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Optima battery ? red vs yellow

JUNIOR-K5

JUNIOR-K5

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Im in the market for a new battery for my suburban and cant decide on a yellow top optima or a red top. Ive been told that the red is alot better than the yellow anyone want to give me there experience and opinion also what part# battery do you have 34/78 or what thanks:doah:
 
Red is starting only and Yellow is starting/deep cycle. So if you have a winch, lights, big stereo, a yellow is for you imho. I have two Yellows in my 'Burb.
 
That's probably about right. I have a red top and it seems to run down about as easily as a normal battery when I run accessories without the truck running. It will start up the engine like a champ though, even in cold weather. I haven't tried any extended winch sessions though. As far as the high cost of the battery, ask your dealer if he can get factory seconds. The red top seconds usually sell for about $70. Don't know about the yellows. The shop I got mine from says that there's no difference in performance, but that the blems were cosmetic.
 
Check out Odyssey batteries. Gonna pay a bit more than an optima, but the product is far superior imo, Read somewhere here recently optima has been using a different metal in their plates internally and it doesnt last as long. odysseybatteries.com
 
i've been running dual yellow tops for the past 9 years. one was for start and one for winch, separated w/ a warn isolator. i was happy w/ them at first, but i've had to replace them twice in the past couple years. they just don't seem to hold up as long as they used to. first pair lasted about 5 years. next pair only lasted about 1 1/2 years. the batteries died again over the past 2 years while the truck has been sitting in the driveway waiting for me to finish restoring it. and that was w/ a battery tender. i'll be switching batteries when i get it back on the road.
 
I've had two Optimas, one yellow, one red. The yellow died after 8 months, the red died after 2. The yellow was in my K5. If I let it sit (even with it disconnected) for more than a week...it wouldn't start the truck. Same thing with the red...but it would die overnight...this one was in my Jeep though. I sold both and bought Napa batteries. No more Optimas for me.
 
Optima's quality has definitely been going downhill over the past few years. Keep in mind a deep cycle battery - glass mat in particular - will put more strain on your charging system, especially if they run too low. Optima released a bulletin years ago that mentioned an alternator should not be used to recharge a yellow top that has dropped below 50% charge due to a number of complaints of fried charging systems.

My last yellow top crapped out after less than 5 years so I'm done with Optima, but I'd still like to find an alternative as I've found nothing beats them when they're working properly.
 
George_Pimpdaddy said:
arn't Optimal batterys being made in mexico for like the last 4 years? Look for a industrial batty place they have the goods
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I believe Interstate owns Optima now. If that's true...they should still be good batteries, Interstate makes a quallity battery. All I know is, I bought two new ones...and each one died. So they won't see any more money from me. To bad for them...cause I own 6 vehicles that I could have stuck them in.
 
I have had a red top with no problems at all for last 3 years. It used to be in my old beater truck that I would only drive every coupla months and I would go out to start it and the engine would turn over no problem. It is now in my K5 and still working great.
 
runamok151 said:
the batteries died again over the past 2 years while the truck has been sitting in the driveway waiting for me to finish restoring it. and that was w/ a battery tender. i'll be switching batteries when i get it back on the road.
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You may want to see if that's recommended. I understood that a battery tender should not be used on AGM batteries. If you're running Optima or Odyssey, you should invest in a batt charger with an AGM charge setting. Mine cycles up to 17V when charging my Odyssey battery. I've always been told that low charge rates will destroy these batteries.:crazy:
 
JUNIOR-K5 said:
Im in the market for a new battery for my suburban and cant decide on a yellow top optima or a red top. Ive been told that the red is alot better than the yellow anyone want to give me there experience and opinion also what part# battery do you have 34/78 or what thanks:doah:
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Just a clarification, the yellow is a deep cycle, the red is a regular cranking battery, the blue is the best of both worlds, it's a deep cycle with cranking power.
That is what I would put in my wheeler and I have in my boat.
 
X2 on the low charge rates for tenders. I dont even use one on my boat. I want to say there was another super brand out there similar to the Odyssey but I could be mistaken. Love my Odyssey, Thinking about buying another for a dual setup!
 
throttleissues said:
You may want to see if that's recommended. I understood that a battery tender should not be used on AGM batteries. If you're running Optima or Odyssey, you should invest in a batt charger with an AGM charge setting. Mine cycles up to 17V when charging my Odyssey battery. I've always been told that low charge rates will destroy these batteries.:crazy:
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Actually anything higher than 14.5v will destroy a gel acid battery which the optima is, you don't want high voltage, I haven't learned much about the odyssey yet so I don't know if it's the same.
I am just starting my research on those today.
 
imiceman44 said:
Actually anything higher than 14.5v will destroy a gel acid battery which the optima is, you don't want high voltage, I haven't learned much about the odyssey yet so I don't know if it's the same.
I am just starting my research on those today.
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According to Optima's website, charger recommendations are 13.8-15.0V with a 10A max OR a cyclic charger that charges 14.7V and finishes with 1hr at 3A constant charge flow, which is what mine does. They don't mention a V linit on the 3A portion of that charge, since it would be whatever it takes to push 3A.
Also, it says maintenance chargers ar OK, as long as they are 13.2-13.8V with a 1A max rate. I know from work that standard old chargers were causing us problems on the Odyssey batts, and the dealer said we needed a cyclic charger to fix sulfation and get a full charge.
 
Yellow top's can handle more loads, reds suck if not used on ordinary little cars.

In fact Interstate and the Costco Kirkland's have hold better for me in the past
 
my redtop did fine as long as i used it everyday.if it sat longer than a week it would die out.optima will not be used in my truck anymore either.
 
the only batteries that required a different charge rate where gel batteries.. which no longer is an issue, because they are obsolete.. everything is lead acid or AGM these days...
 
ryoken said:
the only batteries that required a different charge rate where gel batteries.. which no longer is an issue, because they are obsolete.. everything is lead acid or AGM these days...
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Not according to Optima, as I already stated.:rolleyes: Odyssey says they can be charged like a regular battery, but not to exceed 15.0V, but they also recommend a charger capable of at least 40A.
Regardless, general concensus on here seems to be not to use the Optimas, so I guess it doesn't matter.;)
To answer the OPs other question, model #'s are listed on the site simply as 34/78 for red top, D34/78 for yellow (dual purpose), and 34M or D34M for blue top.
 
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