I have a 5 year old red top Optima that is giving me trouble, I had it tested today and it dropped to 5 volts with a 190 amp load. I have two questions:

1) Is it possible to bring this battery back up to good specs with a re-charge?

2) If I buy a new battery are the Optima's worth the extra money?

I think this battery may have been a lemon to begin with, after one year of using it I remember it being at 12.3 volts when the engine is not running. I've heard a lot of people say that it should have atleast 13 volts. Keep in mind that this car gets driven once a week for a short cruise/beating :yes:. I'm thinking of getting one of those battery tenders to keep it fresh since I don't drive the car much.

Don't know about yours but, I had a red top that was about a month old. It got discharged with a dome light left on. It set for over a month in this condition. I tried to recharge and it seemed to work but if it set for more than 2 days it would go down to around 9 volts. Took it back to dealer and they tested and gave me a new one. I told them that it had been discharged tilll it was flat and they said, "that usually kills them". I don't know if they knew what they were talking about, but they gave me another one, no charge. Its still in the car three years later. Would I "buy" another one.......... not so sure since they went WAY up in price. I would probably look at other solutions. Oh, the dealer that stood behind their product was PepBoys. Kudos to them.

Well, I drive my car only about 4 or 5 times a year and the AC/Delco battery I put in it in 2000 is still going strong. I disconnect the battery any time I'm not driving or working on the car and I've never used a tender or charger on this battery. I've read lots of good and bad about Optima batteries but overall I can't see how the extra cost can be easily justified given that they seem to fare no better, and quite often worse, than regular wet batteries that cost noticeably less.

Well, I drive my car only about 4 or 5 times a year and the AC/Delco battery I put in it in 2000 is still going strong. I disconnect the battery any time I'm not driving or working on the car and I've never used a tender or charger on this battery. I've read lots of good and bad about Optima batteries but overall I can't see how the extra cost can be easily justified given that they seem to fare no better, and quite often worse, than regular wet batteries that cost noticeably less.

I disconnect mine too when I'm not using it. Not sure what I paid 5 years ago but when I saw the price today I had to see what experience you guys have had with these batteries. It does have some nice features (sealed, no maintenance, etc.) and I've never had any corrosion problems either but I may take a chance on a cheaper one. Thanks for the input guys!

I have had 2 optima red tops, I never had good luck with either. Went to AC Delco too and never had any problems!

Interesting! When I STF on batteries a few months back it was the Optima Red Top hands down as the preferred battery for our cars.

I disconnect mine too when I'm not using it. Not sure what I paid 5 years ago but when I saw the price today I had to see what experience you guys have had with these batteries. It does have some nice features (sealed, no maintenance, etc.) and I've never had any corrosion problems either but I may take a chance on a cheaper one. Thanks for the input guys!

If by "cheaper" you mean the least expensive battery you can buy, I'll suggest you not do that. Buy a quality name brand battery and you'll be ahead in the long run. I put a cheapie in my winter time beater and never got more than three years out of one. The parts store always warrantied it or at least pro-rated it, but it should have simply lasted at least as long as it was warrantied for. I switched back to a better quality battery and haven't had any problems since.

If by "cheaper" you mean the least expensive battery you can buy, I'll suggest you not do that. Buy a quality name brand battery and you'll be ahead in the long run. I put a cheapie in my winter time beater and never got more than three years out of one. The parts store always warrantied it or at least pro-rated it, but it should have simply lasted at least as long as it was warrantied for. I switched back to a better quality battery and haven't had any problems since.

Thanks for the tip. In your previous post I saw that you have an AC Delco and had no problems so I was going to start there.

i have an Exide spiral cell battery- identical to an Optima red- and i've had it since the summer of 2001. it's been in several different cars, and has been drawn totally dead a few times. it sat the last 2 winters in the Monte with the cables hooked up, and the car always fired right up when i walked out there in the dead of winter to see if it would start.
it's currently in my 82 Ford F250 beater that gets started about once a week and run for maybe 10 minutes, and it's working pretty good. the only reason it's in there is because i had a dead short in the battery cable in the Monte that melted the lead on the side terminal of the battery, thus making it unusable in a side terminal car.

Thanks for the tip. In your previous post I saw that you have an AC Delco and had no problems so I was going to start there.

Gotcha, that's a good place to start. These batteries have always worked well for me and just look right sitting in a GM product!

I've always had good luck with Interstate Batteries. Down here, it's the heat that kills batteries.

just the lack of acid is almost worth the extra price for me, plus, i had one that went trouble free for well over five years (more like 7 and thats about 4 more than any previous battery lasted, granted, i never tried another hi buck one before) and the only time i had to touch it was to jump or start other cars. and when i bought a new one i put a battery killing cheapie charger on it (charger: 3 kills - batteries 0) i somehow managed to lose my receipt and the computer at pep boys somehow managed to lose my file, well, the goon manager said their was nothing they could do. my loss, after reading a post here, i called optima about a year later (almost 2 from purchase date) and gave them my sobby lil' story, sent them the numbers off the case and they hooked me up with a new one all but free, i think i ended up paying 25 or 30 bucks, until one explodes in my face from spontaneous combustion, i'll be packin' a red top,.... besides, it matches my car. :p

maybe its just me, i can't speak for others but usually when a big company treats me better than i have a right to expect, i'm theirs till i'm personally proven incorrect.

No experience with Optima but a regular battery is normally good for me for 4 years with little care. A sealed batt is just one you can't add water to so its a toss at around 4 years, but you can usually pop the tops off to put water in them.

Batteries don't last forever. I'm not convinced the charging done by a (or an old) vehicle particularly one with an old regulator is optimum. Think more about the whole charge/discharge system, then think of the batt as part of it... That means an electronic regulator or a modern alternator with a built in regulator... The mechanical system works, but requires tuning (the regulator). Not something one normally thinks about the charging system