My Optima red top has been in my street rod for twelve years now and has never had a problem with starting or charging. My next car will get an Optima as well. I also have heard a lot of negative, but you can't prove it by me.

I am not sure I would be broadcasting that about MY girlfriend! :lol:

Darren

I use to think this was the case as well. In my project car I committed all of the Optima sins that people uneducated about the battery will tend to do. So I can't really blame the battery in those cases.

However, I decided to pony up the cash and put two red tops in my daily driver diesel truck. They lasted 20 months, had them warrantied, the next pair lasted 26 months. I went with a plain ol' Interstate battery and they've been in there for three years. There is nothing wrong with the charging system or excessive draws, and the truck was driven 5 times a week minimum. I was not highly impressed with those results.

I love the support that Optima gives to our community and commend them for it. I hope they have great success selling their batteries. Unfortunately, the only good thing I've found about them is they tend to die within the 24 month warranty period.

What specifically went wrong? How do you know they're bad?

I spent too long selling to the public, and 98% + of people have no idea what they're doing. I would also venture to say that 75% + of techs dont know what theyre doing either. Its funny having a "master tech" not know what RMS is....

I did a Google search on AGM batteries. These are the latest in battery technology. In a nutshell there are three types of lead acid batteries. 1. The conventional flooded plate batteries where the sulfuric acid is liquid and free to slosh around in the cell. 2. The Gell Cell where the acid is mixed with additives to turn it into a gell. The plates are then submerged in the gell much like the flooded cell. 3. AGM or Absorbed Glass Mat, these have a special fiberglass mat saturated with acid sandwiched in between each plate. The plates and mats are stacked in each cell then compressed to fit in the cell. The result is that the plates are extremely stable and supported against vibration and if the case is punctured the acid will not leak out.

AGM batteries are used in highly critical applications such as aircraft, marine and computer UPS (uninterruptable power supplies) systems just to name a few. I have been doing a fair amount of research becasue I need to replace the OEM batteries in my Duramax and I want the best I can buy. There are a couple of themes that kept poping up when I was researching. 1. Optima has a lot of people complaining about the Optima quality on a lot of forums. 2. The Odyssey AGM batteries keep being mentioned as the battery to buy. Interestingly Sears DieHard Platinum is an AGM battery which is made by Odyssey for Sears and rates as high as the Odyssey battery for about $50 less.

Here is a Wikipedia article which explains AGM batteries:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VRLA_battery

A link to Odyssey's web site:
http://www.odysseyfactory.com/index.html

Sears DieHard Platinum page:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...9&blockType=G9

How do I know they're bad? The batteries didn't have enough voltage to satisfy the ECM's voltage requirements while cranking. Engine would turn over slowly and ecm would never supply any fuel (7.3l PS diesel).

In both cases the Optima's would slowly lose their ability to take a charge while the vehicle is driven and when taken to an approved Optima dealer, they test the batteries and proclaim that they have a "dead cell". Since they were under warranty and in my daily driver, I didn't do any diagnosis or attempted recharging (with a non-optima-approved charger) on my own.

I have killed all too many optimas. But it's because I'll drain them too far. But I have treated other brands the same way and guess what, they can be recovered.
Having said that, You make it seem that anyone who buys an Optima needs a PhD to keep it in shape.
If these batteries need so much time and effort to keep them alive and other batteries do not, the problem is not with the consumer who just want something that will last a reasonable amount of time. If I can buy an east penn battery and forget about it or buy an Optima and wonder when it's going to take a $hit, the choice is a no brainer.

Amen brother!

Optimas are normally the bast bang for the buck (IE cheapest AGM). If you DO buy an Optima do yourself a favor and get a Yellow Top OR deep cycle Blue Top (Same battery just different posts and colors). The deep cycle is a tougher battery.

Odyssey, Deka, Lifeline, XS all make a great products. Many Odysseys are now in California Government vehicles (police, fire, ect) and are lasting 5-7 years on average.

My Optima lasted just over a year. Replaced it with a Eliminator Spiral and it turns that 540 BBC over like a 4 cylinder.

Optima = Never Again!!