Optima Battery trouble - looking for alternate maybe. Any recommendations?

[Peanut]

I purchased a Yellow Top D51, as my car has a "kill switch" installed (vs D51R). The + post is on inboard rear corner. It was a tight, but good fit. It lasted less than 2 weeks, and never accepted charge once going flat.

I like the concept of a dry battery; however, I've read some troubles on charging, which I think I experienced with the Optima. I tried a Battery Tender, and didn't ever get it to come back. When taken back to auto parts, they noticed some anomalies, so I just asked they accept return. They did.

I've read good things re Sonnenschein, Odyssey, and a Westco. Should I just scrap the dry concept? I've read even smaller or less powerful batteries (Hawker PC680 in one thread) work fine.

Thanks,

[edmayo]

I don't know why you had that trouble, maybe it was a defective battery, but even if the car was unused for two weeks a fully charged optima shouldn't have gone down. In general gel type batteries don't take kindly to a full discharge however, and a maintainer won't bring it back, it is only meant to 'maintain' a charge, not fully charge dead batteries. I use Sonnenscheins in all my dual battery cars, and as long as they are kept up with a tender they last a long time, up to 6 to7 years in my daily driver. I also have a 67 with a conventional lead acid type at the moment, but I'll be switching that to a Sonnenschein pretty soon. I'm pretty sure I've seen that size listed with Sonnenschein but can't tell you what it is at the moment.

[Peanut]

Thanks Ed. Yeah I think I got a bad battery which made me research a bit more re charging them. Sonnenscheins are here at Ft Lauderdale battery so I figure I will call them tomorrow to get a size. I have checked on their website but kind of hard to ascertain for sure.

Scott

[M_deJong]

I have killed a couple of Optimas by leaving the dome or glove box light on. One came back after the battery shop put it on their super duper Optima reviving charger but the other did not. So now I'm extra careful about those little lights. I do put my Battery Tender on each car every now and then to top them off if not driven for a while and that seems to work fine as a maintainer.

I have read internet chatter suggesting Optima quality has degraded while their price has increased dramatically over the past few years. Unless you have something drawing the battery down slowly you probably just got a bad one.

[rockandrollrods]

Optimas are a pain to recharge when they've gone totally flat. You have to hit them with 50 amps for a half hour to an hour. Then a nice 20 amp charge for as long as two days. Cool batteries, but a pain to get going if there's a problem. A typical 1.5 amp maintainer won't charge up a regular car battery when it's that low, let alone an AGM battery. If the same thing happens in a two week period with another battery, you might have a draw somewhere. And a fully automatic 1.5 maintainer is a good idea if it's going to sit for awhile. Keeps the batteries alive longer, and saves you money and frustration as well.

[Bullethead]

I've used Baker batteries for almost 20 years and never had a failure... one lasted 10 years, even after being completely discharged twice.

Strong performance, lightweight and reasonably priced, the PB19 is a small-package workhorse. http://bakerprecision.com/battery.htm

FWIW, the last two Optimas for our genset failed in less than a year. The only reason I have two 6V's in my 356 are lack of good options.

[Peanut]

I've used Baker batteries for almost 20 years and never had a failure... one lasted 10 years, even after being completely discharged twice.

Strong performance, lightweight and reasonably priced, the PB19 is a small-package workhorse. http://bakerprecision.com/battery.htm


FWIW, the last two Optimas for our genset failed in less than a year. The only reason I have two 6V's in my 356 are lack of good options.

Thanks for the info guys. Do the Baker batteries you mention do ok with a Battery Tender?

[rockandrollrods]

Same as any other battery. If it's being used as a maintainer, then they work fine. But as a charger when the battery real low, then not so much.

[911pcars]

Optimas are a pain to recharge when they've gone totally flat. You have to hit them with 50 amps for a half hour to an hour. Then a nice 20 amp charge for as long as two days. Cool batteries, but a pain to get going if there's a problem. A typical 1.5 amp maintainer won't charge up a regular car battery when it's that low, let alone an AGM battery. If the same thing happens in a two week period with another battery, you might have a draw somewhere. And a fully automatic 1.5 maintainer is a good idea if it's going to sit for awhile. Keeps the batteries alive longer, and saves you money and frustration as well.

Once a discharged Optima is at a threshold level to accept a charge, it should charge fine with a trickle charger, then a battery maintainer. However, a 20A constant charge rate will probably overheat and damage it as well as any other storage battery.

Sherwood

[rockandrollrods]

Depends on how low it is. I work in the parts business and I deal with these on a regular basis. Some of them charge up fine in a few hours with 20 amps or less. But some of them take a long time. The information on charging them came right from Optima as well. If you do intend to use the 20 amp feature, let it cool down overnight if it's been charging for more than five or six hours. They are nice batteries, just not for the price. They were better before they had to move to Mexico to make them.