optima batterys

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

toy4xfun

toy4xfun

Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Threads
119
Messages
2,543
Location
the Lower Shenandoah Valley
i was just on their web site.
didn't they used to be gellcell?
if so they are no longer they are agm now.

any how my date code 9/04 is bad.
better than my other yellow top it is bad and its date code is 8/05.
my first optima was a yellow top and it lasted 8 years!

another question i only use my winch once in a while, and drive my truck every day do i need a yellow top?
 
I am in the same boat, daily driving with little winch use. I thought about a yellow top but I've never had a problem with the reds I use. Some people had major issues with Optimas in the past, manufacturing and quality control changes have addressed these issues (I think).

This weekend I used a yellow top that my roommate has sat on for a year in storage. It ran a boat trolling motor for a couple of hours before needing a charge, great performance considering the neglect it has seen.
 
my yellow tops just puttered out, quick too one day every thing was fine the next i thought my starter was bad but, a quick check with my agm charger and it was only at 10% alternator is fine the other yellow top did the same thing, after having a red top last 8 years i was a little disappointed.
 
No more Optima batteries for me. Their quality has gone done hill. I was impressed w/ 'em at first since the red top in my '86 lasted over 13 years. So I decided to buy 2 more to include my '85 truck. Unfortunately, I've had to have 'em replace every year.:mad: From what I've read Odyssey batteries are the next great thing so I'll be trying those next.:)
 
My first red top lasted 5+ years before I pulled it just cuz I stopped trusting it. It sat in the backyard for 2-3 years before I charged it and installed it in my FJ40. It was fine at over 7 years old. I recently pulled it and installed a Sears (Odyssey) Platinum Marine group 31M. Seventy five pounds of pure bliss. That is one monster battery.

The red top in the 4Runner is 3 years old and is starting to show signs of failure.
 
i just started my truck, i had to pop the clutch, put my charger on it while the truck was running, my charger has a alternator tester on it to, it read 14.4 volts, and 100% on both battery and alternator.
left it hooked up shut the truck off and the battery read 10% at 9 volts. and i think i am going to make a trip to sears next week.
 
At one time all of my city, emergency, etc, fleet customers ran Optima, now all have stitched back to Interstate. They found that the Interstates are more reliable and cost effective.
 
I have one sold one yellow top at werk................its got around they are s***ty

one loyal guy argued with me that they was not made in mexico:meh:

they dont teach reading comp. in WV
 
Tools R Us said:
At one time all of my city, emergency, etc, fleet customers ran Optima, now all have stitched back to Interstate. They found that the Interstates are more reliable and cost effective.
Click to expand...

cruiser88 said:
good gawd.........I cant give away a interstate battery
Click to expand...

With interstate it depended on which supplier was making them. In different parts of the country they were totally different batteries.
 
I'm still having good success with blue tops. The old red tops lasted longer than the new stuff but they don't like to be parked for very long. The blue top is better for sitting for a season and still working. All that being said, I have heard from multiple sources that the manufacturing quality of optimas has gone way down and I would probably go with the oddessey if I had to buy one today.

The only reason I won't go back to conventional is that they just don't like to be upside down :).
 
H8PVMNT said:
The only reason I won't go back to conventional is that they just don't like to be upside down :).
Click to expand...

That's why I have Deka Intimidators which are a heavy duty built AGM battery. Instead of spiral cells, they are flat plate. More of the volume is used for energy storage.
 
Hello, I noticed your conversation regarding our batteries and wanted to offer some assistance. Our batteries have always been a SpiralCell, AGM design and have never been “gel” batteries, although some retailers may incorrectly advertise them as such, to generate more traffic on the Internet. In normal situations, our batteries can be treated just like a regular, flooded lead-acid battery. However, chargers with “gel” or “AGM/gel” settings should be avoided, because they will not fully-charge an Optima and could damage it over time.

If your application has heavy electrical demands, including winches, refrigerators or other similar items, we strongly recommend a dual-purpose YellowTop battery. RedTops are not designed or warrantied for deep-cycle applications, including winches. The quality of our batteries has always been excellent and continues to improve. Many of the “bad” batteries returned to us now are just deeply-discharged and work fine, when properly recharged.

Many battery chargers will not recognize or charge any battery that has been discharged below 10.5 volts and some manufacturers will void the warranty of their batteries, if they have been discharged below 10 volts. Deeply-discharged Optimas can be recharged with such chargers, by using the parallel charging technique described in this video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIoaL3DWWEg

Fully-charged, RedTops should read approximately 12.6-12.8 volts and YellowTops should read approximately 13.0-13.2 volts. If you can fully-charge your Optima and it can hold close to that level of charge for 12-24 hours, while disconnected from everything, it should be OK. If the battery holds voltage out of your vehicle, but loses voltage when connected to your vehicle, you may have a parasitic draw in your vehicle that needs attention.

All batteries spend their entire existence either charging or discharging, even if it’s only a very slow rate, while in storage. If a battery is allowed to sit long enough and discharge below 12.4 volts, sulfation will begin to diminish performance and lifespan. That makes a battery tender or maintainer a great investment for any vehicle that only sees occasional use. If you have any questions about our batteries, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
 
they was great till they started making them in mexico.

I agree on the red top not being able to handle a load like a winch however even with proper education on how to use and charge I still see a bunch come through my doors. Most of my customers simply ask for a refund rather than take another.

Its real bad when a customer cannot even get a charged one and it may take as long as 2 days for it to charge to begin with.

No bashing on you personally just an observation

welcome to the forum:beer:
 
97 FZJ80 said:
Optima is owned (or owned by) interstate.
Click to expand...

Can you confirm this? I can't. No mention of either company on each other's websites. Optima is owned by Johnson Controls now, there's a JC logo on their website.

Allthough... the Optima red-top in my truck now (11 years old now) has an Interstate label stuck on it.

WinchWiring2.jpg
 
taken from their site
"Battery Abuse: An additional reason why deep cycle batteries (industry-wide) have shorter warranty periods is that a disproportionate share of deep cycle batteries receive abusive treatment. Abusive practices include failure to recharge the battery after deep discharging, or discharging below the rated minimum 10.5 volts. "
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom