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Jim, I am a partner in a wireless ISP. We have remote sites in the mountains running on a combination of solar and wind power.

We are running banks of Blue Tops in all of them. Our oldest site has been up constantly since early 2006.
 
Spike, AGM batteries tend to have much lower internal resistance than flooded batteries. This allows them to operate well beyond their specified ratings, but it also allows them to become deeply-discharged. Many battery chargers will not recognize or charge any battery that has been discharged below a certain voltage threshold, usually around 10.5 volts. The parallel charging technique “tricks” the charger into recognizing a battery and allows the deeply-discharged battery to be recharged. This is a charger-related issue and other manufacturers have dealt with it by simply voiding the warranty on their batteries, if they have been discharged below 10 volts. We didn't do that with our warranty, but Optima did decide to create the YouTube parallel charging video and make a concerted effort to make sure our retailers and customers were aware of it.

lc69hunter, we love to hear stories about our batteries in action. Please feel free to share yours with us- OPTIMA Battery - Power Stories


Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
 
Now there is something novel, customer service.;)

Thanks for the .02 Jim, guess I'll still run the red and blue in all my vehicles. BTW, I have an 8 year old red top in my wood hauler which only gets use 4 or 5 times a year. I just give it a 2amp trickle charge about every third month in the off season.:cheers: for a good product.
 
Lot of mixed feelings on the same product. Interesting... :hhmm:
 
azTony said:
Lot of mixed feelings on the same product. Interesting... :hhmm:
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If it helps, the blue top in my 40 came out of the boat over 5 years ago. I have found that a 48 hour trickle charge on it every once in a while seems to bring it back to new.
Some of you have heard how fast my rig will start when it's cold..:hillbilly:
 
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splitshot said:
Now there is something novel, customer service.;)...
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Let's not get too excited here. Mr. OptimaJim is on pretty much every internet board out there, telling everyone that Optima batteries are the bestest ever. Then again, what else is he going to say? He's a representative of the company that makes Optima batteries. Customer service, or conflict of interest - you be the judge.

In any case, the perception is out there that the reputation on Optima batteries pretty much went from 'unkaputtbar' (hey Spike: you can translate that by now, can you? :D) to 'hmm... maybe they're not so great'. And you heard the man: if an Optima goes bad, it's typically your own fault, probably because you didn't know enough about batteries.

Ironically, that is exactly to the point: it used to be that you'd get an Optima because then you didn't have to know anything about batteries, and you'd be able to clutter your mind with other junk.

For me, Optimas have worked well. Personally, I don't like sulfuric acid, particularly not as a liquid that can slosh around - that's why I prefer an AGM battery.
 
... Customer service, or conflict of interest - you be the judge.
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I don't see the presence of multiple conflicting interests in OptimaJim's posts. You need to have two to have a conflict of interest. His only interests seemed to be that his customers were happy with his products, to offer assistance and to solicit feedback. If there was something else more sinister there, I missed it. I did see some hopefully useful information on AGM battery revival. I think his post is a novel approach to public relations, as he tried to address individual concerns of Optima owners. I'm still waiting for Mr DieHard to weigh in on the subject.
 
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German diplomacy. :D
 
I have also heard how optimas "are not as good as they used to be'' which made me wonder since Ive had such good luck with them.I recently drained mine by leaving my cb on for a couple weeks,and noticed it wouldnt take a charge on a 10 amp charger but charged well on 2 amp.Could people be replacing optimas that just need to be charged correctly?Just seems odd that quite a few have had some as long as 8 years and others not so much.
 
Why the baggin on Micheal? IIRC, they have Optima batteries in their rigs and he is simply pointing out that Jim is employed Optima to sell batteries on the net and does so on a bunch of forums.
 
ChaseTruck, I apologize if I came off as a “salesman” or if our Vendor status and support of this community led you to believe my purpose here is to sell you a battery. My primary purpose on this board (and hundreds of others) is to help people who have questions or concerns about our batteries. We have other people who handle the sales end of things for us.

I generally don't start threads, but I will participate in conversations started by others when our batteries are involved. Much of the information I provide is general battery information and applicable to any battery. Sometimes my participation may be limited to letting folks know that they don't need to store a battery on a piece of wood, while other times, I point out the danger in dropping a battery or mounting it in an enclosed space. The issue of people returning deeply-discharged batteries for warranty exchanges is certainly not limited to us, we just choose to deal with it differently.


Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
OPTIMA Battery Power Pack Nation
 
Don't waste time on Optimas in my opinion. They're simply not made with the same quality anymore. The pre-sale Red Top in my '40 is now going on 10 years and is still passing load tests, but post sale of Optima, I have read of too many returns/failures for me to buy a replacement when it dies. A battery vendor that I know dropped the Optima line because of too many returns.

I will go Die Hard Platinum (Odyssey) when my Red Top finally goes. I have a Platinum in my Taco and it's been great for 3 years now.

Sears DieHard Platinum = Odyssey
P-1 GROUP 34 = PC 1500
P-2 GROUP 65 = PC 1750
P-3 GROUP 75/86DT = PC 1230
P-4 GROUP 34/78DT = PC 1500
P-5 GROUP 35 = PC 1400 (R)
P-6 GROUP 25 = PC 1400
PM-1 GROUP 31M = PC 2150
PM-2 GROUP 34M = PC 1500

I will say that I have been keeping a Battery Tender Plus on my Red Top for the last few years, as the '40 sits for a good bit between runs.

Good luck
 
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just got my breaks undercontrol, no checking my volts its at 16v so i guess this is now relevant to my intrests... hahaha,

ive the double bat tray w/ only 1 hooked up*
 
re_guderian said:
when it's... what? :confused: :lol: Our frigid cold-snap of 45° for a few minutes a day. Brrr... But you're up a few thousand feet higher.
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5 degrees so far this year, (were did you get a keyboard with a degree button)? Anything below 35 and this old carburated F will work out any battery.;)
 
I am not putting down an age on my batteries, this is a sure fire recipe to waking up with a dead battery. Any battery over three years old in Arizona is living on borrowed time, most of us have been lucky with many different brands, thus far. Optima and Diehard, somewhere in the world someone is pissed off at both of them and ready for something different.

Tell me I am wrong
 
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