Opitma battery issues/options?

[Careless]

i have this battery that i use for the winch of my trailer, that rarely gets used, and i only charge it when it goes dead, it has lasted 5 years in the elements snow sun water sand..etc and has yet to let me down, it may be sun faded, but it still takes and holds a full charge.

 

[hoov100]

red top optima.

[Jackhammer]

I have had excellent results with the the Dyna-Batt. It sat for six months before being installed and has been in the car for over a year now and has sat for four months at a time without cranking. It starts with power and at times has been called on to do some repeated cranking. I just last month set it up on the battery minder.

 

I especially found the small size an asset in helping to de-clutter the engine compartment.

 

Website for Dyna-Batt..http://www.performancedistributors.com/batteries.htm

 

My set:

 

[Careless]

Mounting an 86lb battery in my Z = trip to the butt doctor

 

 

mounting an 86lb battery in a z means it better be where the engine is supposed to be, or the driver better take a page from the "super size me" manual of weight balancing.

[primadonna z]

9 years old (maybe 10), and going strong!

 

 

Red Top

Time permiting 2 or 3 times a week I'll go out for a short rip. I have a

battery disconnect so unless I'm driving the battery is isolated.

 

Yellow top

This weekend took my Trans Am out of storage to run it, and change the fuel out. This car has not been started in 8 mos. , and I turned on the battery disconnect, hit the key , and it started up (had to crank a bit though).

 

If you're not using it disconnect it.

[Six_Shooter]

I have had 4 Red Tops, my first one, lasted me about 7 years or so, and I put that one through hell, 4 cars, dead shorting it accidentally a few times with large wrenches, ran it dead one time with my 4-ways, left the stereo on all day and still crank the car. The only reason I replaced it was that it had a bad cell, and if I didn't get my truck to fire on the first start attempt (within about 3 seconds), it would be too discharged to try again. It rested at 9.7ish volts, winter was coming and my truck wasn't the easiest to start in warm(er) weather.

 

My second one, I think I still have, it's been sitting for a few years now, and still holds a charge, I haven't cranked a car with it for a while, but have ran some electrical ite s off of it.

 

3rd one, was bought for my (now) ex-GF's car, when we broke up, she gave it back to me, and I sold it to another friend, who as far as I know is still using it, that owuld have been almost 4 years ago.

 

4th one, is the smaller "GM fit" Red Top for my Malibu, been using it for 3 years no issues.

 

What I find with most repeated failed Optima batteries is that there is something in the charging system that is not good enough for the Optima. I find that anything less than an 8 AWG charge lead from the alternator to the under hood battery or 4 AWG for a remote mounted battery, is not good enough. Same goes for the grounds. A VERY good chassis ground is also paramount.

 

I've used Deka batteries in a stereo application and seemed very good for that. I may try them in a starting battery application.

[cygnusx1]

My Optima red top has been a good performer and seems to hold a charge better than my previous auto-parts store brands. My car sits for long periods of storage. The problem is that the red top portion of the battery actually has developed a crack in it. Optima wont warranty it so I am using it at my own risk at this point.

[G.I.jonas]

This one looks cool

 

Dude if you buy a $250 carbon fiber battery i'm going to shoot myself in the face.

[rsicard]

I'm in the process of changing my 5th Optima battery. IMO they are a lifetime guaranteed piece of junk. I have tried everything to keep them alive for any real length of time and they all usually fail in about 1-2 yrs. I should have known after the first one went bad and the authorized dealer wouldn't take it back. So now I'm in the market for the next best thing as far as a battery gos. Surely someone has come up with something better in 10yrs;

 

Maybe a battery that has the same design as a optima but actually holds a charge and doesn't dead cell all the time.

 

This one looks cool

http://www.bsrproducts.com/product_info.php?cPath=3&products_id=2551

 

Odyssey and Sear Die Hard Platinum batteries are both made by Enersys. They are also making Aircraft Batteries with the same technology to replace Nickel Cadnium batteries.

[Savage42]

Here's the deal with Optima batteries, according to my buddy who is the head of batteries for Johnson Controls. I had awesome luck with my red top Optima, which is in my buddy's 510 and he swaps it out when he runs it in his Datsun Roadster. That battery is over 10 years old and still works great. It has been totally drained flat many times and ways charges back up and works just fine.

 

Now, here's where things went bad. My friend at JC said that when they acquired Optima, they saw that they build the Optima with at least twice the cell materials really needed, so they cut back materials to what they figured was the minimum needed and called it good. Hence, quality of the batteries was dramatically reduced and we've seen a few bad red top come through the shop. I hope my yellow top is still good once I put it into my car, as it has been sitting for 2 years. I put the charger on it, but ya never know.

 

I've had several friends use the Odyssey batteries with good luck. Guess it's a "luck of the draw" deal these days.

[Careless]

Dude if you buy a $250 carbon fiber battery i'm going to shoot myself in the face.

 

better hope you're firin' off blanks... i might buy one too =)

 

is that a double barrel shotgun you have?

[G.I.jonas]

better hope you're firin' off blanks... i might buy one too =)

 

is that a double barrel shotgun you have?

 

Well i have to admit they are pretty sweet,i mean that carbon fiber casing must really offset the internal weight of the lead.

[76s30]

go to a catapiler/ fabco dealer

get a battery of comparable size to original

done

 

they are built by exide to catapilers specs.

they last about 4-6 years and cost 50 to 80 bucks depending on size

they are built to last in off road construction equipment, high vibration high shock, hard use. they have no or very little suspension most are diesel. so you can imagine what the battery must endure.

 

when pro 4x4 drivers use the free optimas (sponsership) for everything but

the race truck, something is amiss.

[Tony D]

Solve the problem and do what I did: Next time the float chargers go on sale at Harbor Freight, BUY SEVERAL.

They are not 'chargers' per-se but keep the battery electrically 'topped off' from the normal discharge through the plates over months of sitting.

 

I put one on my forklift almost a year ago. WONDERFUL RESULTS. I recently bought half a dozen more to permanently install under the batteries of the Z-Cars and the Bus so I can leave them plugged in so they fire up right away...even after sitting for months unattended.

 

My red-top is now dead, after letting it go flat (before I bought the battery maintainers) I tried jumping and slow charging it, to no avail. For a battery that is only 2 years old pretty sad. If I'd paid money for it, I'd be more annoyed. But as a freebie, I can't complain. It still looks nice in the Red Car (LOL)

 

But those Harbor Freight Float Chargers are really da shizz for stuff that sits for long periods between startups. I think I average anywhere between 4 to 6 months before startups on the forklift, and it's always gone stone dead in that period before. Unless I run it every week, the battery goes dead in about two months. For the price, saving a battery that costs 10X the cost, it's worth it!

[Six_Shooter]

My red-top is now dead, after letting it go flat (before I bought the battery maintainers) I tried jumping and slow charging it, to no avail. For a battery that is only 2 years old pretty sad. If I'd paid money for it, I'd be more annoyed. But as a freebie, I can't complain. It still looks nice in the Red Car (LOL)

 

I find tha trickle charging Optimas just doesn't work, you almost have to force feed them with current. I turn up the charge rate to at least 20 amps, seems to work better at 30 amps or so. This works if the Optima hasn't gone below about 8V or so, even then there's been one or two that haven't come back to being useable. That's not too bad considering that a conventional 12V battery is considered dead and beyond useable capability of being reconditioned at approx 9V.

[bjhines]

WOW...

 

I am using a group 24 size Optima YELLOW TOP. It is 4 years old and in the black track 240Z.

 

It is discharged right now. I can go out and charge it up and use the car.

It has been completely discharged dozens of times. I have not noticed any degredation in performance from the YELLOW TOP Optima.

[Warren]

I've got an older red top that I've discharged slowly with the car, accidently, on my way to SEZ 7... had one of the wires on the CS connector break on me, alternator never charged, reserve capacity is 90 minutes, and the car drove for exactly 90 minutes. Charged it back up, been fine ever since.

 

My car lives in the garage and hasn't been driven in months at a time. Charge it with a trickle charger every now and then. Never a problem.

 

Obviously not ALL Optima's are junk, so I vote we change the title of the thread to include the word "SOME"...

[510six]

I also have a Yellow top deep cycle Optima, the battery took repeated charges after being repeatedly drained.(A larger pully is on the ATI dampner now).No complaints it`s been the best battery I have ever owned for two years now.

[ezzzzzzz]

My first yellow top lasted about three years. The following two yellow and two red tops (land rover - has battery disconnect & Z - only has a clock, both seldom driven) have died repeatedly after one year. It's ridiculous at these prices! I'm going to something else...period.

[Pop N Wood]

This has been a worth while thread. I thought an optima would be the solution to long periods of sitting.

 

Now looks like the computer battery minder is the proper course of action.

 

Hate the thought of leaving any type of battery charger plugged in an unattended garage around the clock. Just have to hope they are well enough made to not burn down my house. But I know from past experience that standard batteries are dead after 6 months of non-use, so guess I will have to do something.