Optima battery question(s)

[stingray1300]

So, I just bought a Yellow Top Deep Cycle/Starting Optima battery for my '13 F150. My source gave me a decent deal on it, and the very minor bug seem to have worked themselves out (low initial voltage - 12.4)
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So I tell a friend of mine, who frequents this forum about my new battery, and he says "hope it doesn't give you any trouble". What?!?!?!? He said there's huge thread on here about Optima problems, and even "Optima Jim" (?) has a lot to say about the issues. But alas, I can't seem to find it.
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So, what's the bottom line? Are the Optima's worth their existence?
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If I might ask (please), facts only please. Opinions are like belly buttons; everybody has one (unless you're Alfred Hitchcock)

Anyway, thanks for any help in this regard. I don't want to find myself in Alaska in September with a questionable battery.
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Thanks all !

 

[shopkins]

had one in my spare truck for 8 years. would sit for a few months at a time then get used for a month straight. never had a problem out of it until it finally died. i'll spend that money again if i can get another 8 years out of one. mine was a redtop however i don't know if they are better than the yellows or not.

 

[HenryJ]

This thread will get you started. Optima Battery problems There are many more here as well as on other forums. We had quite a list of them back then

Optima Jim was paid forum damage control as near we can tell. Time spent on many forums trying to downplay the issue and blame other issues for the failures.
I still see them stacked up on the core pile much younger than should be expected. I moved on and have been living happily ever after using the Diehard Platinum. BTW That old "pre-Johnson Control" Optima red top is still working fine in my HenryJ. Too bad they don't make'm like that anymore

 

[stingray1300]

So, the "pre-Johnson Controls" was a generation that has gone away, along with the quality? Sad.
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I appreciate the replies, and the link (I'll spend some time going through it later). Just like a lot of things: "they just don't make 'em like they used to".
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Has anyone considered talking directly with Optima (@ Optima)? Maybe getting an additional warranty? But not like that will help if you get stranded, eh?

 

[toyotech]

Old optima was a good battery. Not anymore. Just call any autozone and ask how many optima they have warranty in a month.

 

[Hilldweller]

So, the "pre-Johnson Controls" was a generation that has gone away, along with the quality? Sad.
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I appreciate the replies, and the link (I'll spend some time going through it later). Just like a lot of things: "they just don't make 'em like they used to".
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Has anyone considered talking directly with Optima (@ Optima)? Maybe getting an additional warranty? But not like that will help if you get stranded, eh?

I bought mine online straight from the factory and got a pair of Bluetops with consecutive serial numbers. They did more than their share and I abused them terribly. No battery should have to go through what I put them through.

As for batteries on core piles, I saw a bunch of Yellowtops once in a parts store. But then I saw their method for testing them ---- they didn't charge them first. Just put a load on a depleted battery and "failed" it, sold a new battery. Duh. That's how they make money.
I also witnessed a trailer shop that bought failed Optimas from parts stores. I'm pretty sure that Optima put a stop to that sort of nonsense but I was at a shop that bought failed batteries for $50 and laughed about it.

It's no secret that OptimaJim and I are friends. We're both old basketball players (he was a pro though).
He's a social media manager. I don't think what he does is "damage control", per se. I'd say that he gets paid to point people toward real answers.

And yes. If you have a genuine problem with a battery, he can point you where you need to go for help.

As for buying one that's at 12.4 volts, was that from a real retailer? That's very very low and doesn't sound legit. The two I bought arrived at my office @ 13.1 volts and ready for service.

Here's a case when Optima stepped up to the plate:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/120140-Xmas-Week-Ride-to-nowhere/page4

 

[SpongeX]

You don't understand how the warranty process works. They don't just sell a new battery they give a new one away for free because the battery failed. It seems you also don't understand the testing process. I've gotten 3 new red tops for my wife's rig in the past two years under warranty. I had good luck in the past but these new versions are terrible.

 

[Hilldweller]

... I've gotten 3 new red tops for my wife's rig in the past two years under warranty.....

Three?
How's the charging system on her vehicle? Load? Parasitic drain? An alarm maybe?
3 failures is remarkably significant and defies failure statistics for even the worst battery manufacturer.

 

[SpongeX]

Bone stock and no drains. I tested all her systems and found no problems. I tried running the battery out of my land cruiser in hers and it performed perfectly. Each time its come down the the battery being the failure point. When the optima was in mine it was also failing. Took a decade for my previous optima to go bad but that was obviously pre quality issues.

 

[teotwaki]

Sears Diehard Platinum (made by Odyssey) is the way to go. Bought the first one in March of 2009 for a starter battery and it still maintains a good charge as well as easily cranks the engine over.

For the second battery: A little short of a year ago I yanked the Optima Yellow top out of the truck and replaced it with a Diehard Platinum "marine" series. It has its own charge controller, a CTEK 250S dual that will supply it with a better charge cycle than the alternator can and also acts as a solar charge controller.

Expo thread about the Diehards
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/14285-Odyssey-vs-Diehard-Platinum

 

[Ducky's Dad]

I have four Optimas sitting in the driveway right now that I am trying to recondition. I have two Odysseys in my truck, one of which is nearly new and I am trying to recondition that one with a series of cycles on a three-stage AGM charger alternated with 4-hour stints on a an old dumb charger. I have three other trucks with Optimas and Odysseys in them. I have had more than the expected amount of trouble with all of them. Optima quality turned to crap when they shifted production to Mexico. My battery supplier told me last Friday that Optima has improved lately and his failure rate is "only" 8% on new Optimas. I have had five Odysseys over the last seven years or so, and I have had problems with four of them. None of the Optimas have been catastrophic failures, they all just faded slowly but prematurely. One of the Odysseys was a mechanical failure of the internal connection between the top and side terminals on a G34/78, which they have supposedly corrected on later production units. The other Odyssey problems have been premature failure of G31Ms, one at 36 mos, one at 16 mos, and the current one that won't take and hold a proper charge at the three-month mark. Odyssey has been very good about warranty replacements, but I'm getting tired of hauling 75-pound batteries in and out of the truck and back and forth across town. I need a fresh pair of 34Ms right now, and I'm looking at Deka (lower capacity and shorter warranty) or Northstar. Probably rule out Northstar because they have a $10K minimum order and my guy is out of stock on the batteries I need. So, it's probably back to the Odyssey/Optima grind.

 

[Miguel Sanchez]

I've had one red top bought new in '04, two Odysseys new in '01, one Odyessy new in '04, and an Odyessy bought new in '12. The Optima and all "older" Odyessys are still going strong to this day with no maintenance. All are left in the vehicles, without maintainers or being disconnected, and ignored for months at a time. Park it and walk away.

I finally got scared of one of the '01 Odyessys and bought a new one in '12. It lasted 2 weeks and was flat dead from the clock in my BMW GS motorcycle. Voltage was so low it could not be saved (according to the dealer). Odyessy would not warranty it as I had "abused" it.

I put the '01 model back in and it is going strong to this day.

The dealer told me that older Optimas and Odyessys were way better than the new ones. I believe him..!

YMMV


Sent from my fart smone using crapatalk

 

[krl81]

As a car stereo salesman we used optimas alot and the biggest problem we had (and a lot of others told me as well) was if we drained them completely they could be used as a door stop. They would never get back to their original state. This was yellow top and i can't say anything about the other models.

 

[Chasing Magic Light]

I purchased an Optima red top as my primary starter batter about 9 months ago. It lasted about 2 months before it would only reach a maximum voltage of ~10V. I took it back to Autozone who said it passed their test, just needed a full charge. I said prove it so they put it on their charger for a day before they admitted it had a problem. I got a new Optima under warranty, but I'm not sure I would trust it if I didn't have a secondary (which I do)

 

[stingray1300]

So it seems we are at an impasse. Half of the people like the Optima, half don't.
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About the same statistic as the Die hard Platinum: http://www.sears.com/diehard-platinum-automotive-battery-group-size-34-78dt-price/p-02851090000P
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I hope whatever you have serves you well. For now I'll stick with the $200 I've already spent on the Optima