Metalbender
-=WTF=-
Any thougts, My red top optima died and I was thinking of trying an odyssey.........................
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Optima, VS. Odyssey Batterie???
- Thread starter Metalbender
- Start date
I think if you search there's a topic that covers this pretty well that was posted recently.
My conclusion after reading that thread was that optima's seem to work good for most people, but some have a lot of trouble with them and it's due to either charging them incorrectly (IE, NOT with a trickle charger) or running them completely dead a few times too many, and the last possibility is just a bad/defective battery.
Personally, my red top is dead/dying and won't hold much of a charge anymore, but it's almost 8 years old now, so it's time to replace anyway. I'm going to try an Exide Orbital this time - a friend of mine had one in his Jeep and was pretty happy with it, and a few others recommended the same battery when the topic came up, so I guess it's worth a shot.
My conclusion after reading that thread was that optima's seem to work good for most people, but some have a lot of trouble with them and it's due to either charging them incorrectly (IE, NOT with a trickle charger) or running them completely dead a few times too many, and the last possibility is just a bad/defective battery.
Personally, my red top is dead/dying and won't hold much of a charge anymore, but it's almost 8 years old now, so it's time to replace anyway. I'm going to try an Exide Orbital this time - a friend of mine had one in his Jeep and was pretty happy with it, and a few others recommended the same battery when the topic came up, so I guess it's worth a shot.
i agree optimas went downhill fast after they got bought out.
i have had good luck with my two yellow tops but went thru a few redtops in a short time. like 4 in 4 years. all due to shorted cells lack of QC at the factory.
i have had good luck with my two yellow tops but went thru a few redtops in a short time. like 4 in 4 years. all due to shorted cells lack of QC at the factory.
GRNTACO
This Space Blank
Only because your truck sucks...literaly.:flipoff:
#2 in 4 years and it is dieing...
AND they were maintained, etc correctly. The first one just died. Good one day, dead the next. This one, less then 1 year old is not holding a charge more then a few days. Drive it every day and it's ok. Let it sit a week and your going to need a jump!
The local retailers will no longer warranty Optimas.
The distributor has nothing good to say about them and will not warranty them. :wtf:
I'll be going to something else real soon!
AND they were maintained, etc correctly. The first one just died. Good one day, dead the next. This one, less then 1 year old is not holding a charge more then a few days. Drive it every day and it's ok. Let it sit a week and your going to need a jump!
The local retailers will no longer warranty Optimas.
The distributor has nothing good to say about them and will not warranty them. :wtf:
I'll be going to something else real soon!
Ya, well yours blows. so nyah! :kissmyass: :kucknuts: :evilfinger:
GRW
Well-Known Member
I must have the luck then, I have, and am running 5 red tops.
One is .........well it's ......... heck I don't know it's old and still going strong.
I have two in my dodge, one in the sidekick that sits 99% of the time.
Fired it up yesturday just fine, and the 4BT has one also.
So I can't complane to much, as fare as warrnety, part of that is who you buy from. I am 99.9% my parts guy would not have a problem if I have one making good on them.
One is .........well it's ......... heck I don't know it's old and still going strong.
I have two in my dodge, one in the sidekick that sits 99% of the time.
Fired it up yesturday just fine, and the 4BT has one also.
So I can't complane to much, as fare as warrnety, part of that is who you buy from. I am 99.9% my parts guy would not have a problem if I have one making good on them.
1 grumpy
Well-Known Member
I have to say go with the yellowtop optima,And like GRW say's I run two yellows and two reds and haven't had a problem with either.Knock on wood..
AnnaBanana
The Ditch Witch
I got a couple red optimas you can have for real cheap:haha:
convey heat real nicely... warp into beautiful shapes also!:awesomework:
convey heat real nicely... warp into beautiful shapes also!:awesomework:
junkyard jim
Well-Known Member
I had an Orbital in my J4000 (been there since '01 except when I needed to start something else or run the man lift van) Even after flipping my truck and sitting a couple hours with the lights on, it fired the truck right up and drove it around without a belt (moving trees and stuff around the yard)
I run redtops in almost everything.
oldest one was lmost 8 years, and ran STONE DEAD a BUNCH of times.
they take a good long while to re-charge right after they go dead, but I'm used to that.
I did fry ONE redtop from a screwed up winch, and a bad alternator killed another (that was almost 6 years old).
I can't complain.
oldest one was lmost 8 years, and ran STONE DEAD a BUNCH of times.
they take a good long while to re-charge right after they go dead, but I'm used to that.
I did fry ONE redtop from a screwed up winch, and a bad alternator killed another (that was almost 6 years old).
I can't complain.
Dain Bramage
Well-Known Member
no complaints on my red or yellow tops, but i have only had them for like 8 months.
mthompson223
Well-Known Member
Forget buying nifty batteries. I buy the el-cheapo 60 month specials for $40. I have never had a single battery catastrophically fail or leave me stranded because I always securely mount them. Vibration kills batteries.
I have a yellow top that is nearing the end. Had to jump it the other day after it sat for a few weeks. I bought it in 2001, and have loved its performance. Just leave the lights and music on for several hours, run accessories, then simply start! Love it... I hear mostly bad stuff about the Red tops.
To my yellow tops' cred, I had let it weld itself to my hood, thus instantly sucking all its juice, a killer for a deep cycle. It actually caught my truck/alternator/wiring loom/power steering hoses on fire. Lucky for snow! Yes, I had it poorly held down...
To my yellow tops' cred, I had let it weld itself to my hood, thus instantly sucking all its juice, a killer for a deep cycle. It actually caught my truck/alternator/wiring loom/power steering hoses on fire. Lucky for snow! Yes, I had it poorly held down...
If you're red top is more than ??? 2 year's old then you have one of the good ones, anything newer it is hit and miss, the copper bar's inside used to be 1/4" thick, now they went to something like 1/16". In the past few year's about 50% of the optima's customer's have bought have been bad out of the box, or died very soon after. Every time we spec a battery it get's an odyssey, and not one single bad battery yet.
Good to know. :corn:
TTF Fabrication
Well-Known Member
does this only apply to the red tops? or yellow tops as well. i just bought a yellow top today and hope it does better then my last red tops. the weird thing is that the red top has a 3 year free replacement warranty and the yellow top is only a 1 year, yet from what i hear the yellow tops are a better battery.
