optima batteries or other options

[flexyfool]

The Interstates you can get at Walmart or Fred Meyer work just fine. Unless you are stuck with an Optima battery mount or are blasting through washboard roads all day long, you might consider one of these.

 

[TRD270]

Carl had an Exide Orbital in my runner when I bought it. I don't know how old it is but I can't complain, I was surprised how long it ran my winch without the truck running when I buried the exhaust in some sand on a climb and could get her to fire up again.

http://www.exide.com/us/en/product-.../exide-orbital-agm-automotive-deep-cycle.aspx

 

[jeepin4x4james]

Well, just bought the Sears (DieHard) Platinum 34/78 to replace my 34/78 redtop... I was using both the side and top terminals on the Optima otherwise I may have just gone with the group 34.

My other thought (too late now) was to just run 2 smaller marine batteries side by side... Like 2 group 24 marine batteries from Wal-Mart... They were in the 600CCA range... Would've fit nicely (tight) in my LJ stock location with some custom bracketry... And they were only $75 each....
Oh well, hopefully I won't regret the $220 Platinum.

 

[topless s-10]

I have 2 optima red tops and I have found that they will not charge in a dual battery setup unless they are ran in series I had a 12 volt guy dual battery setup and it will keep 2 regular battery's charged but not my optima's I switched with a buddy for a month or 2 and both sets stayed charged wheeling and running winches and onboard air that's my experience

 

[flexyfool]

I have 2 optima red tops and I have found that they will not charge in a dual battery setup unless they are ran in series I had a 12 volt guy dual battery setup and it will keep 2 regular battery's charged but not my optima's I switched with a buddy for a month or 2 and both sets stayed charged wheeling and running winches and onboard air that's my experience

Is that a diode or relay? The Painless is a big relay. Click it on and it shorts the 2 positive terminals. I think a diode, which would drop the voltage from the alternator, might have an effect on charging. I don't think a relay would. Also, the 1st Optimas in the dual setup could not be recharged with a charger. I forgot to mention the reason I went to duals is that the brand new yellowtop I had in it originally crapped out too. You might say bad alternator. No. At the time of the 1st duals I swapped out the Ford external regulator type with GM 1 wire type. Could be wrong though about dual Optimas. They are certainly a different beast than a normal car battery.

 

[flexyfool]

Just did some Google research. Johnson Controls bought Optima in 2006 and moved 1/2 of production from Denver to Mexico at that time. It closed the Denver plant in 2008 so all Optimas are made in Mexico since. People have nothing bad to say about Optima's built prior to 2006. I couldn't find 1 complaint. Then people complain. Then people complain a lot and start swearing off Optimas. Stores drop the line because of all the returns they get. The complaint seems to be they will not charge after a while. Even with no possibility of parasitic current draw from an accessory, some of them just go dead. The Mexican factory has been running now for 6 years. Maybe QC has improved. Maybe not. Best to stay away from Optima unless you have the special aftermarket trays and don;t want to replace the trays..

Does anyone know what else fits in the Optima battery trays? I may be looking at 5 dead Optimas in 2 years. Fool me twice, err fool me thrice...

 

[mierdota]

I'm really glad i decided against an optima i would be pissed if i paid that much for a crap battery. I'mshocked that not a lot has changed in 6 years, you would think with all the negative reviews they would change something.

 

[Kevin B.]

I'm really glad i decided against an optima i would be pissed if i paid that much for a crap battery. I'mshocked that not a lot has changed in 6 years, you would think with all the negative reviews they would change something.

Maybe they did change, word of mouth takes a while to get around and a negative rep has momentum. Or maybe they figure they're still selling batteries and don't need to change. Or it could be like Kurt said and the only reason there's more bad reports is there's more Optimas out there in the first place, and they don't have anything to change. Like I said, mine bought in 2009 has been great for me.

I'd like to see one of the magazines do a battery shootout - get 10-20 each of several different batteries from random lots, abuse the hell out of them and see what happens.

 

[thenag]

I have 2 optima red tops and I have found that they will not charge in a dual battery setup unless they are ran in series I had a 12 volt guy dual battery setup and it will keep 2 regular battery's charged but not my optima's I switched with a buddy for a month or 2 and both sets stayed charged wheeling and running winches and onboard air that's my experience

I have a pair of red tops in the xj, that were in the bronco (probably from about 06). they are setup in parallel diesel style, no relay or anything. I do have a dual battery switch that I can switch between them or turn them off. Shane and others have welded off them and they still charge and hold a charge just fine. I am not looking forward to the day I have to replace them since if I keep two batteries I will have to buy a pair of optimas. The jeep usually gets driven at least once a week.

Nathan

 

[cruiseroutfit]

FWIW I've been running Optimas in my LC in a dual battery configuration for 11+ years now, as with any 12V system they are parallel (series would be 24V and would take 4 bats to need a charge controller?), zero charge issues. I've never seen a dual battery setup with Optimas that had charge issues though all my recent installs have been with intelligent solenoid type systems that have charge controllers rather than solely solenoid controlled (though the 11 year old 40 system is a simple solenoid charge system)

 

[Cascadia]

How long is an optima warranty?my battery keeps dying. The stamp on it says 6/12.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

How long is an optima warranty?my battery keeps dying. The stamp on it says 6/12.

Depends where you purchased it from. The manufacture warranty is 2 years I believe, some retailers actually bump that to 3 year free replacement but unless you bought it at a place with a computerized warranty system (i.e. AutoZone) you will likely need the receipt.

Have you confirmed you don't have any drains? What are you charging it with?

 

[Cascadia]

There is a drain from the radio but I unhook the negative when not in use. For example I went wheeling on the first. Started up fine every time. Got it home and parked it in the garage and took the negative cable off. After sitting for a week with it unhooked the battery is dead. I have a deep cycle charger for it but didn't put it on because it was only going to be a week before it was used and it was unhooked.

 

[Panos]

At our shop we use optimas primarily. And it seems that if we don't keep our optima charger hooked up, that they will die. Even if they are not hooked up to anything. I haven't been a fan of optimas for a while now. Although our optima charger will bring dead optimas back to life and was worth every penny

 

[cruiseroutfit]

...will be an Odyssey.

I just had to warranty a pair of failed Odyssey's this week, 13 months old and they failed, froze and cracked. I think one actually failed and took the other with it but either way, 13 months is too soon and the cracked housing (water separates and freezes) has me concerned given I've never seen an Optima do that. Still I'm running both in different applications... next round will likely be Optima.

 

[Unimog]

Just another data point, but the only optima I have tried only lasted 3-4 years - far less than a cheap lead acid battery in the same application.

 

[flexyfool]

I just replaced yet another Optima in a buddy's Jeep a few days ago. It was a yellow top and about 3 years old. It was lightly used and never abused. Optima went from the best battery in the 90's/early 00's to the worst when the manufacturing went to Mexico. Anything is better than today's Optima.

 

[Jay5.9L]

I've had 3 Optimas. First a red top in my daily driver ZJ and it was rock solid for years. Second was a red top in my project CJ. I eventually killed it by letting it sit for months and trying to revive it with a charger several times. I leveraged the warranty at O'reillys and paid the difference for a yellow top. The yellow top has been flawless.

I think the key is to use a good battery maintainer or run the sucker often as possible.

 

[thenag]

When I posted about a month ago I searched the internet for optima horror stories.

I found very few from the past few years, It seems like most of the issues were from about 2008-10, or 11.

Has anybody had any recent failures with Optimas? (purchased since 2011)

I guess Flexyfool's story counts.

Nathan

 

[Unimog]

My failure was from pre-2008