressure lines.battery died.put it on a charger over night..lasted 5years, was in the jeep when i sold it.we sold them at the offroad shop i worked at ..we had a few probs but over all they where no worse than normal batterys.i do like that you can lay them on there sides.
i used to have an optima display with 3 batteries on it, the first 3 batteries i got worked great with no issues, but after the first 3, ive had nothing but problems with them. i had one i sent in for warranty that was 3 months old and they denied the warranty cause the billet hold-down left a s****e on the top of the case. it was just a s****e, and that would cause a battery not to charge? ok. every car i have in my shop for more than a week with an optima, ill put it on a trickle charger just so i wont have to deal with a dead optima.
Good for you! glad you have tires that last that long, now who is being absurd. BTW: That battery took alot of abuse and kept going. You, my friend are not worth the time typing this response. Good luck!
And you know what? My Optima did well also. Ran it dead a couple times, recharged and it was fine. Mine was bought in 03-04. GV has it now and he drove his PU home on the battery after his alt died. Must have been before the issues started showing up? And my absurdity proved my point I was picking on your poor ****ogy, nothing against you as a person
I've had a lotta headaches trying to "shake down" my new 27 T RPU build this year, but my Optima was not one of those problems. I left the key on overnight once, and had to re-charge it the next day. Did a slow charge at low voltage. No problems with it since then. The main reason I bought an Optima in the 1st place was the fact that my battery has to be mounted under my dash and in front of me. I've never had one leak or explode before, but figured a "gel-type" (which all Optimas are) would be better for my situation. So far, so good! Good Luck in your plans!
I had to put one in my OT race car to p*** tech for obvious reasons. I bought it used from the 29.95 battery store. I took 15 or so dead cores, got the 3.00 a piece or whatever, and used the money to buy the optima. I've done this twice now. They both sit for months at a time and I've had no problems. One blue top and one orange. They are both newer, but have been "rebuilt".
I'm with Denise. Hate the damn things. I wouldn't run one if they gave it to me free! And... the old ones are better, they were USA made. About 2-3 years ago- they moved manufacturing off to Mexico. Here's my Optima rant. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=337202
Rebuilt.. well that could be a good sign they realized they had, or have a problem and are trying to solve it, one could hope. But its too late for me, 1st time..ok bummer, 2nd time dam this ****s..3 times? not going to be my mistake ,, because its not going to happen. way too much cash to take a chance on when i could probably buy 2 or 3 good long lasting and very resiliant lead acid batteries for that coin. I can feel for those who have built or placed their batteries in such a way that they are stuck with this design. but i have already planned it out of anything i'll ever own.
I was followin' this thread hopin' to info like this. I guy that I know has Brailles in both of his rods and like them a bunch. Smokey
My friends running 6 volts in old GM trucks just swear by those Optima batteries.But on a long trip some take a spare battery just case.In case of what? The overpriced Optima might **** out? It's a generator engine,just park on a hill until ya get another battery. I use what brand of battery the local store sells.But it seems regualar batteries last me 8-10 years.
I was a mechanic at the factory here in colorado, and as of january 2009 ALL optimas are made in mexico. That is when all operations finally ceased at our plant. The mexican battery plant opened late 2007 and was fully operational by late 2008, and shut us down just a few months later. in my opinion, even the usa made batteries made in the last few years suffered due to cost cutting materials
The Jalopy Journal
