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optima battery worth it?

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=109771
Printed Date: October 31, 2024 at 6:53 PM


Topic: optima battery worth it?

Posted By: whiterob
Subject: optima battery worth it?
Date Posted: December 15, 2008 at 3:46 PM

My battery just died so I need a new one. I am debating if I should buy a Red Top Optima or not. Are they worth the money. They are about twice as much as a regular battery.

I am running about 600w RMS and have a little headlight dim with the volume up. I know that I should do the big 3 upgrade first but I am putting that off til summer when it is warmer. Will a battery upgrade actually help my lights not dim as much? I know the alternator makes the power but the battery is important for quick bursts of power when the bass hits right.

I'm doubting it is worth it for me and my system but I would like another opinion. My car is a 03' Jetta btw.



Replies:

Posted By: antifork
Date Posted: December 15, 2008 at 4:05 PM
I have had some bad experiences with Optima batteries myself( I went through 5 of them in less than 2 years with one of them still sitting in my back yard). All I know is that once they drain of power that they cannot be recharged. I think the only good thing about them that they come with a three year battery replacement warranty. It also matters what you are going to run with them too.

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Just cut ur frame and drag the thing!




Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: December 15, 2008 at 6:09 PM
antifork wrote:

All I know is that once they drain of power that they cannot be recharged.

WRONG!!! The Optimas are FANTASTIC batteries, and CAN be recharged FAR more effectively than can a regular battery if discharged that deeply.

In answer to your question... Yes, they are VERY MUCH worth the extra $$$, and I highly recommend them, in nearly all cases.

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."




Posted By: whiterob
Date Posted: December 15, 2008 at 7:08 PM
haemphyst wrote:

antifork wrote:

All I know is that once they drain of power that they cannot be recharged.

WRONG!!! The Optimas are FANTASTIC batteries, and CAN be recharged FAR more effectively than can a regular battery if discharged that deeply.

In answer to your question... Yes, they are VERY MUCH worth the extra $$$, and I highly recommend them, in nearly all cases.


Do you think it will help slight headlight dimming at all or is it just strictly only going to be good for starting my car?




Posted By: ckeeler
Date Posted: December 15, 2008 at 7:13 PM

haemphyst wrote:

antifork wrote:

All I know is that once they drain of power that they cannot be recharged.

WRONG!!! The Optimas are FANTASTIC batteries, and CAN be recharged FAR more effectively than can a regular battery if discharged that deeply.

In answer to your question... Yes, they are VERY MUCH worth the extra $$$, and I highly recommend them, in nearly all cases.

i am going to strongly disagree. they can be recharged. but those batteries are junk! i was a dealer for them even and sold thousands upon thousands for years until i finally had to say no more and i quit selling them based solely on the fact that i had to warranty sooooo many. nearly 8 out of 10. that didnt help me any having guys come back all the time to get crap warrantied. somehow it always ends up looking like your fault. long story short, those batteries are junk with a capitol J!

i finally found a good battery based on the same design as an optima and its made by East Penn, i think ive warrantied 3 in 5 years now. Now that is an awesome battery.

BTW, ALL car batteries are made by only 3, yes 3, manufacturers that produce them ALL and then market them under different brands. East Penn is one of them. They do not make the piece-o-junk optima.





Posted By: ckeeler
Date Posted: December 15, 2008 at 7:18 PM

antifork wrote:

It also matters what you are going to run with them too.

this is true.

RED top optimas are starting batteries.

YELLOW top optimas are deep cycle batteries. (optima tries to market the red top as a deep cycle battery. ITS NOT. the yellow is way better for this kind of cycle duty)

the BLUE top optimas are marine batteries.

they all stink though if you ask me.





Posted By: KPierson
Date Posted: December 15, 2008 at 8:04 PM

I too would recomend against getting a red top.  My '04 G35 is on its THIRD red top in two years.  Once they discharge one time they don't hold a decent charge anymore.

They only good thing I can say about them is I've paid nothing and had minimal hassles with the warranty - making me believe that the place I bought it from warranties a lot of them!



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Kevin Pierson




Posted By: 97gss
Date Posted: December 15, 2008 at 8:47 PM
I used to be a big fan of Optima myself.  I currently have a yellow top in my daily driver that now won't hold a charge for more than 2 days(I've had it for about 2.5- 3 years, so no warranty for me).  Actually, it won't hold it for a day now.  I had it on the charger Sunday(about midday) for about 3hrs on the 10A setting and still couldn't start it this morning.  Had to take the wife car to work.  I had a red top before that.I have a red top(2nd one) in another vehicle and it will last for about 3 days.  It was replaced around 3 years ago under warranty(had a previous red top that only lasted around 2 years or so).  With all that said, I have 2 cars I have to keep switching the battery charger around on just to get them to crank(alternator works fine on both and neither gets the stereo turned up loud at all.  My wife and I can talk at normal levels and hear each other clearly).  I emailed Optima telling them the situation(cars alternater voltage at idle and at 2k rpm, stereo requirements, etc) and they recommend I get yellow tops for both vehicles.  Needless to say, I've decided it's time to cut my losses and move on as well.  If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.  I would like to pay alittle less this time as well.




Posted By: ckeeler
Date Posted: December 15, 2008 at 9:04 PM

97gss] wrote:

used to be a big fan of Optima myself.  I currently have a yellow top in my daily driver that now won't hold a charge for more than 2 days(I've had it for about 2.5- 3 years, so no warranty for me).  Actually, it won't hold it for a day now.  I had it on the charger Sunday(about midday) for about 3hrs on the 10A setting and still couldn't start it this morning.  Had to take the wife car to work.  I had a red top before that.I have a red top(2nd one) in another vehicle and it will last for about 3 days.  It was replaced around 3 years ago under warranty(had a previous red top that only lasted around 2 years or so).  With all that said, I have 2 cars I have to keep switching the battery charger around on just to get them to crank(alternator works fine on both and neither gets the stereo turned up loud at all.  My wife and I can talk at normal levels and hear each other clearly).  I emailed Optima telling them the situation(cars alternater voltage at idle and at 2k rpm, stereo requirements, etc) and they recommend I get yellow tops for both vehicles.  Needless to say, I've decided it's time to cut my losses and move on as well.  If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.  I would like to pay alittle less this time as well.

To all of those who have problems with Optima batteries not holding a charge, do this as it seems to be the only thing that works and even then it only works so so.  Optima batteries will not take a charge on a trickle or even 10 amp charge those pieces of junk need to have a full size battery charger connected to them.  then set that battery to the start mode and charge the battery for a good 15 - 20 minutes.  this seems to get the chemicals activated then turn the charger back down to a 20 amp setting if it has one or the next highest setting from jump start that your charger has and let it charge for several hours.  don't know why but that seems to be the only way to get these batteries to take a charge. 

thats all the advice i can give for any poor soul with one of these batteries other than take it out and get rid of it like a bad rash.  buy something else that is the best recomendation i have.  there are several deep cycle batteries out on the market that use the optima design technology but are built even better.  if you do not feel like searching around to find the best thing for the best price, a good deal is this, just go to your local CARQUEST PART STORE and purchase their version of the optima battery.  it is built is East Penn and is still cheaper than an optima and will be a battery you will never regret spending the money on.  this battery is top notch. if you do the shopping and hunting you will find this exact same battery marketed under different brands. the problem with buying a battery is you cannot just shop for one over the internet and have it shipped to you bcse it considered hazmat.  so you need to find what you want and try and find it somewhere locally.  as i mentioned earlier  all batteries are made by only three manufacturers.  so several of these batteries i am talking abt are the same exact battery that you can find at a carquest parts store locally it just has a different sticker on it. 





Posted By: boogeyman
Date Posted: December 16, 2008 at 12:16 PM
 KINETIC battery




Posted By: 97gss
Date Posted: December 16, 2008 at 10:44 PM
ckeeler wrote:

To all of those who have problems with Optima batteries not holding a charge, do this as it seems to be the only thing that works and even then it only works so so.  Optima batteries will not take a charge on a trickle or even 10 amp charge those pieces of junk need to have a full size battery charger connected to them.  then set that battery to the start mode and charge the battery for a good 15 - 20 minutes.  this seems to get the chemicals activated then turn the charger back down to a 20 amp setting if it has one or the next highest setting from jump start that your charger has and let it charge for several hours.  don't know why but that seems to be the only way to get these batteries to take a charge. 

thats all the advice i can give for any poor soul with one of these batteries other than take it out and get rid of it like a bad rash.  buy something else that is the best recomendation i have.  there are several deep cycle batteries out on the market that use the optima design technology but are built even better.  if you do not feel like searching around to find the best thing for the best price, a good deal is this, just go to your local CARQUEST PART STORE and purchase their version of the optima battery.  it is built is East Penn and is still cheaper than an optima and will be a battery you will never regret spending the money on.  this battery is top notch. if you do the shopping and hunting you will find this exact same battery marketed under different brands. the problem with buying a battery is you cannot just shop for one over the internet and have it shipped to you bcse it considered hazmat.  so you need to find what you want and try and find it somewhere locally.  as i mentioned earlier  all batteries are made by only three manufacturers.  so several of these batteries i am talking abt are the same exact battery that you can find at a carquest parts store locally it just has a different sticker on it. 


I'll give this a shot in the morning.  I may check out those Carquest batteries as well.





Posted By: CutDog504
Date Posted: December 16, 2008 at 11:27 PM
I've had both the red top and the yellow top optimas, both are junk. The yellow crapped out on me at a year, the red a little over a year. I've always been a fan of sears die hard batteries. I still have a die hard gold that was in my old Cutlass. The car was flooded in New Orleans by hurricane Katrina. I kept the battery because after charging it back up and load testing it, it tested out good. Its now in my brothers Tahoe, still goin strong. Even after being flooded, AND its about 5 years old!




Posted By: 04nata
Date Posted: December 17, 2008 at 6:39 AM
good info for those of us that we considering the purchase, I'll stick with my checker battery

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2004 Hyundai Sonata
Kenwood KDC-X599 HU
2-Sundown X-18D4
2-SQ Q4500.1
2-SQ Q90.4
1-Massive DBX4
8-Niche 5.25 mids
8-Niche Tweeters
4-Skar 8" mid-bass
OhioGen 220a alt
OhioGen 350a alt
156.0




Posted By: ckeeler
Date Posted: December 17, 2008 at 7:10 PM

and like i said before, with ALL batteries, the regular acid ones are better for abuse and neglect and non-maintenance than an AGM battery. you really have to baby those for them to last at all. and for the kind of stuff all us guys do to batteries.......AGM batteries just dont last too long. the real only good application for one is where it has to be mounted funky like on it side or upside down because they dont leak. the only applications for them are things like race cars and rock crawler jeeps and stuff like that and in those kinds of recreational vehicles, it doesnt matter how long a piece of junk like an optima lasts anyway.

for regular old power and abuse, you'll get the best bang for your buck and best durability with a regular old acid battery. although you still have to apply the rule of bigger is better! posted_image

CutDog504, 04nata, believe it or not, but both of the batteries you have are made in the same factory with the same process and materials by the same manufacturer.





Posted By: jmelton86
Date Posted: December 17, 2008 at 11:33 PM

Kinetics are overrated. Powermaster is the way to go.

I have Exide Orbital Yellowtops in my car...



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2013 Kia Rio -90a alternator
DDX470HD GTO14001 GTO1014D (x3)
Big3 in 1/0G
1/0G to GTO14001




Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: December 18, 2008 at 9:02 AM
Never replaced a red-top in my life. I have never used anything but the red-top in any of my systems, LITERALLY. It, like all the other parts of the electrical system must be treated appropriately, and it will serve you faithfully.

I have run systems worth THOUSANDS of watts, with never a replacement, but I have always had upgraded alternators, as well.

I'm not going to go into why the red-top IS the best battery, you can do the search yourself, but ELECTRICALLY, the red-top is EXACTLY what your car stereo wants.

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."




Posted By: soundnsecurity
Date Posted: December 18, 2008 at 11:51 AM
i have a red top in my ranger as a main battery and iv never really had a problem with it. just once i had to get a jump start because i left my system on too long when it was turned up. but other than that one incident it is pretty faithful and runs my autotek like a champ.

and about recharging an optima, i heard once that to recharge an optima it needs to be hooked up to another optima(series or paralell im not sure) AND a charger for a few hours, does anyone know if this is true?

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Posted By: ckeeler
Date Posted: December 18, 2008 at 12:03 PM

soundnsecurity wrote:

i have a red top in my ranger as a main battery and iv never really had a problem with it. just once i had to get a jump start because i left my system on too long when it was turned up. but other than that one incident it is pretty faithful and runs my autotek like a champ.

and about recharging an optima, i heard once that to recharge an optima it needs to be hooked up to another optima(series or paralell im not sure) AND a charger for a few hours, does anyone know if this is true?

i do. read my earlier post on this thread about charging an optima.





Posted By: soundnsecurity
Date Posted: December 18, 2008 at 12:14 PM
ckeeler, i read that post on your way of charging and it is duly noted, but it doesn't have anything to do with what i am asking about. now if you have already tried doing what i am talking about in my last post and it has no truth to it then just say no it doesn't work. have you tried hooking a dead optima to a charged optima and a charger?

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Posted By: ckeeler
Date Posted: December 18, 2008 at 12:32 PM

soundnsecurity wrote:

ckeeler, i read that post on your way of charging and it is duly noted, but it doesn't have anything to do with what i am asking about. now if you have already tried doing what i am talking about in my last post and it has no truth to it then just say no it doesn't work. have you tried hooking a dead optima to a charged optima and a charger?

not only will that not work with an optima battery, it wont work with any battery.





Posted By: soundnsecurity
Date Posted: December 18, 2008 at 12:42 PM
eh, its just something that i heard from somebody that ive been wondering about but never had a chance to test as my optima is going on 2 years and is still strong

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Posted By: mrarff
Date Posted: December 19, 2008 at 7:31 AM
For what its worth, whenever I've had to replace a battery for ANY reason, I've always used a good deep-cycle battery. It seems that once a "regular" battery is discharged, it acts like it only gets about a 75-80 % re-charge. With every deep cycle I've had(except the optimoose) it always seems to come back near 100%

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"That'll get ya 10 in Leavenworth,11 in Twelveworth, or 5 & 10 in Woolworth". Groucho Marx                                                      




Posted By: thejetmolina
Date Posted: January 02, 2009 at 1:07 PM
i have a 95 grand cherokee running tvs alot of neons and strobes  and a 4000 watt system my redtop ran strong for 2 years and finally had to replace it then had starting troubles so i got a second and hooked it up in parallel started fine for about 6 months but now neither optima will hold a charge. ill jump start my jeep but once i shut off my car it will not restart. is it the redtop or could it be something else. i dont have an high output alternator cant find an affordable one for my jeep

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Beep Beep who got the keys to the Jeep




Posted By: mrarff
Date Posted: January 02, 2009 at 1:36 PM

I don't know much about all of thattttttttt! I guess I would suggest buying a battery from a tractor-trailer dealer OR just diconnecting some of that stuff. I'd be afraid to light the candle on that puppy.



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"That'll get ya 10 in Leavenworth,11 in Twelveworth, or 5 & 10 in Woolworth". Groucho Marx                                                      




Posted By: KPierson
Date Posted: January 02, 2009 at 1:57 PM

Adding a second battery in parallel to a battery that is already operating in a taxed electrical system will only hurt the situation, it won't help.

The issue with 4,000 watts added to an OEM alternator is that the system pulls more current then the alternator can supply, so the alternator is not capable of keeping the battery charged.  So, you add a second battery which means the alternator now has two batteries to keep charged but still can't produce enough current to keep up.  This will eventually lead to alterator failure.

The solution is to get a high amp alternator (you got to pay to play) or reduce the power requirements of the aftermarket equipment.



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Kevin Pierson




Posted By: ckeeler
Date Posted: January 02, 2009 at 2:39 PM
you need a bigger alternator and to upgrade the big 3 if you have not already. then either get new batteries or charge those back up, but red top optimas are a pain in the rear to charge back up again where they will hold the charge. i say do the other upgrades first, then just get new batteries.




Posted By: thunda_hawg
Date Posted: January 02, 2009 at 4:13 PM
I 've had  problem with any optima battery ive owned or put in a car.  this includes all 6 of my regular dailies,  two drift cars , and  multiple high power audio sytems  and all have performed without a hitch . I also dont leave my lights on and make sure that the alternator is in working form beforehand. so agian its how  treat the batteries electrically. the same rules apply to agm batteries as acid.

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89' 240sx
Rockford t8004
boston z6 comp.
eclipse 3432
polk MM 8"
Taylor owes Joe a Sandwich




Posted By: thejetmolina
Date Posted: January 03, 2009 at 10:08 AM
does anyone know a reliable place to get a good ho alt and how many amps should i get

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Beep Beep who got the keys to the Jeep




Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: January 03, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Well... I finally had to replace an Optima battery. Three months ago, when I had my accident (I got the car back yesterday...) I actually pushed the positive terminal bad enough that I cracked the case. In the sitting time since then, apparently the electrolyte dried up, so now the battery doesn't keep any kind of charge... Go figure.

Guess what I replaced it with? ANOTHER RED TOP! No matter WHAT anybody thinks, the red-top IS the best choice, from a purely electrical characteristic standpoint, for a car stereo. For those truly interested in eeking EVERY last iota of performance from their stereo systems, you truly do owe yourself a red-top battery.

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."





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