Just HOW tough is an Optima battery?

[84_Chevy_K10]

84 K10: sounds like you had a lemon or somethin man....

I have never owned one. I used to sell parts. I'm not talking about one battery, I'm talking about literally hundreds.

my buddy had an optima, i think it was yellow, but might very well have been red. anyway it was in his S-10, sitting for a month while he was out of town. he had a slow drain in the elec. system and the battery went dead. trickle charged it, and it would start the truck, but wouldnt hold a charge after that. the battery was only 3 months old. tech guys at optima told him they cannot be completly discharged or they are trash. from the posts in this thread im assuming it was a redtop.

Same thing the rep told me.

If you do attempt to recharge a discharged Optima be sure to limit the charging voltage to no more than 15.5 or so, or it will detroy it.

 

[gravdigr]

Must have a lot of very lucky people here if there is a 70% failure rate on optimas. I been using mine for over a year now with no problems. I had it fully discharged once when the door wasn't closed tight for a week and the dome light drained it flat. I threw it on the charger on high charge for 30 mins, medium for 90 mins, and low trickle for 12 hours and it has worked fine ever since.

On the other hand my electric hydraulic dump truck has burned through 3 plate/acid Douglas batteries in 2 years. But the boss is too cheap to buy a yellow top. So about every 8 months I'm installing a new battery.

 

[bigyellowjimmy]

We'll see how good the 2 yr free replacement warranty is today, mine is 1.5 yrs old and wont hold a charge for more than a week anymore. Hope they exchange it.......had a little "accident" climbing a waterfall where the batt tray broke and the battery hit the fan knocking off a vent cap but that was over a yr ago and this not holding a charge prob is recent.

 

[diesel4me]

I dont think I'd buy one....

My friend bought a yellow top Optima battery for his 62 Nova he restored about 2 years ago--the car had some motor problems after a few beatings,so he took it off the road and parked it in his garage...a few months went by,and he finally had some time to fool with his car,and the battery was stone dead,would not even light a test light!..he jumped it and got it running,after he moved the car he put the charger on it,a small 6-10 amp one,and after letting it charge all afternoon,it seemed fine--2 weeks later he went to move the car,same thing again--

The car is not to blame,he has a "battery disconnect" thing on the + terminal,that shuts off all power to the car,so its not a short or a drain killing the battery--its the battery!--the weird thing is it will crank all day after you charge it,it just wont HOLD a charge more than a day or two--he now uses it around his shop to jump start other cars and other things,I told him I'd bring it back if I were him,I'd be pissed to have spent 150 bucks for a battery that croaked that quickly---you could buy at least 2 "normal" lead acid batteries for that money!!--and I've had batteries last ten years--the one in my 79 C10 is the original mopar battery out of my moms 93 caravan,and still cranks up!--I think this will be its last winter though,had to jump it a few times when it was -5 last week--the truck hasnt been driven much either,and her caravan sat still a lot too,so I cant really blame the battery....I cant see spending a lot for a battery if it sits most of the time,for a regular daily driver--especially if you have more than one vehicle...

 

[Quaddawg]

Update on the melted battery in the original post here..


I went ahead and pried it out of the battery box, and installed it in my quadding van.... it's working perfectly... charging, holding a charge, and everything..

amazing..

 

[dirtwarrior17]

any word from optima yet?

 

[adamforsythe]

Well I need a new battery so I just think I might have to buy one.

 

[Mudzer]

LOL, no, it's now missing it's side posts..... can't use it.. (don't want to)


Instead, I am trying to sell the picture and story to Optima, to use as advertising, and get me a free battery or two...

gotta think big... lol

Good luck with this. I had my Optima come loose from the battery tray. This is with the factory mounting, plus a strap around it for extra measure. Well, I was determined to make it up a steep incline at the local park. Hitting the hill at 5500 RPM blasts! Needless to say, the battery came loose and got into the header on that side. It burned clear through the cover into the Gel. It even sutured the "wound". It does not leak, but looks gawdy and the battery still works. I called Optima to tell them the news and they wanted no part in my situation. I was a little disturbed by it, but would still buy another Optima in the future if needed. I plan to JB Weld the side to keep the gel from leaking in the future.