120 post on this thread and maybe 1 or 2 good experiences, the rest bad...like a lot of people have said the old ones were good the new stuff is junk. if the new ones were good like the old ones then you point would be valid.....don't mean to flame you personally, but if your going to try to speak on behalf of a junk product, getting flamed is what your going to get. in my opinion youd be better off not even saying anything. I normally would not chime in on this, but after losing money to a $hitty deal buying an optima, I'd like to save someone the headache I went through, and the money....nothing personal towards you my friend, just the way it is
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.
Optima batteries, 4/10/18...battery status update
- Thread starter 76zimmer
- Start date
chulisohombre
1/2 ton status
nuff said
MJB774X, I certainly don't take offense to your comments and actually appreciate your candor, as I do pass along feedback on our products. If I didn't believe in these batteries, I wouldn't have taken this job with Optima. I had three of their batteries in my trucks before I ever went to work for them, including one that sits all winter long, without a maintenance charger. I have a fourth Optima that I acquired since working for them, but I specifically asked for one of the “bad” batteries that was returned to us under warranty. All four of these batteries were produced in recent years (I'd have to check the date codes, but all probably since 2008) and all have performed flawlessly for me, even the one returned by someone else. I don't do anything special to maintain these batteries, but I don't abuse them either.
We sell millions of these batteries and by percentage, we rarely hear feedback one way or the other about them. That's because the vast majority of our batteries do just what people expect them to do and no one gives it a second thought. When things don't go as planned, we will hear from folks and I do my best in the situations I'm involved in, to find out the circumstances surrounding their issues and see if I can be of assistance. We'll also come across stories like 76zimmer's, but most fall somewhere in the middle. Since he was specifically mentioned in this thread, Jay Leno probably has enough of our batteries in his vehicles to more than cover your 120-1 spread. If he didn't believe in them, he wouldn't use them and he certainly wouldn't have invited us to his shop to make 76zimmer's RedTop famous.
Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
We sell millions of these batteries and by percentage, we rarely hear feedback one way or the other about them. That's because the vast majority of our batteries do just what people expect them to do and no one gives it a second thought. When things don't go as planned, we will hear from folks and I do my best in the situations I'm involved in, to find out the circumstances surrounding their issues and see if I can be of assistance. We'll also come across stories like 76zimmer's, but most fall somewhere in the middle. Since he was specifically mentioned in this thread, Jay Leno probably has enough of our batteries in his vehicles to more than cover your 120-1 spread. If he didn't believe in them, he wouldn't use them and he certainly wouldn't have invited us to his shop to make 76zimmer's RedTop famous.
Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
Part was replaced unfortunately there hasn't been a two day window that we haven't driven the truck since I replaced it. I will report back as soon as that happens. I have no idea what the voltage is when it gives the dead cell error. The charger gives an F03 error and shuts off. I'm not standing by it when it does it. At this point I don't know how smart my "smart" charger is. So I don't particularly trust the results it gives me when connected to the truck and I don't feel like yanking the battery just yet. It's kind of a pain to get to.
I assume the standing voltage is 12.7V since with the car idling and at full load the voltage reads 12.7V which means the battery is taking up the slack. Dead cell I would suspect a 10V reading. Like I said I don't trust the intelligence of my smart charger.
That I don't believe unless it's sitting disconnected from anything. The only electrical item still running on my NSX is the clock. It will kill an Optima deader then a door nail in less then 3 months if not connected to a battery charger. My NSX has less then 50k miles on it. I know there are no electrical issues with it. And it's completely stock so there is no chance aftermarket items causing an issue either.
I have a cheap battery I picked up from Les Schwab I think I paid $50-60 for it that is in my blazer. I don't have any huge electrical needs for the blazer. I don't have a winch yet. I kill that battery all the time. The blazer last maybe a week if not ran. I use the truck so rarely that I don't care to waste the time to find the issue I try to remember to disconnect the battery when not in use. I usually always forget and end up with a dead battery. 4 years latter its still ticking after being run dead numerous times. Do that to an optima once no problem 2-3 times and your better off buying a lotto ticket JMO.
I have not tried their deep cycle batteries. I have a boat but I have something else in there right now. Anyone have experience with the deep cell batteries. Do they stand up well to cycling of the battery?
You can't fight against all the poor quality remarks people have made since the buy out. Consumers like us don't say bad things about good items and there was clearly a shift after the purchase was made in which the batteries are clearly not as good. There's not any other reason behind it other than poor or cheaper quality batteries being produced. How could Optima go from getting all the praise to getting talked so poorly of if it weren't for the experiences people have had??? I for one have too much doubt in the product at this point were I WONT be buying one.
RIZ
RIZ
4xcrazy
3/4 ton status
I'll just stick with the ones I buy at the local auto parts place, here in Arizona they don't tend to last more than 2,,, MAYBE 3 years anyways, and they have a 3 year free replacement period. Never had any bad luck with them, even with the high load I put a few of them through with all my lights and high powered stereo setup.
That older red top I had in my Jeepster sat in the cold all winter, and this battery was 21 years old at the time, and it was reading 12.5 or more each time I checked the voltage on it. That is what impressed me with the battery. It would sit for months at a time in winter or summer, and NEVER needed a charge or jump.
I have a deep cycle Yellow top that they replaced my original Red top with.
Just for the record as I mentioned I would try to do with these two new Optimas':
The Yellow top was new in May of 2010 and tonight it shows 13.6 voltage. It has had a couple of battery tender feeds since it was new. But not on a contiunual basis, and it has been sitting in my shop for about a month with no attention, and had numerous starts of the BBC with it before that, so it hasn't had any tender in about 2-3 months.
My Redtop I bought in Mar 2010 shows 12.7 tonight. It is in my daily driver 2500.
Last edited:
I purposely drove a different car to let the RR sit. I'll be taking the optima out later today and going to napa to see if I can find an Oribital that will fit.There is no question that the older red tops were seriously good batteries. That is why many of us buy optima's today. The problem is they are not the same battery. It would be interesting to see a cross section of the old batteries vs new. My guess is they have cut corners somewhere or were required by law to change their formula. I have no idea I'm only speculating all I know is they are not as good as they used to be.
A battery can sit on a shelf for a very long time. That's not exactly impressive.
It's basically due to using cheaper plates internally..... they were bought by a different company and the balance between quality batteries and the almighty profit margin took over. Why would we keep selling batteries that last a long time when we could produce them cheaper which in turn causes the conuser to buy them more frequently. The problem is..... the consumer is not stupid and will stop buying a product if they realize and experience a 180 switch in the quality and longevity of the product. How well is that working out for you, Optima?
RIZ
RIZ
Wasn't meant to impress anyone...just stating the facts.
AS stated earlier in the thread, I said I would update on the condition of these 2 Optima's I have to keep a real world record of their use, and the state of voltage from time to time.
The fact that the yellow top has had numerous starts on it, and sat a few months on the shelf is part of the record of use that this battery has seen.
ok....I interpreted it differently thanks for clarifying.
Most batteries can have a long shelf life. A lot of them sit on the shelf for months before they are purchased.
nsxxtreme, my truck is a '92, so it does have a pretty low parasitic draw, but I do fully-charge and disconnect my battery when I put the truck into storage. Without checking back through 125+ posts, did you ever measure the parasitic draw of your NSX?
RIZ, although this message board has been around longer than most, the vast majority of the folks on this site weren't even registered here when Johnson Controls acquired Optima. As more people have entered into various online communities, conversations on all subjects were bound to increase. The volume of conversations involving our batteries, both good and bad, is a reflection of our position as the leader in the automotive AGM market.
The quality of the components we use and the batteries produced has only improved under JCI's ownership. I've heard a wide variety of theories regarding our batteries, with some folks even claiming newer batteries have less lead in them and are lighter than older batteries. Fortunately, I've been able to dispell those theories with facts.
Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
RIZ, although this message board has been around longer than most, the vast majority of the folks on this site weren't even registered here when Johnson Controls acquired Optima. As more people have entered into various online communities, conversations on all subjects were bound to increase. The volume of conversations involving our batteries, both good and bad, is a reflection of our position as the leader in the automotive AGM market.
The quality of the components we use and the batteries produced has only improved under JCI's ownership. I've heard a wide variety of theories regarding our batteries, with some folks even claiming newer batteries have less lead in them and are lighter than older batteries. Fortunately, I've been able to dispell those theories with facts.
Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
Jim,
How do you explain the fact that older Optima batteries were awesome and newer ones ( basically since Johnson Controls ) are clearly worse batteries? I've seen you on 3 different forums I go to and you still haven't told anybody why the batteries are nothing like the older Optimas???? Why can't we, the consumer be told the truth on what has changed??? I would think that would be a good start in handling the situation. We are not stupid........ we've used batteries in all types of situations for years and years so when there is a huge shift in the quality of a product it's extremely noticable. I've read far more claims and stories one how Optima used to be one of the best that lasted forever and how now they barely last.......... somehow that has to to be explained and/or changed or Optima will go right down the drain. So many others have already switched from only Optima users to other brands..... and with no clear cut fixes or answers the trend will continue and Optima will lose more and more of the battery market share. It's not a mystery.......... just tell us why we've all experienced a huge downslide in the quality of your batteries. You're lucky that some still don't know about how the new ones don't stack up to older Optimas........ you're getting buy on name alone up to now but if you don't fix the issues that so many are experiencing then you will only see more and more of these posts on more and more message boards and forums.
RIZ
How do you explain the fact that older Optima batteries were awesome and newer ones ( basically since Johnson Controls ) are clearly worse batteries? I've seen you on 3 different forums I go to and you still haven't told anybody why the batteries are nothing like the older Optimas???? Why can't we, the consumer be told the truth on what has changed??? I would think that would be a good start in handling the situation. We are not stupid........ we've used batteries in all types of situations for years and years so when there is a huge shift in the quality of a product it's extremely noticable. I've read far more claims and stories one how Optima used to be one of the best that lasted forever and how now they barely last.......... somehow that has to to be explained and/or changed or Optima will go right down the drain. So many others have already switched from only Optima users to other brands..... and with no clear cut fixes or answers the trend will continue and Optima will lose more and more of the battery market share. It's not a mystery.......... just tell us why we've all experienced a huge downslide in the quality of your batteries. You're lucky that some still don't know about how the new ones don't stack up to older Optimas........ you're getting buy on name alone up to now but if you don't fix the issues that so many are experiencing then you will only see more and more of these posts on more and more message boards and forums.
RIZ
it's called spin control.....
For what its worth I have 2 yellow tops in my "yellowk20" that I installed in 2000 the truck sometimes sits for literally a year or more at a time and has always fired up the 12.5-1 510cid bigblock with no issues.
I also have a Blue top in my stepside that I put in around 2003, with equal results, neither truck has had Jumper cables or a battery charger hooked to them since the optimas were installed.
I also have a Blue top in my stepside that I put in around 2003, with equal results, neither truck has had Jumper cables or a battery charger hooked to them since the optimas were installed.
Let's not get too excited here now. This is nowhere near a representative scientific poll. You might notice that the folks with positive experiences tend to post once, whereas the folks with negative experiences tend to go on and on and to belabor the point...
But there are nice tidbits in this thread, such as 'stay away from RRs...'
