Optima Battery

[chrismoore701]

Do you know which Optima Battery will fit my truck? 7525 or 7535? What is the difference? And will the hold down hold it in place?

[Front Range]

This might help with part of your question - see post #3

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...ifference.html

[chrismoore701]

Sounds like the 75/35 was an old part number

[Front Range]

Possibly.

I'm running the 34-78DT, it seems a hair small (front to back) in the battery tray. Good battery as long as it doesn't sit for an extended period.

[tucsonjwt]

For the difference in $$$, I went with Interstate batteries from Costco in my truck and Car. 3 year replacement warranty - I plan to replace them just before the warranty runs out. So far, the Interstates are holding up well.

[Firebirdjones]

Interestate should hold up fine. Was #1 consumer report battery for a few years, still may be but haven't checked. Anyway that's what I buy anymore, and I get them from Costco too. Can't beat the price and warranty for a top notch battery. I put a pair of them in my duramax 2 years ago for $120. I just bought 2 singles for 2 other cars, 6 year batteries at about $70 a piece. All the other brand batteries around here are $100 or more.

I've had an optima, won't ever do that again.

[slotard]

I have an older optima in my truck and have had good luck but I've seen lots of negative reviews of the newer ones.

[warrpath4x4]

ya the new ones are junk, I had one in my 72. not even a year old and it wont hold a charge over 2 weeks. I hear a lot of people having good luck with odyssey extreme batteries and they are about the same price as an optima

[Firebirdjones]

My experience with Optima was 6 years ago, not recently. My first impression was not liking the oddball shape that wouldn't fit in the battery tray correctly, and couldn't utilize the original battery hold down either even after getting it in the tray. It came with some cheesey plastic snap on parts to make the bottom square and fit better, pffff. That was just the start, the terminals were moved inboard or some weird stuff like that causing me to do funky things with the battery cables so everything fit decent. It was just one thing after another. You know, like when you buy a cheap Chinese part that doesn't fit right? That's what my experience was like. I wanted to get rid of it after the first day. 6 months later I sold another car so I swapped batteries between the two and was happy to settle for a correct fitting battery that was already 4 years old.

[chrismoore701]

Thanks for all the bad news. I just bought one today. But good thing is I bought it from a local shop so if it does not fit right back it goes. I have had one in my 09 Silverado for about a year now and so far I am happy. I did get it for a good price. Down to $160. Could have been cheaper on line but decided to buy local and support the shop

[Jeepwm69]

Optimas are hit and miss now. Hopefully you got a good one. The last two I bought were both bought on the same day in 2009. Both were dead in under a year. I had both of them replaced under warranty and the replacements still work, but I now keep them on maintainers when not driving the vehicles they are on.

I bought my first Optima in 1998 and was hooked. Thing lasted forever on a Jeep running lights, winch, and stereo. I put them on three Jeeps, two pickups, two tractors, and 4runner (all at the same time).

Then Johnson Controls bought the brand, moved production to Mexico, and the brand faltered.

Odyssey is the top of the line now. They are pricey and not readily available, but they are the best. Sears sold a rebranded Odyssey as the Diehard Platinum until last fall when they axed the Plat.

Next time I need a battery I'm just going to go to my FNPS and buy a Deka. They're made by East Penn in the US.

Optima is just another iffy battery brand now in a shiny red case with a big price tag.

[Front Range]

I can't speak for everyone but it's not necessarily all bad news Chris. The AGM's were initially developed for the military for good reason. Some strong points of the AGM are no leaking, no gassing, no corrosion, no freezing, great power output. If one comes loose while your 4-wheeling there's a lot less to worry about. Having an acid filled battery hit your fan blade after popping loose ain't a lot of fun.

My only complaint with Optima specifically is that they don't seem to do well when severely discharged or repeatedly left sitting. I Keep a trickle charger handy, when mine sits more than 30 days at a stretch I will charge it up. They do have a good return policy in my view. The first Optima I bought bit the dust with 1 week left on the warranty, NAPA replaced it free of charge with a brand new unit. Pretty tough to be unhappy with that.

[chrismoore701]

I picked up the optima to give it a try. I left the key on in my truck and drained the battery down to under 1 volt. tried two (2) different chargers and cant bring it back. Going to try to take it back for an odyssey extreme, or maybe a die hard

[Firebirdjones]

Yup, you found the other issue that so many complain about. Not only did I not like the fitment challenges I mentioned above, but they are also difficult to bring back to life if you run the charge down on one.

[Jeepwm69]

I've brought them back by hooking the charger to another battery, and then running jumper cables from that battery to the Optima.

Good luck!

[chrismoore701]

My charger was dead. Time to buy a new one. Took it to my dads and charging it there. Any recommendations on a new charger?

[Blessed66]

Make sure you have a charger that is rated for AGM battery charging. You'd be surprised how many Optima customers I ticked off telling them I can't warranty their battery (which they swore was "bad") until I charge it first.

We had a B.A. Autometer charger that was excellent at AGM batteries. Charged up, didn't see many of them come back. Not doubting "bad batch" battery and QC issues - I know they happen.

And for what it's worth, when I worked for a Dodge/Hyundai dealer - our "OEM Replacement" Mopar and Hyundai batteries were delivered on an Interstate truck. Just saying.

[chrismoore701]

Originally Posted by Blessed66

Make sure you have a charger that is rated for AGM battery charging. You'd be surprised how many Optima customers I ticked off telling them I can't warranty their battery (which they swore was "bad") until I charge it first.

We had a B.A. Autometer charger that was excellent at AGM batteries. Charged up, didn't see many of them come back. Not doubting "bad batch" battery and QC issues - I know they happen.

And for what it's worth, when I worked for a Dodge/Hyundai dealer - our "OEM Replacement" Mopar and Hyundai batteries were delivered on an Interstate truck. Just saying.

What is the difference in the charging? AGM?

[Blessed66]

Originally Posted by chrismoore701

What is the difference in the charging? AGM?

AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) batteries are more sensitive to overcharging than lead acid batteries. Gel (Optima) batteries are more sensitive to Amperage of the charge. For example, if you want to fry an Optima Red Top, put it on a charge in excess of 10A. It's also fun when I see parts "specialists" sell a Red Top for a boat or general Deep Cycle application.

EDIT: Also, I tend to throw around AGM and Gel like they are the same, they aren't. It's a bad habit I have yet to kick.

[RUN GMC]

Originally Posted by chrismoore701

My charger was dead. Time to buy a new one. Took it to my dads and charging it there. Any recommendations on a new charger?

This is what I bought it brought back a used optima I had got on the cheap.....some say its not good but I think a lot of people use it wrong.....worked good for me........

http://www.walmart.com/ip/46605772?w...511888&veh=sem

[wilkin250r]

I like my Optima battery, but it's fairly new, so it hasn't yet stood the test of time.

Most places seem to list the 75/25 as the proper replacement, but the 34/78 fits just fine, has a little more cranking amperage, and I like the fact that the terminals are moved toward the center of the battery. This keeps the positive jumper cable away from the core support and reduces the risk of shorting and arcing while jump starting.

I also like the dual terminals of the 34/78, because it allows me to hook my battery to one set of posts, and I can directly wire my winch to the other set of terminals.

[wilkin250r]

Also, for those that don't know, the death of a lead-acid battery is letting it sit in a DISCHARGED state for an extended period of time. They'll last a long time as long as they are kept fully charged. This is the reason batteries in a daily driver will often outlast a battery in a car rarely driven, because the daily driver gets recharged every time the car is running.

Batteries will self-discharge over time, so don't think you can just charge it up once, and it will last forever as long as you don't use it. If you allow it to self-discharge, and you don't recharge it, you are now sitting in a discharged state, killing your battery. It's best to keep it on a maintainer or float charger, but at a bare minimum the battery should be brought to full charge at least once a month.

[Blessed66]

Depends on where you live, to an extent, as well.

Couple of years ago the average life of an automotive battery was reported to be 2-5 years. Cold snaps and hot spells, along with discharging, are the worst enemies of a lead acid battery in normal operating conditions.

Also, I did some fact checking. It appears the majority of Odyssey and Optima batteries are AGM. I swore at some point (this may be more of the above reference "Gel" & "AGM" catchphrasing) they were advertised as Gel batteries? I can't find any old literature or advertising the back that up, so maybe I've just lost my mind.

At any rate, if your battery is NOT a deep cycle, you also need to know that 10.5V is considered 0% charge.

[chrismoore701]

Dads charger brought it back up. I now have it on a 6 a digital charger that automatically shuts off. But this charger will not bring back a dead battery.

[wilkin250r]

No, most "smart" chargers will not bring back a completely dead battery. They constantly monitor the battery voltage so they know when to switch from bulk charge, to trickle charge, to float/maintain (or even desulfation modes).

Because of all that fancy gadgetry and witchcraft, they won't charge a battery that's at zero volts. They need to sense at least 10V (which is a dead battery, as Blessed pointed out a few posts ago). Anything below that, the charger will not kick on the "charging" circuits.

The old dumb chargers will still work, but then you have to monitor the voltage and time, as they have the potential to over-charge and damage the battery.