I seem to be having a problem with a red top Optima battery that is really driving me nuts. The battery seems to charge, seems to hold a charge for about a day (as per volt meter), but is drawn down two and a half volts as soon as the key is turned....

If this were a conventional wet cell battery I would say that it toast but I did not think that Optima's behaved that way....

Can an Optima Battery Go Bad?

Thanks
Adivanman
James
www.BGRSA.com (http://www.BGRSA.com)

Yes they can, I had one myself. I was told by Optima not to use the big battery chargers, as they can ruin the batteries if left on too long. They sell a small 1-2 amp model specifically for this reason. I think I cooked mine honestly.

Others have said that is not an issue with those batteries, but that is what I was told on the phone by them.

Jody

After several time of having to withdraw from races I dumped the Optima battery. Even after it wouldn't start the car, it would show fully charged after only 10-15 minutes on a 10 amp charger. If it was fully down, it should have taken several hours to charge. When I took it out of the car about a year ago, it should have been discharged. It wouldn't turn over the engine. A couple weeks ago I put the charger on it and it showed fully charged. I won't use them again. I know several guys that have had problems with them, particularly in race cars.

The side post broke on my optima. Same thing happend to a friend of mine while he was doing a burn out at a race.

I am on my 3rd optima in 2 years heh. Luckily they were all replaced for free and granted part of was my fault. My car had a bad drain and the battery would go completely dead. If would never re charge after that. I haven't had any problems since. I was also told that they should be charged with a trickle charger at a slow rate. I bought one for $20 and toss it on there for about 30 minutes every so often. haven't had any problems since.

See my answer on the Camaro site...