Battery of Choice???

[66nova]

I want to find out what you guys like to run for batteries. I have not had good luck with Optima's. My current Red Top is less than 2 years old and it almost cost me a race this weekend.

What are you running?

[BirdMan]

Are you running an alternator? I do and my son does also. My red top lasted several years and don't remember exactly. We got some new ones this spring as they were on sale so we will see how they do. They do not exhaust any acid fumes to rust my backpanel below decklid. I just put one in my 2006 Explorer daily driver.

[Wannabe]

I have had two red top Optimas and one yellow. People keep saying that it was just bad luck, that they are really good. But one did not make it to the second trip to the lake, and the best of the reds lasted weeks in my daily driver.
Tried TurboStart, and some others for the racing world. Then I switched over to v-batteries and I won't be looking back. In my cars, my boats, my dyno cell, etc. Durable, and great performance at 12 and 16 volts. I love finding something like this and having that section of my racing world set in concrete. Plus the guy that owns the company is cool as can be.

[RCJ]

I have the 16v with a 12v post V battery.It has 2 1/2 years running in a dirt car with no atl.The 12v post doesn't crank the car as fast as a normal 12v battery.I would sugest buying it from Jegs or somebody you trust.I had a bad time with one of the smaller companys.

[JoePorting]

I've run the Optima Red for years without problems. I tried the Optima Yellow and thought it didn't work as good as the Red.

[Piledriver]

I've run the Optima Red for years without problems. I tried the Optima Yellow and thought it didn't work as good as the Red.

The yellow or bluetop won't have the CCA of the reds, but the much thicker plates should last a lot longer.
esp in deep discharge--- the thin plate starting batteries really hate that, the yellows are designed for it.

My Optima red top's 10 years old in a daily driver. (100 miles/day+) Never an issue.

Odyssey AGM batteries--- Sears sells theirs as a top of the line "platinum" with a corresponding price and warranty.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1260 ... 850065000P

Not an expert on batteries... was just recently following about the same thread at another site

[BCLS776]

I just pulled a 18 month old optima red top out of my car this week for the same reason as the OP. I run an alternator, but I think the combination of big discharges followed by quick charging back in the pits is hard on these batteries. I am trying a deep cycle marine battery this time. It's heavier and doesn't have quite as much capacity, but I hope it will take the abuse better.

[ZIGGY]

My experience with Optima red tops in dirt cars has been nothing but good. Maybe they've started down the same road
as so many others, reducing quality for more profit.

[66nova]

My experience with Optima red tops in dirt cars has been nothing but good. Maybe they've started down the same road
as so many others, reducing quality for more profit.

Thanks for all info guys.

This is second/third hand information, so take it as you will. I have recently heard from talking to some other racers that Optima was purchased by another company a couple years ago and since that time the quality has drastically dropped.

This car is a street strip car so it does have an altenator and it may sit for long periods of time. I know this is hard on a battery but I guess I expect more than 2 years out of it. The battery I had before it was a walmart battery that lasted for a good 5 years. Maybe with my use my expectations are too high>>

[John Wallace]

I have an Optima (for 10 years) and run an alternator.
Never a problem.


Brian, why do you fast charge in the pit if you run an alternator?

[BCLS776]

Brian, why do you fast charge in the pit if you run an alternator?

I find I run my battery down pretty quickly cooling off the motor between rounds by running the fan and water pump. The motor only runs for a minute or two during a pass and return to the pits, so that isn't enough time to charge it. I view the alternator as simply a way to keep my battery voltage up during the time the motor is running, so on the charger it goes...

[OptimaJim]

Hello, I noticed your conversation regarding our batteries and wanted to offer some assistance. If you are drag racing without an alternator or use your fans or water pump in between runs, you should definitely be using a battery designed for deep-cycle applications, like our YellowTop. RedTops offer plenty of cranking amps for starting, but as Piledriver indicated, YellowTops and BlueTops (except for the 34M) are designed for deep-discharges.

I should also mention that even though our batteries have a “sealed” design, all lead-acid batteries can vent gas. Under normal operating conditions, an AGM battery will not vent gas. Since alternators or chargers can fail, the safest and correct mounting method for trunks and passenger compartments is to make sure that any possible gas venting will escape to the outside of the vehicle. All vehicles with original equipment battery locations in trunks or passenger compartments will have a vent provision that should be used.

Our group 27, 51, 78, 34C, and 31 batteries all have ports for connecting a vent hose. Although people do it anyway, we would never recommend installing an unvented battery in any enclosed space, because there’s a legitimate, albeit unlikely, safety risk involved.

For example, IF there is a voltage regulator failure, and IF the battery is severely overcharged, and IF this goes unnoticed, and IF the battery vents because the internal pressure exceeds the release pressure of the vents, the gasses are both flammable and toxic. This may sound like a lot of “ifs,” but attorneys and engineers get paid to plan for every worst-case scenario.

The quality of our batteries has always been excellent and has continued to improve, since Johnson Controls acquired us in 2000. Many of the “bad” batteries returned to us now are just deeply-discharged and work fine, when properly recharged. This is not a situation unique to Optima, in fact, some other manufacturers have elected to void the warranty on their batteries, if they are discharged below 10 volts.

In many of these cases, the owners probably didn’t realize that most battery chargers will not recognize or charge any battery that has been discharged below a certain voltage level. The threshold varies from one charger to another, but can often be as high as 10.5 volts. If a battery (of any brand) has been discharged below this level, the charger simply will not work. The parallel charging instructions explained in this video can effectively recharge many of those batteries- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIoaL3DWWEg

The key to long battery life, regardless of brand, is to make sure your battery is always at or above 12.4 volts. When batteries are discharged below that level and allowed to sit, sulfation begins to diminish both capacity and performance. That makes a quality battery tender or maintainer an excellent investment for any vehicle that is not driven daily. If you have any questions about our batteries, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
http://www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

[af2]

Interesting. I am charging now to see if it comes back.(red top)

[MPac]

Interesting. I am charging now to see if it comes back.(red top)

I am going to laugh if it doesn't

[af2]

After 27 hrs it is still at 2 amps on the charger.