Optima Red problems

[TURBOV6]

I just had my second Optima Red go so dead. it would not even take a charge. Anybody else experiencing this issue with Optima's? If it is my car killing the battery that's one thing, but it takes a year for these batteries to die.

Mitch

I sell these batterys every day and hardly have any problems. First you need to do is check if there is a battery drain with a multi-meter.

Optimas charges like any lead acid battery the slower you charge them the longer it will last.

I think optimas are much better than any lead acid batterys out there, they last longer and they are a much stonger (current) battery. If you are killing these battery something is definetly wrong with your electrical.

You mentioned it takes a year for the optima to die out. Looks like you are hardly driving the car?

 

[UNGN]

Thanks for reminding me, Mitch,

i have to go put my TTA on the charger before the Optima Red Top is too dead to take a charge.

My first one nearly burnt my garage down when it wouldn't take a charge.

Got a new one on warranty and Every month I put it on the a trickle charger to keep it up, because if I don''t....

 

[wbrophy]

$.02

I have a red top Champion (Optima) from I think Advance some years ago that's been holding up but if I were to go back to a standard I would go either Interstate or Delco for sure.

 

[TurboDave]

I sell these batterys every day and hardly have any problems. First you need to do is check if there is a battery drain with a multi-meter.

Optimas charges like any lead acid battery the slower you charge them the longer it will last.

I think optimas are much better than any lead acid batterys out there, they last longer and they are a much stonger (current) battery. If you are killing these battery something is definetly wrong with your electrical.

You mentioned it takes a year for the optima to die out. Looks like you are hardly driving the car?

Sorry, have to disagree, but that's alright. I've been in electronics for over 35 years. Trust me when I tell you, I made all the obvious checks. Still couldn't keep one alive for more than 6 months. No drains, no overcharging, etc.

There are those that love them and those that don't. Seems like a love-hate thing.

 

[SloGN]

Well for 5 yrs i was a parts-pro for the commercial accounts and i sold a ****load of batteries. i have never had failure rate on batteries as bad as the optima's had.


who the hell wants to spend 125 bucks on a battery that has to be warrantied in 6 months.


hands down a wet-lead acid battery can't be beaten for long life. The battery thats in my GN is 6 yrs old now and it a cheapie from advance. That battery has been run down several times.

it might die tomorrow but i think i got my 45 bucks out of it

you guys that have had the good luck with them that great. i'm just stating what i have seen with the optima's

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

the only reason for an optima, is they dont leak as much gas, and rot the surrounding paint, as other standard issue batteries do. period. Theyre not all that to be honest. I think theyre a gimmick.

 

[Fuelie600]

Cr*p! My red top has been sitting for 3 weeks in the cold---better go check it. Oh wait, Auto Zone gave me a 3 year free replacement. Guess I'll let it freeze to death, and get a free one in the spring! My car sits alot, and the only battery that lasted more than a few years were the AC Delco's. Guess I'll see how my 4 month old Optima holds up. Wish me luck.:biggrin:

 

[Grumpy]

from what I am gathering from this thread NOBODY drives thier cars maybe thats why my battery's last

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

Ive got a red top in my limited and in my wifes cherokee ZERO PROBLEMS

 

[Lee_Burough]

resurrect a discharged battery this way....

Use a computerized charger to slowly bring it back to life. If you have a friend with a model car or airplane hobby, use one of their special computerized chargers to bring it back.

The computer will monitor the battery's charge and adjust its output according to the battery's response. You can bring back some NiCaD batteries that way. Will work to some extent on Lead-Acid batteries too.

I was buying a battery recently, and the old guy told me that if you completely discharge a new battery one time it will cut the life of the battery by 10%. Use your imagination to figure what happens with repeated episodes.

Best thing is a trickle charger.

 

[Pronto]

A/C Delco for me, thankyou. No fuss, no issues. I use a trickle charger over winter.

 

[alittlev6]

on this optima batteries,once it goes dead,they go dead!~~~~~~ it takes a good 2 days to recharge!!!!!!!


Ive had mines with zero problems! and had mines going for 2 yrs now.

 

[AF86GN]

My buddy works at Advance Auto, they got more returns on the red tops than any other battery. I had one die in a year on my LS1.

 

[GNICETRY]

If you would like to stay away from a possible controvery buy the Interstate. That battery is AWESOME and I will not buy any other one. I had a crap one sitting in my garage for over 2 years and then used it for another year until my alt went killing it. I was still able to resurrect it Megatron all the way. I believe that Johnson Industries makes them. You will not go wrong with one. Don't be cheap and buy the good one-Megatron.

 

[57loboy]

My GN came with a Redtop, car sat all last winter in unheated garage (disconnected), once I got things sorted on the car, connected it, started the car right up. When it dies, I'll use the 3 years old Delco that's been sitting under my workbench for the past 2 years and been used to start parts cars, drain fuel tanks and power up/down doors w/electric windows...

 

[Blown&Injected]

Went thru 3 or 4 Interstate batteries in about one year. My red top will sit for 2 to 5 weeks quite often. The only time I had trouble was if I left a light on and my cheap charger would put enough in to it to fire up the car in a short amount of time.

 

[TURBOELKY]

huh, now that I looked in to this post, I realized when I bought my first optima red top a few years ago, the first one died in a week but the replacement has been in my car for about 2 years, and it sits for periods of time, but I recently popped it in my sport coupe, and its ok, but the volts light is always on. It does need a charge soon!

 

[d0n_3d]

huh kinda funny I just came across this thread when I have a redtop Optima that is only a year old and I think I'm having charging problems...when I have everything hooked up even with the key off I can just watch my voltage on the battery drop like a rock...this is with a voltmeter directly on the battery...when I unhook the negative cable the voltage stays the same...i wonder what is up...my car has been sitting since June and I got it to run for about a week a few months ago but then I put it away again...I normally never had problems

 

[Steve]

I went thru 4 red top Optimas in 18 months in my 57 Nomad(completley updated) and I thought it was the car. I had a Motorcraft battery out of my 5.0 that I put in the Nomad to go on the power tour and it was in there for 6 months with zero problems so I knew it wasn't the car. Then I met an Optima Rep at a car gathering and he told me for a period of time the red tops had almost a 50% failure rate in the first 2 years. He recommended a yellow top which I tried and have not had a problem since.

 

[TURBOV6]

I also had a talk with our Interstate delivery guy and I mentioned about the reliability of Optimas.

He said he would choose a Optima over a lead acid battery.

Yes he did say they had their problems before but it had gotten way better now. Plus I love the warranty on the optimas.