Its battery time... Optima red top?

[stallion85]

When you were killing these batteries with a dead alt, it was under sever use such as winching, right? I mean, if mud does kill my alternator, the batter won't die just trying to fire the ignition untill I realize somethings wrong, right?
thanks,
James

It was the voltage regulator, it was over charging the batteries. I did not pick up on this till my Moab trip. The thing was is I kept the reciepts and turned the batteries back in. They replaced all of them with a new one I told them they sold me crap and I wanted to own up on the warranty

 

[13lazer]

optimas are great

im a big fan, everything i drive has one. i have three in my bass boat because of the long storage periods i was spending $400/year on deep cycle trojans. my optimas charge fast and when i forget them for 6 months they still recharge. they are incredibly inexpensive if you factor in service lifespan. i have never seen one wind down during cranking yet. im sure they will die someday, i started using them about 4 years ago and haven't replaced one yet. (except for a napa version)

 

[Leper]

I can't say enough good about Optimas. Where to start..... My 71 Duster had 1, drove it about 5 times a year, battery always had enough charge to start the car. I have them in all of my vehicles. I had one die on me after 8 years of hard use(5000 watt stereo). I have one of their econos in my garage as a spare because I got it for 35.00. My battery hold down broke once and I didn't know it for a while. A week later I opened the hood to find the battery upside down resting on the frame and exhaust manifold. I put it back in its place and put a ratchet strap around it and kept going. Try that with any "regular" battery. I upgraded the optima in my Blazer about 6 months ago. I went with a group 31 yellowtop. I had to make a new battery tray because of the size. I have jumped a big diesel truck with it before. It will power my winch and the dozen light I am about to put on with no problem. The group 31 is more expensive. My cost(as a dealer) was 170.00. If and when it goes out, I will replace it with another just like it.

 

[bluehen]

I bought an Optima for my Impala and had no problems with it. Liked it alot. However, when I bought it, the dealer that sold it to me said he is getting less and less interested in selling them as he feels they are not as good as an Exide battery anymore. He said to consider buying an Exide next time I'm in the market. I won't be buying one until my current battery goes... but when I do, I'll be sure to research Exide.

 

[6.2Blazer]

I've never owned an Optima, so can't say they are bad...........but I can pay a lot less for a battery have it last a long time.

The last set of Duralast Gold's that were in my Blazer were installed around '96 or '97, and I just replaced them this winter. This truck was a daily driver for a couple years after this, then was a weekend toy since that's been wheeled hard. It's sat for months at a time at temps. below zero, beat on, batteries completely drained multiple times do to other starting issues (bad starter, bad glowplugs, bad fuelpump, etc, etc...), had poor connections and wiring (corrosion) until I replaced all of that with the last set of batteries, and had a winch installed.

Hopefully the new set of Duralast Gold batteries will last as long.........and I can use the money I saved by not going with Optima's on something else.

 

[76zimmer]

I've had a redtop one in my 68 C101 for 11 years now, had it upside down, let it set for 2 years without starting. Its like the Energizer bunny.

 

[78Suburban]

I'm gonna get a red top at the end of next week. I surely hope that the quality hasn't gone down in recent years. From all the good things I've heard in this thread, I'm encouraged.
thanks,
James

 

[K5er4Life]

I'm gonna get a red top at the end of next week. I surely hope that the quality hasn't gone down in recent years. From all the good things I've heard in this thread, I'm encouraged.
thanks,
James

I dont think the quality has gone down. The one I put in my crew cab I bought only a few months ago.

 

[kgblazerfive]

I had on in one of my trucks that I found in a junk yard got it for free. It fell into my alternator and got the whole corner chewed off of it. Worked for about a year more with no side. I have one in my race car and run it for 30 laps and don't recharge it and it works fine.

 

[steve_kibbe]

I baught one for my cherokee(past DD) almost three years ago, not sure what happened, but it ended up dying on me, took it back to the parts house, got another one. They have a 3 yr free replacement(I think, might be 2 yr??), so its going in my K5(current DD)

 

[Chevy305]

I think I'm lucky because I work for a power equiptment repair shop (I'm the parts guy), and we get all of our batteries from Interstate. I guess that Interstate is the manufacturer of the Optima battery, so because we are a business, I can get an Optima at cost which is like $70.

The optima batteries are pretty heavy, more than a normal battery. I don't currently have an Optima battery, but I know my battery is starting to go on me so I need to replace it soon.

 

[bigkennye]

I have an exide battery in my truck, it was put in by the previos owner, sometime in 99, so when i bought it, it had been sitting, all i did was throw it on a slow charge and wham, it's been working fine.I do have a plan to rework all the cables and get a higher amp alternator, i need a new battery tray/hold down and starter is close to needing to be replaced.

 

[original balzer]

when i worked in the junk yard we would find dead optimas and slow charge them for about 2 days on either 2 amp or 1.5 amp charge (cant remember what that old charger had) and they would be fine for several years

second i have had a guy who claimed to work for interstate batt and made optimas and heres what he told me..........red yellow or blue top they are the same batt. only tested differntly to get the desired results so dont pay more unless you realy need a yellow or blue to match your truck.........
now i dont know how true that is im not going to pass judgement on that issue
what i do know as a fact is even when they are dead you can usualy revive them with a long slow charge. i use mine for everything even as a camper batt ( witch should be a yellow deep cycle) but i only use red tops. by the way i can run camper lights for about 3 days on 1 charge. i swear by them i just but 2 new red tops in the camo truck along with 2 gauge cables a gear reduction starter and a 130 amp alt. i will be doing the same to the burb soon as well i could almost swear my 1977 camo truck runs better with the optimas lol everything is definatly brighter as far as the lights
i have 1600 cca and 2000 reserve amps do you realy need more than that?

balzer