optima batterys

[toy4xfun]

and i will also add that does mean something when you are watching every penny you spend!

 

[toy4xfun]

also my feeling on this matter is if you claim to make the best than you should put your money where your mouth is and put the best guarantee behind it!

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

I've been more than happy with my Blue tops

My local alternator shop was selling "remans" (used) for $50 bucks a pop w/90 day warranties, so I picked up a couple, added one more to my rig and stuck the other one in my boat

 

[cruiser88]

I want you to explain something.......

"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"

what if you get it totally dead off the shelf?
and please tell me what manufacture does void the warrenty if its below 10.5 volts?

So if there is a manufacture defect and its below 10.5 volts the manufacure is off the hook?

Just to make sure I was correct I re-tested a few of yours tuday and like 9 was dead.

The red tops I bought from you all of them was dead right off the shelf.

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[/QUOTE]

 

[OptimaJim]

Hi cruiser88, unfortunately, I am not allowed to mention specific manufacturers, so if you want to read the first full sentence on the second page of “Brand Z’s” warranty, where they describe batteries at or below 10.0 volts as being overdischarged and void from warranty due to misuse and/or neglect, you’ll have to find it on your own. It is out there, because I just pulled it up.

I can provide the link to our warranty information- Optima Battery Warranty Information - Spiralcell AGM 12V Batteries and I do encourage folks to review the warranty on any battery they are considering purchasing, although finding warranty information isn’t always easy.

If you have recently purchased an Optima that was dead off the shelf and your retailer did not honor the warranty, please PM me with the details of your purchase and I will do my best to assist you.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

 

[cruiser88]

no it was honored........al 3 of them

Hi cruiser88, unfortunately, I am not allowed to mention specific manufacturers, so if you want to read the first full sentence on the second page of “Brand Z’s” warranty, where they describe batteries at or below 10.0 volts as being overdischarged and void from warranty due to misuse and/or neglect, you’ll have to find it on your own. It is out there, because I just pulled it up.

I can provide the link to our warranty information- Optima Battery Warranty Information - Spiralcell AGM 12V Batteries and I do encourage folks to review the warranty on any battery they are considering purchasing, although finding warranty information isn’t always easy.

If you have recently purchased an Optima that was dead off the shelf and your retailer did not honor the warranty, please PM me with the details of your purchase and I will do my best to assist you.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

 

[toy4xfun]

hey guys this is the way you properly charge an optima battery when it is below 10.5 volts!

mine was exactly at 10.5 volts, so to give a fair shake i decided to try this method.

 

[toy4xfun]

i started this set up at 12:00 pm or noon, the ever start battery was at 100% capacity 13.4 volts, it is brand new.
once i hooked the optima in with it it registered 65% 12 volts even.
the optima alone was at 10.5 volts and 10% capacity.
so it is now 10:15 and the set up is at 70% and 12 volts.
neither battery has gotten hot nor has the cables i have between them, they are 2/0 locamotive cable from a UPS system.

 

[toy4xfun]

alright it took more than 24 hours and it reached full charge, at least the whole thing did, i disconnected the charger, and jumper wires, hooked back up to the optima 11.5 volts, and 10% capacity!

 

[OptimaJim]

toy4xfun, what was the voltage of the YellowTop when it reached "full charge" and how long did it take for the voltage to drop to 11.5 volts?

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

 

[toy4xfun]

as soon as i took it off the charger and disconnected the other battery it was at 11.5 volts and still at 10% capacity

 

[OptimaJim]

toy4xfun, many battery chargers will not recognize or charge any battery that has been discharged below 10.5 volts (the exact voltage cut-off varies by manufacturer). The parallel charging technique "fools" those chargers into charging a battery that has been discharged below 10.5 volts. Once the battery has been recharged above 10.5 volts, the charger should be able to continue charging the battery, without the need for another battery in parallel. It sounds like your YellowTop was headed in the right direction and might just need more time on the charger to reach approximately 13.0-13.2 volts.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

 

[Combat Chuck]

I personally stand by Interstate, I've used had a single Interstate in my DD since I bought the car at 16, and it's kept great charge for five years now, my folks buy only interstate, and I remember them replacing the batterys only a handful of times between four different trucks. Moreover, my late uncle owned an automotive shop in Wilits, and only sold interstate, ran them in his trucks, and the cars he and my cousin would race in Ukiah.
The truck I'm looking to buy will get an interstate, and will have one until the day it dies (which will take something catastrophic, as it runs a 22R), my FJ40, whenever it's done, will run an Interstate, because they've proven to me they make a quality product.

 

[ExpeditionXJ]

If they are a global company with manufacturing in 17 countries do the Sears batteries say made in the USA or something?

Yes, Odyssey has a manufacturing facility in the US.. IL iirc. You can find the correct info on their site.

Does anyone remember an Optima e-care Manager defending their product on "hundreds" of boards as Jim stated in the years that Optima was manufactured in the US? Why is this position needed now if it's a better product since their state of the art Mexican facility?

Folks, get a DieHard Platinum (Odyssey), you'll have a much easier time of getting a replacement in the event you have a failure and need a fast replacement to get back under way.

 

[OptimaJim]

Hi ExpeditionXJ, the job I do for Optima can kind of be equated to pro-active customer service. We do have a toll-free number (888-8OPTIMA) on every battery we make, as well as a website and an e-mail address (info@optimabatteries.com), where people can contact us if they have any questions or concerns about our products, but we’ve found that quite a few folks prefer to come to forums like this one to ask questions. Sometimes the answers and advice are great, sometimes they need some assistance.

I’ve personally been registered on some Internet message boards for more than ten years, so I am familiar with their popularity, but as your Join Date (and many others) on this board suggests, there are a lot more people who have been turned on to various message board communities in more recent years. The relatively-recent emergence of Facebook, Twitter, and blogs has also helped shine an even brighter spotlight on social media. As a result, companies like Optima are now responding and at some point, other battery manufacturers may also follow suit.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

 

[Pluton]

I personally stand by Interstate, I've used had a single Interstate in my DD since I bought the car at 16, and it's kept great charge for five years now, my folks buy only interstate, and I remember them replacing the batterys only a handful of times between four different trucks. Moreover, my late uncle owned an automotive shop in Wilits, and only sold interstate, ran them in his trucks, and the cars he and my cousin would race in Ukiah.
The truck I'm looking to buy will get an interstate, and will have one until the day it dies (which will take something catastrophic, as it runs a 22R), my FJ40, whenever it's done, will run an Interstate, because they've proven to me they make a quality product.

As far as I can tell, Interstate does not offer an AGM type battery. AGM appeals to me because in the event I roll the vehicle, even at slow speed, I prefer not to have a brittle plastic box filled with warm liquid sulfuric acid in the engine compartment of my truck. If I can't stand up the vehicle right away, that acid could do a lot of damage as it dribbles out onto the frame, body, engine, and electrical parts. Just sayin'...

 

[toy4xfun]

i also do not like that when i am bouncing around on rough terrain that acid is sloshing around like the drink in your cup holder!

 

[toy4xfun]

I personally stand by Interstate, I've used had a single Interstate in my DD since I bought the car at 16, and it's kept great charge for five years now, my folks buy only interstate, and I remember them replacing the batterys only a handful of times between four different trucks. Moreover, my late uncle owned an automotive shop in Wilits, and only sold interstate, ran them in his trucks, and the cars he and my cousin would race in Ukiah.
The truck I'm looking to buy will get an interstate, and will have one until the day it dies (which will take something catastrophic, as it runs a 22R), my FJ40, whenever it's done, will run an Interstate, because they've proven to me they make a quality product.

interstate battery's were made by Johnson controls, and might still be, Johnson controls also makes die hard golds!

 

[Combat Chuck]

interstate battery's were made by Johnson controls, and might still be, Johnson controls also makes die hard golds!

I like JCI, my dad used to work for them.

As far as I can tell, Interstate does not offer an AGM type battery. AGM appeals to me because in the event I roll the vehicle, even at slow speed, I prefer not to have a brittle plastic box filled with warm liquid sulfuric acid in the engine compartment of my truck. If I can't stand up the vehicle right away, that acid could do a lot of damage as it dribbles out onto the frame, body, engine, and electrical parts. Just sayin'...

Great point, I may take that into consideration when I get this pickup, that's something I've never had to think about considering the only other running vehicle I've owned is a touring sedan.

 

[Bogo]

interstate battery's were made by Johnson controls, and might still be, Johnson controls also makes die hard golds!

No, not all were. I know that the battery manufacturing plant in Corydon IA made batteries for Interstate in the past as I bought a pair there. They only sold what they made. The plant is now owned by East Penn Manufacturing (Deka) so I don't know if they still make Interstate batteries. It used to be privately owned by a local resident and at that point I know they made batteries for a number of companies.