Optima Batteries

kmcminn · Oct 11, 2020

Well I have killed another( probably have killed 5 or 6 over the last 10 years) Optima Redtop. Over the last couple months I have cranked it maybe twice and turned the sound bar 3 or 4 times.

Im going to buy a yellow top this week and maybe put a battery tender on it.

Anyone had any better luck with the yellow tops.

extremetownie · Oct 11, 2020

There is no comparison. I will never buy another red top. I prefer the yellow tops,but the blue tops have all done well. If you are going to use a battery tender,i would recommend the one designed for agm batteries.

ROKTOY829 · Oct 11, 2020

Optima sells a charger that will charge both Agm and acid batteries. They claim, it will bring dead optimas back to life.

Anyone have any experience with this? There're like 200$

DobermanRacing · Oct 11, 2020

I'd suggest moving to an Odyssey battery. Optima was bought out by Johnson controls. Once that happened their quality dropped. They are no different than any other AGM house brand battery you see at the local auto parts store.

I needed a battery asap and couldn't wait for shipping an Odyssey so I picked up a Platinum AGM from Autozone about 4 years ago. It survived one Jeep fire, and is now in my XJ going strong. Both vehicles seeing heavy winch use a lot. It's also made by Johnson controls. Was cheaper than the Optimas too by a good amount.

They can make good batteries but Odyssey makes even better ones is what I'm getting at.

There is also those new fancy lithium ion batteries. https://antigravitybatteries.com/

The Luke · Oct 11, 2020

Deka/odyssey batteries for the win. Since optimas moved to Mexico, they're junk.

zukimaster · Oct 11, 2020

I had optima in my race car, it sucked! I never hear anyone say good things about them, a couple months ago I was looking for a battery to go in my samurai, I went to a place that was a deka and optima dealer, he said go with the deka, so I did.

Kel · Oct 11, 2020

I've got an optima red tip from 08 or 09 and it has been in 30+ different things with engines and it has been dead 5 or 7 or 6 times. I think batteries are like cars. Get one made on Friday after lunch and it will go to **** in a year. Get one a well paid tech made/inspected on Monday morning at 10 am and it will outlast your **** box.

Sami currently has a red top as well....I'm sure the new Spal fan, both winches and lights will kill it in short order, but I seem to always have great luck with shitty batteries.

Kel · Oct 11, 2020

ROKTOY829 said:
Optima sells a charger that will charge both Agm and acid batteries. They claim, it will bring dead optimas back to life.

Anyone have any experience with this? There're like 200$

Don't buy the charger.....just put the charger on another 12volt battery and hook jumper cables to the red top. I've done it 5+ times and sure I will one more time when my old red top resurfaces at the house.

TBItoy · Oct 11, 2020

If you're semi-married to an optima because of having an optima specific battery mount in your rig, get a deep cycle blue top or yellow top. They seem to hold up to sitting around much better.

That said, I've had much better life out of a Duracell AGM. The one in my Tacoma sits for months and months, and usually gets heavily discharged with the winch every time I use it (1-2x year), because it only has a ~60 amp alternator and I'll winch till voltage drop kills the EFI...

scooter60 · Oct 11, 2020

TBItoy said:
If you're semi-married to an optima because of having an optima specific battery mount in your rig, get a deep cycle blue top or yellow top. They seem to hold up to sitting around much better.

That said, I've had much better life out of a Duracell AGM. The one in my Tacoma sits for months and months, and usually gets heavily discharged with the winch every time I use it (1-2x year), because it only has a ~60 amp alternator and I'll winch till voltage drop kills the EFI...

I've been using a Duracell AGM for several years with no issues. It will set for long periods of time and always seems to have plenty of cranking power. I bought mine at Sam's for like $130. It has both top post and side terminals.. They are a Deka made battery and fits the Odyssey style battery boxes. I was told they are made on the same line as the Odyssey.

ROKTOY829 · Oct 11, 2020

Kel said:
Don't buy the charger.....just put the charger on another 12volt battery and hook jumper cables to the red top. I've done it 5+ times and sure I will one more time when my old red top resurfaces at the house.

I have already tried that, several times. No luck, my yellow top won't get over 9 volts.

kmcminn · Oct 11, 2020

Yeah that has never worked for me neither.

ROKTOY829 · Oct 11, 2020

It has for me on some stuff. Mainly 24v and up on electric lifts

yankster · Oct 12, 2020

If you have a Wetsounds sound bar and it's hooked straight to the battery, it will drain any battery in a few weeks. Took me a while to figure out where the draw was since it was on a brand new build. Ended up moving my connections to the main disconnect and the parasitic draw went away.

kmcminn · Oct 12, 2020

When I installed my sound bar it recommended putting a switch in between the battery and the sound bar.

bgredjeep · Oct 12, 2020

ROKTOY829 said:
Optima sells a charger that will charge both Agm and acid batteries. They claim, it will bring dead optimas back to life.

Anyone have any experience with this? There're like 200$

I tried one (borrowed) on a dead redtop. I ran through the repair cycle and i still have a dead redtop. It actually started making a low hissing sound and got pretty warm so I stopped before it blew up or started a fire. I'm sure it depends on how dead it is. If it's only mostly dead vs all the way dead. #princessbride

RustyC · Oct 12, 2020

My 2008 yellow top slowly died in the buggy. The battery is in a tight spot under the driver. I gambled on another yellow top vs a good bit of fab to replaced the mount. A 20% off coupon at the local parts store absorbed some of the sting. Time will tell on the quality.

617_Racing · Oct 12, 2020

ROKTOY829 said:
I have already tried that, several times. No luck, my yellow top won't get over 9 volts.

I've got 2 yellow tops in my buggy. Last week they were both dead. My cheapish battery charger with AGM mode couldn't identify them and showed 0 volt 0 percent.

All I did to get it to start charging was hook up jumpers from my Polaris Ranger to the buggy and had the battery charger connected. I let it go for 15 minutes like that before removing the jumper. The charger then charged both yellow tops back up to full 100%. I was surprised because the batteries are easily 5 years old or more.

Chaseweston · Oct 13, 2020

I just had to replace my yellow top with another one due to my optima specific mount but I got a bit over 5 years with it. Killed it many times and brought it back to life with the lead acid battery buffer trick. It eventually wouldn't hold a charge overnight and and barely got on the trailer for a trip 10 hours away so I replaced it on the way. I would have gone deka if I hadn't just welded in the optima mount a few months before and needed it right away. But yeah, stay away from the red tops for what we do, they're basically a starting only battery.

waggener1 · Oct 13, 2020

I had great luck with a red top I purchased back around 2002 or so. I believe they were manufactured in Colorado back then. It lasted over ten years and lived in three different vehicles during that time. I replaced it with another red top, but that was after manufacturing was relocated to Mexico. It only lasted about three, maybe four years. No more Optima batteries for me. I've gone to Northstar and so far have had great luck. I believe they're manufactured in St. Louis.