I don't have an Optima and never have. Why? Because everyone I ever knew who had one complained about short life, consistant charging required, and no warning when they die. I have 9 vehicles requiring 10 batteries total.
1. I disconnect the batteries on infrequently started vehicles to reduce the risk of electrical shorts starting a fire. Why would I then want to increase the risk of fire by running 110 volts to a charger that will eventually have some kind of problem? (presuming the chargers do not last forever)
2. Several of the vehicles are not near outlets (storage facilities) and would require removal of the batteries to bring home to to an outlet to keep on a trickle charger. It's a pain to take the battery out of some of the cars and I just don't want to do it every time I use the car. I leave regular batteries for months at a time and the cars will start.
3.The batteries in most of my vehicles are mounted in the stock location in an upright position so there is no need for a sealed battery.
4. I have a lot of other things I'd rather spend money on than batteries that require me to spend more money on to buy chargers to maintain them and then feed electricty to.
5. With 10 batteries total I end up replacing 1 - 3 a year already, why would I want to spend even more time replacing batteries by using ones with half the life that I would have no confidence in once they were over 6 months old?
Since the door has already been opened concerning other brands: I will be buying a lightweight battery soon for The 14 Car when I switch to a trunk mount. It will most likely be a Braille because I haven't heard any complaints and I'm only buying products made in America as long as there is no sacrifice in quality.
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John Paige
70 Firebird Esprit, 400 TA clone type "The 14 car"
lab-14.com
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
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