Optima Battery Question

[deserteagle71]

I bought my 2006 Jeep Wrangler in 2011, so 11 years ago this month. It had a red-top Optima in it when I bought it, and that same battery is still in the Jeep and working well today. So I really don't know how old it is but it's at least 11 years old.

 

[not2old]

My 1990 f250 with 460 is on it's third Optima. The first lasted more than a dozen years and I replaced the second one two years ago when it became about the same age because a dead battery is very inconvenient after a day of sledding. That second battery seemed very weak so was just sitting. I had recently purchased a Noco reconditioning charger and put it on the Optima just as a curiosity. It did seem to bring it back and has been in daily use in a Volvo 960 since. My truck does not see a lot of use and the new battery was found to be dead once. I didn't find anything wrong and has worked fine after that one charging. I put a small yellow top in my GC and it works very well for the third winter now.

 

[ljjhouser]

The battery I use on my trailer winch is a yellow top. It was worked for about 4 years, but not used often (which may be harder on it than daily use). It is kept on a maintenainer. Only one comment - I do feel like a battery which costs between $300-$400 should have a longer warrantee than 2/3 years. Mine still works. And as most of us knows, winches under load draw a lot of current and if we have a newer truck, are reluctant to use the truck battery.

Many years ago, I bought a new 1995 Bronco Eddie Baur. Nice vehicle. One day (about a year old) the mirror (which was stuck to the windshield) fell off and was hanging by it's cord. I didn't want it to dangle by the cord (which was like a light-weight phone cord and connector). So being a smart and somewhat intelligent person (yes, my opinion) I unpuged the mirror and placed it into the passenger seat. Then pulled back onto the highway..

With that mirror unhooked, now the transmission would not shift out of low gear.

That is how integrated electrical and electronics have become in later vehicles. (that was 1995). I refused to operate a winch off my 2021 truck. I know people do it all the time. But I also you cannot get a brake controller added to the truck without having the dealer reprogram the computer. That is why I buy with tow package. Anyway, I will never forget that experience. Sorry for the long post.

 

[5030]

When Johnson Controls moved the Optima production from Waterville, Ohio to Mexico, everything went down the crapper.

 

[Midniteoyl]

This is what the company says:

OPTIMA Batteries Suck? The Truth

So, company that makes batteries says theirs are the best and critics are wrong?

 

[5030]

I'm sure most of you realize the picture captioned on their website is a picture taken in the Mexico facility... Not Waterville, Ohio. Over the years I've had a couple and from my experience, they aren't heads and shoulders above the pack except in price. I'll take a flooded cell Interstate over an Optima anyday.

 

[jpolcyn]

I have had good luck with them. Still have 3 red tops in operation and all of them are over 10years old. I can not speak to the new ones but i would not be surprised by them going down the crapper after Johnson controls bought them.

 

[5030]

I have had good luck with them. Still have 3 red tops in operation and all of them are over 10years old. I can not speak to the new ones but i would not be surprised by them going down the crapper after Johnson controls bought them.

Actually, Johnson Controls has always owned the brand but they were made here. When they moved production to Mexico, the quality took a dump. In reality there are only a few outfits that make ALL domestic batteries. Not unexpected in my opinion. Quality and pride in manufacturing goes south when you pay a worker maybe 10 bucks a day versus 25 bucks an hour here. It's all about maximum profit and minimum investment in employee wages.

 

[crashz]

I replaced the stock battery in my 2012 Silverado as a maintenance item, about 3 years ago. I keep the truck in the garage and avoid driving it in the winter to keep it from rusting as much as possible. But each year I seem to forget to charge the battery and it will go dead in a couple of months.

I replaced the stock battery with an Optima redtop and I haven't had any major issues, but it does seem to discharge a bit faster. I keep it on a trickle charger now and if I take it off for a week, it will be 50% or so. In a month off of the charger, it will not have enough juice to start the truck.

 

[5030]

Keep in mind that any vehicle that is computer (ECM) controlled, the brain box will continuously draw a tiny amount of juice to keep the memory alive. SOP for me is a tender on my vehicles when parked for more than a week anyway. Most ECM's will operate down to 11 volts. After that, they become DOA.

My mom had a Chrysler Sebring that would eat a battery in a week no issue. I finally installed a tender under the hood with the plug where she could reach it with an extension cord as I got tired of driving over there to jump start her car.