Optima Batteries

Blowby · Feb 18, 2012

JCart said:
Have had mine (yellow tops) from Costco iirc 2005 and they have served me well although I think they are fading. They do get put through a workout due to E compressor, inverter etc etc. I think if you look at diehards from sears in the USA they are dry cells. The thing I like about the dry cells is no cleaning of posts compared to the standard lead acid ones.

jrc

Charge them with CTek to recondition it will bring back the Optima to as good as new. I guess the old Optima's are the good ones like my Red Tops.

broodu · Feb 18, 2012

Cat_rebel said:
Optimas today aren't like they were 6+ years ago. I had an old red top that I swapped between 6 trucks in a couple years & it always did it's job. I sold my old 93 IDI running the same single red top & wouldn't surprise me if it's still in the truck today. Everyone I've known with an Optima bought within the last 5 years since they moved to Mexico said they are trash & went back to a normal style battery.

the red top in my bronco is still kicking great got it used in 06, got 2 yellow tops for my diesel in late 09-early10 and havent had a single problem or bad thing to say about em
maybe i just got lucky :shrug:

JCart · Feb 18, 2012

Blowby said:
Charge them with CTek to recondition it will bring back the Optima to as good as new. I guess the old Optima's are the good ones like my Red Tops.

Have an aftermarket alternator Leece-Neville 200 Amp on the truck for the last year or so I would think it would charge em right up.... Now having said that truck sat for 12 days in cool weather 0-10 Celsius while on holidays and just fire up upon return.

jrc

Ad8 PRODIGY · Feb 18, 2012

Interstate is all I use. I get to use my buddies account so theyre even cheaper. Never had a problem, they use them in all 25 of their cranes and usually never have a problem. Some sit for weeks at a time.

Blowby · Feb 18, 2012

JCart said:
Have an aftermarket alternator Leece-Neville 200 Amp on the truck for the last year or so I would think it would charge em right up.... Now having said that truck sat for 12 days in cool weather 0-10 Celsius while on holidays and just fire up upon return.

jrc

Trust me! I had many professional chargers on my Red Tops and would never perform like they did when they were new. I was going to toss them but decided to try the charger specifically for Optima type batteries. Once I used the CTEK (Zane at WOP had one) and reconditioned them they are perfect now. So I purchased one and have used it since. That was 3 years ago and they have never gone back to the state they were in when I was using regular chargers.

KPSquared · Feb 18, 2012

Don't waste your time with optimas anymore. If you want good batteries, look into the Odyssey or Northstar dry cells. You're not gonna find a better battery.