I have had a couple Optimas go bad over the years, my friends have as well..
Here's a good bit of info that may be worth something. When I was in high school (not that long ago lol) I was on the electric car racing team. I was the welder/fabricator/wiring guy, and occasional driver. Basically an aluminum 3 wheel Go-cart that is battery powered but more high tech. We raced full speed for an hour. There were always 2 or 3 schools we couldn't beat, and one in particular that would beat everyone by miles. Our driver came up with the great idea to pretend to be writing an article for the local news paper, and went and interviewed the kids that were always in 1st place. I went with, and got a great look at their car, just before they caught on and booted us!! Guess what the secret to their speed was?? INTERSTATE BATTERIES. We got Interstate to sponsor us and we started keeping up, and actually winning races. I graduated, but that car was handed down for a few years (until someone else at the school learned to weld aluminum heheh), and the current car they race now is a consistent top 3 car and most people run Interstate batteries now. PGE electron run! So I point people towards Interstate if they ask. I have 2 and they never miss a beat, I sell the cars and keep the battery lol...

If I don't drive the GTO for about two months, my red top will get weak. Not a battery problem, it is a voltage drain problem.
I love CTEK, even if the battery is really low, it will charge it up in a few hours. The thing to remember is you MUST slow charge these batteries. I have had the Red Top in the GTO for 5 years now, same battery, and weak more than once because I let the car sit too long. Charger has a red top also, but with 14000+ on the clock in just 13 months, not much chance for it to have drainage issues..haha

not happy optima
 

My red top battery was not trickle charged by the guys that were working on the car for a few months, and now the alternator is working overtime to keep up the amps.And the alternator is now so hot, i spoke to my auto electrician and he said the optima wont come good now, it is less than a year old so iam going for a new one on warranty. Not real happy, has this happened to any one else?

Did you read the thread you posted in? You can't let a Red Top sit for 3 months off a battery tender.

funny thing is my interstate batteries have never let me down.trans am in a cold garage over a year.bam started right up.
imho you should not have to trickle charge a battery.if the car is going to sit over 6 to 8 months just unhook it before storage and charge it if needed when the time comes.sounds like the optima regardless of color was not engineered correctly to hold a charge.thats my opinion and dont want to argue or go back and fourth over it.ive read 10 times more negative optima problem posts than better ones.i simply wont buy one so i guess they work fine for me/lol:rolleyes:

I have never had issues with Optima red tops in the past, but in the last 6 months I'm on my third one. I have a battery shut off switch so I dont think I'm bleeding off any where.

Are we sure this isn't a recent issue developing with Optima batteries?

REPLY, yes i did read the thread i posted in TODDY<thead police> i was giving the full story and mainly asking has anyone had the alternator problem that is heating up. There is no one that has mentioned that problem. :D :D

I personally feel they discharge naturally. I've had mine unhooked while doing misc. repairs for weeks and had to charge it before firing off the car. That being said, as long as you keep it on a tender and have a functioning charging system they will crank for a long time. I had a heat soak issue this summer and cranked on mine for a long while to get it fired off.

Like many things in life, there are always compromises and trade offs. The gel cell likely doesn't hold a charge as long as the old tried and trud lead/acid battery. I'll take the tradeoff with a smell/leak free battery.

Just talked to my bro last night. He has two blue tops (marine equivalent of the yellow top) in his boat and has never had problems. His boat even sits outside all year just wrapped under a pop-up tent, all winter here in New England.

Maybe it's just be a crapshoot when it comes to these batteries? Or is it that they have the same amount of problems as other manufacturers, but we just complain more because they are a higher profile battery?

todd i have a big nose /lol and never had a smelly battery./lol or one that leaked.;)