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

I was just thinking about this thread the other day when i was looking at the 3 dead Optimas I have sitting in my garage, 2 blues and a red. I've had a few yellows go bad on me, but that was when costco sold them and I was able to bring them back.

I have had good luck with some of them though. We have a yellow top in the unimog that gets started when it starts snowing and then sits after the melt and it always fires up next time around, never dies, never needs a charge. And the other two yellow's I have seem to be holding up pretty well also. the red top in my Cherokee though is less than stellar.
 
SideTracked said:
I was just thinking about this thread the other day when i was looking at the 3 dead Optimas I have sitting in my garage, 2 blues and a red. I've had a few yellows go bad on me, but that was when costco sold them and I was able to bring them back.

I have had good luck with some of them though. We have a yellow top in the unimog that gets started when it starts snowing and then sits after the melt and it always fires up next time around, never dies, never needs a charge. And the other two yellow's I have seem to be holding up pretty well also. the red top in my Cherokee though is less than stellar.
Click to expand...
Look up Optima recharging on youtube....I believe they have video instructions on how to bring back "dead" Optimas.
If not able to find that info, contact OptimaJim through most forums dealing with cars/trucks/etc.
 
Thanks for the tip! I've tried that a few times, but I think they are gone. One of the blues thinks about coming back when using that method, and actually does charge for a little while, but won't turn over an engine when hooked back up.

I'll PM OptimaJim though and see if he has any other thoughts.
 
When any battery gets discharged below 12.4 volts and is left sitting in that state, sulfation begins to form in the plates, which diminishes capacity and lifespan. Some batteries can be recovered and provide good service after that happens, but the more deeply they are discharged and the longer they sit, the less likely that is to happen.

If they can be recovered, the parallel charging technique described in the video Dave mentioned will usually get the job done.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries
 
Thanks for the update Jim
Are you
Going on Powertour again?
 
Unfortunately, I won't be able to make Power Tour this year for the first time in many years. I think I'm scheduled to travel 16 weekends between now and the start of the basketball season though, so I'll definitely be on the road quite a bit. Even on the "off" weekends, like this weekend, I'm planning on heading up to Road America for at least a day. If I get near Michigan, I'll be sure to let you know.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries
 
cool Jim, sounds pretty busy in your world!
 
What do you think about that (new?) optima digital charger? Says it can recover deeply discharged batteries on the site. If it worked, it would be worth the $200 for me...
 
Its a nice piece, my dad has one. I use a schmacher charger to bring back my optimas
 
Sidetracked, both our Digital 1200 and Digital 400 can recharge batteries that have been deeply-discharged down to 1.25 volts, while many chargers won't put amperage into anything that has been discharged below 10.5 volts, unless you wire them in parallel with another battery above that voltage level. The Digital 400 is significantly less expensive than the 1200, but only charges at a maximum rate of 4 amps, while the 1200 can charge at up to 12 amps. The 1200 also has some other features not found on the 400 and if it is purchased from us at the same time as a battery, we'll add a year of warranty coverage onto the battery, which we don't do for the 400.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries
 
Well my O'reilly's Super start extreme AGM battery lasted 1 yr and 3 months.

As of yesterday, I have a new red top in the jimmy. They gave me full replacement price toward the optima.
 
I have had great luck with Optimas. The one in my K5 is about 9-10 years old. I rarely(less than 500 miles in last 5 years) drive or start the truck and it always fires up in less than a couple seconds.

To keep my batteries fresh, I use a $10-20 solar charger from Walmart/ Northern Tool/ Harbor Freight. I believe that they are .25-.5 amps. I keep it plugged into the cigarette lighter and have never had a problem on any of my cars with those.
 
70Jimmy, given your history of electrical issues and admitted hard use of your batteries, I'm concerned that you may have some unresolved issues lurking in your truck. Additionally, most batteries that make it past the first year of use will continue to function for several more unless there is something going on unrelated to the quality of the battery. What were the circumstances surrounding your most-recent failure?

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries
 
If I left it like a week it wouldn't start. So old school charger and hook up a 2nd battery for 30 minutes to an hour then the charger alone. Sometimes the charger and a jump pack. So the other day I took the battery out and took and had it tested. Bad so upgraded to the Optima Red top.

I still need to look at some draws I think I have. Work gets in the way.

I also need to get me a fancy shmansy charger, like always pops up when I log on.

Gotta get past this I should, I need to...
 
From everything you've described, it definitely sounds like your previous battery was deeply-discharged from a parasitic draw and probably would've continued to work fine, if your charger was able to recover it. If you do have a parasitic draw, it is going to keep discharging your batteries and wearing out your alternator until you find it. If your RedTop ends up deeply-discharged (and it sounds like it will) and you're still using the same charger to recover it, this parallel charging technique will help you recover it.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries
 
70jimmy said:
If I left it like a week it wouldn't start. So old school charger and hook up a 2nd battery for 30 minutes to an hour then the charger alone. Sometimes the charger and a jump pack. So the other day I took the battery out and took and had it tested. Bad so upgraded to the Optima Red top.

I still need to look at some draws I think I have. Work gets in the way.

I also need to get me a fancy shmansy charger, like always pops up when I log on.

Gotta get past this I should, I need to...
Click to expand...

http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/s...16637019|Guest ChargePro Dual Battery Charger

I got one of these. not from academy, but it the same model, (I think). I mounted it on the radiator support behind the grille and every month or so, I hook up an extension cord to it. It charges both of my red tops and doesn't overfry them.

Haven't had a single issue with it or them in well over three years now.

Later,
Buddy
 
Well went out and tried to fire the jimmy up a few days ago and no go with the new optima. So ordered the Optima 1200 charger and disconnected the optima from the truck, tried twice to revive it following the instructions with the charger and it would get up to about 10.4 volts and then gave me the error message about bad battery unable to charge. So back to the auto parts store and they tested and said the optima was bad and gave me the new one.

Took the new one home and figured I would just check out the condition that the charger said about the new battery. It showed 75 %, so I let the new charger do its thing.

Now I am working on the draws and I won't hook up the new battery until I get it figured out.

But the new charger is really cool!!!
 
76zimmer said:
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.
Click to expand...


_______________________________________

update 5/22/12

today I checked my Redtop DD battery...12.83

the yellow top in the Maiden was 13.2 has been sitting with the battery switch off for about 3 mo.[/quote]

__________________________________________

Update 4/25/13

Redtop in the DD 99-2500...hasn't been driven in a week (driving BART) battery shows 12.3 the phone charger is plugged into the cig lighter (with a small power light on it) other than that stock GM stuff.

Yellowtop for the Maiden is sitting in the Maiden, not hooked up to anything and shows 13.4, hasn't had a charge in months.

My 76 CC has an unknown battery in it, and was on a maint charger all winter and showed 12.6...I have no idea how old it is.[/quote]


___________________________________________

12-19 Update on my Optimas:

Redtop in the 99-2500...hasn't been driven in a month (driving the Rav4 now) showed 12.0...put a battery tender on it for the winter...its sitting outside all winter

Yellowtop in the Maiden is showing 13.2 and hasn't been on a charger, battery disconnect switch is off, but the FAST EZ EFI is hooked directly to the battery still...this was put on a battery tender as well.
 
my update,

Before Blazer Bash this year KTM fixed some wiring issues and we got rid of all the draws. Radio hooked up only draws when key is on, clock and presets have to be reset every time so it doesn't draw power.

But if it sits a week it is dead, something may have changed now because it is really dead after a week. Before it would turn over slow, put the charger on and no problem.

Now it is so dead that when the charger is put on you can hear buzzing or clicking sound from the firewall area until it gets charged a little.

I need to re check for draws again. Seems like something changed after the last cold snap we had.
 
My son brought home a brand new Redtop from work and it was dead. Would not recharge!

Looked on the side and it was a 2010 battery?

Returned it and got a freash one built this year and it's fine... :doah:
 
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