Lateral-g Forums - Optima battery is dead again

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all these problems with there products but people love there challenge race/good marketing i guess.ill never buy one.too many problems from to many people on several different message boards.

People have just as many problems with regular lead acid batteries, they just aren't as vocal about them on car message boards. Truth be told the quality on most batteries has gone considerably down in the past 5 years and remarkably down in the past 10 with the SOLE exception of Johnson Control Products(who makes optimas). Some of the best batterties made are the Mega Tron Black Top Interstates made by Johnson.

If you park your car for extended periods of time use a battery tender. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Also, why do you have a yellow top? You shouldn't need one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Northeast Rod Run (Post 316464)

:soapbox:

I bought a yellow top back in July of 2008. I even had a hard time trying to find the one I needed because it wasn't listed on their regular list at the time, so of course it was more expensive than the "off the shelf" ones.

This is at least the 10th time it has died out in that time. It has been sitting less than a month this time in my 2004 GTO and it is now down to 5.3 volts (don't even know if it will even take a normal chage being so low). I bought a trickle charger for the winter but I figured I wouldn't need it yet, because it's only been sitting a few weeks. I never had this problem with my factory battery so I'm not thinking it's a draw or anything. These yellow tops are supposed to be one of the best deep-cycle batteries out there? hmmmm.....

I had enough of this, so I finally decided to look up the warranty and of course it's expired. I still wasn't even that mad yet, until I saw that EXACTLY 6
months AFTER I bought my battery, they changed the warranty from 12
months to 36 months!!!
Well, I'm all done venting so now I just sit here and wait to see if it takes a
charge.

Sorry to hear about your battery problem. I will try to help.

The suggestions above work about 9 out of 10 times when any AGM battery gets discharged below 10.5 volts. However, recovering the battery won't uncover any other electrical issues. You may want to look further into your electrical system to ensure against this happening again. Your GTO came stock with a very high "key off" load. If you've modified the PCM, installed an under drive pulley, trunk mounted your battery or added any electrical accessories then you may be fighting a problem that can easily be fixed. I highly suggest checking your key off loads first (should be 25 milliamps or less). Next, I would closely monitor your alternator charging voltage. I'm happy to go through this with you as there are many variables depending on your cars mods. Please send me a pm if you want to discuss one on one.

Thanks, Cam

Hmmm....4 years with my yellow top and no issues!

Just realized "Battery Tender" is a name brand, and not a generic term... kinda like how everyone uses Kleenex in conversation.

So is the "Battery Tender" brand most people's preferred unit? or the CTEK it appears here?

I thought it was a relevant question concerning this thread topic. :)

I like this unit for home use:
http://www.batterychargers.com/Produ...tName=94026842

You don't have to do anything special for a gel cell batteries. Id say that 19/20 "bad" batteries we got back in a retail setting were good, and worked great after using this.

A normal key off load for your car is in the 360ma range, if you've added any non switched electrical accessories you can add to that. We used to sell those new and they almost never lasted more than one week on the lot, without being jump started, and that was after a FULL charge when we did the Pre Delivery Inspection.

Quote:

Originally Posted by [email protected] (Post 316525)

There you go, factory support. If the origninal poster is not aware, Cam works for Optima. Hope you get to the bottom of your issue.

OP, here is a simple solution, disconnect the terminals when you know the car won't be driven for more than few days, no need for battery tenders or trickle chargers.

I've had a blue top for almost 8 years ,in course of that time my battery has died at least a dozen times, simply by my negligence knowing I have draw,which is very common on my make/model car (MKIV Supra). All I did was jump it off with another car, drive it everyday and have no problems at all:D

I cant beleive you have to charge these batterys from time to time ecs for the price!
Heres whats going in my Hot Rod.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/XSP-S925/?rtype=10

Quote:

Originally Posted by elitecustombody (Post 316548)

For some of us that's not really a good option. The long term fuel trims are lost once battery power is lost.

My red top has been in the car since Dec. '03. I have made the mistake of not putting a battery tender on it and killed it twice. It came back fine both times and continues to work well.