Check your battery

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Funner

Funner

10 Year
Joined
Jun 29, 2011
Threads
75
Messages
3,545
Location
Phoenix, AZ
I have a new Duralst starting battery. Battery was made 10/13 and has been in my truck for 5 months. Every cell in the battery was low enough to not cover the plates. Topped off with distiller water and it seems fine, but probably going to affect the lifespan.
 
Check your alternator (voltage regulator). Start the truck and measure the voltage at the battery with your Fluke meter (multimeter). You should have 13.5-14 volts at the battery at idle. Rev the motor to about 3500 RPM while measuring the battery and it should not go over 14.5V. If you are hitting 15 or 16 V when you rev the motor the voltage regulator is bad and you are boiling off the H2O in the battery.
 
I will check that, thanks.
 
Checked voltage
Idle= 13.55v
3500 RPM= 14.62v
voltmeter is the cheapest one ever made, free from HF. I am thinking the regulator is fine.
 
When it starts to get hot its amazing how fast battery water will evaporate
 
Red top Optima problems in my 40. Been through 3 in 2.5 years. Kept acting like elecrical issue or drain. I even bought a trickle charger. If i left anything on like the radio or lights for more than 5 minutes, it would require a jump start then act ok later. A coworker had same issues with red tops in his rigs. Napa says they don't even test them, just exchange so many issues. I find this identical complaint on the first post when I google red top problems:

I just got my car back after having an electrical drain issue for over 2 months. I bought an Optima Red top34R battery last February after swapping out my first one under their 3 year warranty when it stopped charging after a year of use. I just got my '06 QP back from my local shop after losing it for almost a month. After all the hours spent trying to find the drain in the car, first by the audio shop that installed the entire kenwood Car portal system (Jim in Seattle did touchscreen overlay part and shipped it back), and then secondly by my local Repair shop only to find out the battery was the culprit again.

It seems from what I have read in forums for other cars after a quick google search of "optima batteryissues", there seems to be a common problem with the Optima red topbatteries draining on cars either not used daily or with high electrical draws from cars like ours with tons of electronics or aftermarket items.

I often will use my car every other day and this seems to be just enough to make the Optima batterygo bad in less than a year like it happened to me already twice. I also have the aftermarket radio on an Audison amp with a subwoofer. According to the FAQ on Optima website, cars with more than 250watts of audio or cars that sit SHOULD NOT use a red top. Instead they recommend the Yellow top. Even cars with everyday use with large electrical draws should use Yellow tops too. The even go so far to say the warranty will void using Red top in these situations.

Aside from passing on info on correct application of Red and Yellow tops, I wanted to mention that when it went bad, it didn't just stop charging. The way it acted was like the car had an electrical drain and was very misleading. I would leave the car on my ctek charger set on charging cycle for Optima type batter until it went through all 4 stages and said full. The car would be fine for a few days then would die all the way down to nothing. The strange part is that sometimes it would be dead one day later, sometimes it would sit two days and be fine but be dead the 4th day after using it the night before.

just like my experience! I paid the $20 difference and got the yellow top. In the three weeks I've had it, its has spun my starter faster and stronger than the red top ever did. I heard that the red top is made by a different manufacturer than it used to be and not the same place that still makes the yellow and blue tops.

So, I suggest going yellow , not red, if going Optima. My coworker swapped all three of his rigs 6 months ago after the same BS and went from constant issues to none .

Thought id share for what its worth
 
I replaced an Optima in our daily commuter car a few months back and the O'Reilly guy was amazed that it was installed back in 2007 - after the Mazda factory battery died at the 2year point. I guess the expectation is that the new ones they sell won't last nearly that long. It's been running great since I installed the replacement red top, and I have 2 other Optima's in our other cars that have dates around 2008 and 2009. Will be looking hard at the yellow top at that point. Thanks for the post,
 
I have had good luck with my first blue top in the Taco - bought in 2008 and still going strong!
Bought a Yellow top to replace the original Taco battery five years ago - still doing great.

Bought a yellow top for my daughter's car 4 years ago - still doing great.

Bought a yellow top for my Sentra 4 years ago - still doing great.

Bought a Blue top & a Sears Platinum Marine for the FJ40 four years ago and both are doing great.

Bought a Yellow top 2 years ago for the Subaru and it is not doing so good - I don't know if I got a crappy battery from Sam's Club or if they really have quit making good batteries, or if the Subaru Forester just puts too much load on a battery even when it is parked.

My basis for declaring a battery "great" or "not" is based on the resting voltage a few days after a full charge.

I keep my FJ40, the Subi, and either the Taco or the Sentra plugged in to a Battery Minder charger all the time. 3 days of no charging and the Taco Blue top typically has 12.8 volts. 3 days of no charge on the Sentra typically has 13.0 or 12.9 volts.

The Subaru Forester always drops to 12.4 after just a few hours after taking off the charger. The original battery didn't even last two years.

Both batteries in the FJ40 stay more than 12.8.

I think the key to long battery life in Arizona's heat is keeping a good quality charger on the batteries. I used to believe the "common knowledge" that batteries only last three years in Arizona's heat - but that is only true if you just replace & ignore your batteries.
 
Last edited:
murf said:
Red top Optima problems in my 40. Been through 3 in 2.5 years. Kept acting like elecrical issue or drain. I even bought a trickle charger. If i left anything on like the radio or lights for more than 5 minutes, it would require a jump start then act ok later.
Click to expand...

Had the exact same problem. I am on my 3rd Red Top Optima. Last battery would last about a week before needing a jump. Replaced it under warranty and the truck sat for a month and started w/o issues.

I won't be buying an Optima again...
 
From Trollhole: When they moved production 5 or so years ago to Mexico they went to crap. I still own a set of 8 year old Optimas and they still work great. I've had lots of new Optimas (around 2 yrs old) come into the shop bad. I would never recommend this battery to anyone. Interstate Battery who now owned Optima now I believe makes a AGM battery. It's crazy expensive but uses no recycled lead. I use those or just a standard Megatron 2 battery or Diehards.
 
Yellow top have a higher static voltage than a Red top. Could account for a faster starter. Also meaning they should not used together in a dual battery setup.

I run a pair of 5 yr old Blue tops in my 80 and I hope I didnt just create bad luck
 
this was my favorite part of the "red top experience" :bang:

The car would be fine for a few days then would die all the way down to nothing. The strange part is that sometimes it would be dead one day later, sometimes it would sit two days and be fine but be dead the 4th day after using it the night before.
 
Funner said:
Does this matter if you run duals with an isolator?
Click to expand...

Full charge rate of a yellow top is 13.1V and full charge rate of a red top is 12.8V. No matter what kind of dual controller you use at some given time the batteries tie together hence the problem with different voltages.
 
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