Looks like the Optima Red Top is on its way out...

[yellomalibu]

After putting the flat hood on the Chevelle a couple years back, the starter seemed to sometimes get heat soaked and has almost left me stranded a couple times.
I was mentioning it to my buddy at the parts store today - it was one of those hang out for a few hours at the parts store kind of days - and he said, let's test it... I had the Chevelle out as a parts runner today, getting a flat in the C10 fixed without having to sit around the tire shop.

...so he puts the tester on it, and the 800 cranking amp Red Top tested at 440 cranking amps. I'm on borrowed time. It seems 17 years is all I'm going to get out of this battery.

[Barry Donovan]

for central florida..
that's like saying antifreeze flunked after 60 years.

silliness.
we cannot do closed top here, the battery will be in your eye looking for the wet spot to decay the escaping cathode anode travels in a dry 30 below january.

I hope that is confusing.

batteries of the old kind told me i needed diodes and relays..

[BlueCuda340]

While I think Optima went through a rough patch awhile back, they are good product. If you have consistent optima problems you have other demons.

The optima stuff works better at a lower voltage than conventional batteries which is good and bad. Its good because it can give you run time in crappy situations, its bad because they can be tricky to charge when they get to low. I am the GM at an Interstate Batteries distributorship, most all optima battery problems come from lack of knowledge and equipment on the behalf of the owner. Somehow even seasoned mechanics think you can charge a battery in just an hour or whatever. If you have a dead battery they take time to charge, 12-24 hours generally to be back to %100. If you have an Optima or other AGM they can be tricky to charge when they get really low. If you have an Optima, Interstate MT7, Odyssey, or other AGM battery invest in an AGM charger. In fact the chargers that Optima sells are really good!

My Yellowtop in my Barracuda is going on five years old now, I have better stuff available now to me (Interstate MT7) but the battery is really hard to change and its working fine lol. I have the small optima charger I use occasionally to make sure its fully charged.

[silver_bullet]

we have had excellent luck with Optima... Today's cars have so many electronics that they will drain an average battery in a matter of days in storage... our red top in the bullet improved that dramatically!

[yellomalibu]

Each year I've had the same battery in the car has amazed me. I bought this battery in 1998... I thought it was crazy to pay almost a hundred dollars for a battery, but it was a great choice, obviously.
If it had been in a daily driver, I can't imagine it would have lasted this long, but for a car that sits a lot - often for months at a time, it seems to be the way to go.
Yes, I've heard Optimas aren't what they used to be, and BlueCuda just suggested their problems are in the past; that they are good again...
Now that a cheap battery is $70, and the optima is around $200, will I go with another optima? What say you guys?

[Scott Liggett]

Most problems with Optimas are user error. Of course, 99 out of 100 people will never admit it. Same goes with carbs. Optima gets a ton back that have nothing wrong with them.

Personal experience from working on cars has shown me that most problems with starting and charging starts with the wiring. I just went through this again while working on my Caprice. Most of my starting issue were small and old battery cables. My battery wasnt bad, but threads on the side post battery were stripped. Didnt have a good connection. This made charging it by the battery cables a problem.

[BlueCuda340]

AGM batteries will become more and more prevalent as vehicles start to get more and more and more electronic crap on them. Also the "Key Off Drain" is higher as well with all of the kids electronics plugged in etc. AGM Batteries especially the higher end above Optima suct as Odyssey and Interstate MT7 deal with that better. They accept a charge faster than conventional batteries which helps make sure moms minivan gets back to %100 charge on her trip to drop the kids off after sitting all night with 5 things plugged into the power ports drawing power. The R&D into all that boring daily driver crap gives us better options for our hot rods!

[Runner1972]

I never try to upsell Optima batteries to people, they just sit too long on the shelf and are usually dead. I have dealt way too many times with dead optima red and yellow tops warranty issues.

[STINEY]

http://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us/support/battery-care/tech-tip-articles/

[JOES66FURY]

I had good luck with them. The one in my truck was about 8 years old when I traded it in and I had one in the Fury that lasted a while but due to sitting for loooong periods it did not last as long as I had hoped. With Red Top prices in the 200 range now I'll stick with regular old batteries. I cant get a battery for under 100 bucks out here and thats the low end Autozone special. I've got an Interstate that sat in disconnected in the Fury for 2 years in the Az sun. I charged it and it has been performing perfectly for over a year now....I''m an Interstate guy now (when I can afford it)

[yellomalibu]

looks like I won't be getting any battery for the Chevelle soon... the truck just hit me with a triple whammy...

[BlueCuda340]

My favorite thing about AGM batteries is really the lack of corrosion, they don't gas under most normal circumstances, and they don't leak acid so they are always really clean which is valuable in some of our old cars. I consider that a huge plus and selling point, there is no extra cable on any modern car so it can be expensive to replace a terminal end etc, and in old iron you don't have to worry about tray corrosion etc.