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Optima batteries, 4/10/18...battery status update

nsxxtreme said:
With companies racing to the bottom as fast as they can and shipping production of everything overseas I have learned not to expect anything after the sale. You buy it that's it. The one's I worry about are the one's that promise you the world in order to get you to make that purchase. They are usually the first one's to disappear when something goes wrong.

Optima is living off their good name from the past that check will eventially bounce.
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I only rejoined the motoring fraternity less than one year ago, after about ten years without a car. Down in the cheap end of other areas of mass production, things seem more reliable, and at least there's always the old "you get what you pay for" to mitigate the lack of quality. So I won't write off the whole industry, or even Optima too soon.

Thanks for allowing me a few words with Jim here, I just couldn't let his mention of me in post #149 go without explaining. I was never "convinced his SmartCar was only drawing 100 microamps". Grr. :)

I'm in the hands of the UK support manager now, so it's goodbye and thanks again. :waytogo:
 
OptimaJim said:
John, as I mentioned in our e-mail conversation, we have date codes in three different locations on each battery, so we can verify the date of production, in the event that there is conflicting information amongst the codes. As I also mentioned in our e-mail conversation, my ability to assist you has limits and I have asked that one of our folks in Great Britain contact you directly, to assist you in resolving your sitatuion. Tim, I'm glad to hear you were able to get a warranty replacement for your battery and I have no idea why the draw on John's Smartcar is 168 times greater than the draw on your Suburban when your alarm is off and still nearly four times greater than the draw on your Suburban when your alarm is on. What brand and model of alarm are you using?


Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
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My Suburban has been sitting for 3 days with the alarm on and I just check the volts... 12.57. Hopefully this puts an end to my battery issues.

The alarm is an AutoPage RS 1000 w/C3.
 
I'm not familiar with that specific model, although I believe my boss has one of their alarms on his truck, but I don't think it is linked to his cell phone like the C|3 models. He has a lot of other stuff going on in his rig too, but I really would encourage you to re-measure your parasitic draw, as the numbers you posted do not sound consistent with a stock vehicle, let alone one with a sophisticated alarm system.


Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
 
OptimaJim said:
I'm not familiar with that specific model, although I believe my boss has one of their alarms on his truck, but I don't think it is linked to his cell phone like the C|3 models. He has a lot of other stuff going on in his rig too, but I really would encourage you to re-measure your parasitic draw, as the numbers you posted do not sound consistent with a stock vehicle, let alone one with a sophisticated alarm system.


Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
Click to expand...

I am pretty confident the numbers show on the fluke meter are correct.
 
Excellent, I also have a Fluke meter. This is a picture of it measuring the parasitic draw on my 1992 Silverado, which is essentially a stock truck from an electrical standpoint and has a parasitic draw of 18 milliamps.
18milliampdraw1.jpg

Unfortunately, I'm at a loss in helping you, as I cannot explain why a .058-milliamp draw would cause any problems in your vehicle, nor can I explain why my essentially stock pickup truck draws about 310 times the current of your vehicle.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.powerpacknation.com
 
Jim, I have read in one of the offroad rags about them using Optima's for their winching shootout. They mentioned that the Optimas had to be dead cycled a few times to reach optimum performance as a winching battery. What is your take on this, and how does it affect my 31 series yellow top as a starting/winching battery in my K5?
Thanks Zim
 
Zim, you ask an interesting question of a guy who is still a regular contributor for several car magazines. Having been on the magazine side of comparison tests, I can tell you that creating consistent and repeatable testing procedures for comparisons can be a challenge, especially when multiple variables are involved. While Optima is happy to assist magazines in creating such tests, manufacturers are not always consulted and even when they are, not all of their advice is always followed or practical for one or two editors to execute in a limited timeframe, which can compromise the outcome of a test.

We use this graph to illustrate the difference in longevity between our Group 31 YellowTops and traditional FLA Group 31, but it also helps illustrate the level of performance of the respective batteries during their life cycle. While it is more obvious with the FLA battery, both batteries will see an increase in reserve capacity in the first few cycles, before slowly (or quickly) losing capacity over time.

RepetitiveCycleOptima.jpg


Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
 
I'm currently having a less than great experience with a Red Top i bought roughly a year ago. Installed in my 1990 Blazer which was being driven daily for the first 6 or 7 months. I parked it and began driving my pick-up instead, and within a week the Optima wasn't able to crank the Blazer. I charged the Optima and did a draw test on it finding 10 milliamps draw with key off.

Knowing it'd be sitting some more I disconnected the cables.

I was having some slow crank issues with my pick-up yesterday, so today I busted out the multi-meter for some quick and dirty diagnostics...the 8 year old Die-hards in my pick-up read 12.50 volts after sitting all night (just fine...likely the starter is getting tired) I was curious how the Optima Red Top in the Blazer was doing after sitting disconnected for two months. Multi-meter shows 10.07 volts...essentially dead as a doornail. I guess I'll be warrantying this one at Wal-Mart because it does not hold a charge at all.

Usage was purely in a daily driver situation, no winching or anything else unusual.

It's ironic that my pick-up can sit for 6 or 7 months without a maintenance charger, and fire right up. My Blazer with the new Optima might make it through a weekend, but even if it gets completely disconnected loses it's charge quickly.

Rene
 


Hey OPTIMA man... I got a new red top about 18 months ago. My truck always sits for weeks at a time and the bitch fires right up every time with no problem. Not sure if Optima is that much better when compared to XXX battery…but mine does exactly what I ask…so I’m happy..

Thought I would throw out a good comment about Optima – seems you always hear more from the un satisfied customers than the satisfied.
 
Rene, I apologize for the delay in my response, as I've been on the road quite a bit lately. I'm sorry to hear about the problems you've been having with your truck. What was the voltage of the RedTop after you charged and disconnected it? Were you able to track down the electrical issue that discharged your previous battery and prompted the purchase of this RedTop or did that get sorted out when you installed satellite radio?

K5 Fla, I'm glad to hear your RedTop is working well for you.


Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
 
i can't honestly recall what the voltage was after it was all charged up last time...only that it was no longer drawing anything from the charger. I have to move the truck, charge the red top and disconnect it in the next couple of days. I will diligently record all the info I can this time.

The electrical issue I had was a craptastic old battery. Key off draw is 10 milliamps. The sat radio install didn't change that. At any rate i'll get some numbers for you in the next couple of days...and with the Red Top disconnected I can check it's voltage daily for a period of time if you want.

Rene
 
That would be great. If you could just record the voltage when the battery is fully-charged and then again after it sits for 12-24 hours, disconnected from any draws. I look forward to hearing from you.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
 
I recieved this email from Optima batteries today, please check it out and vote for my story if you think its worthy, thanks, Zim



Hi, David –

I wanted to send you a quick note to let you know about a new OPTIMA Facebook application that launched today.

As you may remember, last year we collected one of your OPTIMA batteries to be used in our traveling Wall of Power display that showcases 20 OPTIMAs that have stood the test of time and continued to perform through incredible circumstances.

Today we brought the Wall of Power to life online by creating the “Wall of Power Challenge.” The challenge is a fun game where OPTIMA fans can vote between two stories to determine which is best. After a week the winner becomes champion and another story is uploaded to take on the challenge.

To kick things off we are using your story that is in the Wall of Power and a story from Edwin Evers (another current Wall of Power inductee).

Here is the link to the application: http://www.facebook.com/optimabatteries?sk=app_123382044430428. Please feel free to share this with your friends, family and online community to encourage voting.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Best of luck,
Sarah
 
Wow, thats a big swing in a short amount of time....he must be calling in the Bassmasters!
 
Voted for you, I agree the other story is pretty lame indeed. If that's all they got to challenge it should be in the bag for ya!

48% Evers and 52% Zim when I voted.
 
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