The Optima finally died

[Milford Cubicle II]

Oh goody, the classic Optima Q-C debate again!!

If you want to read where this is going, you can check here: http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1030883

If you're too lazy to click here, the quick version is this: nobody at optima will admit that their products are not up to the standards of 8 yrs ago and that everyone claiming to have a failed optima is either 1) an idiot who can't figure out Optima's charging procedure or 2) just extremely unlucky ...


For what it's worth, I traded in my old DD at the end of 2011 with my ~10yr old red top still going strong. The old Optima batteries produced until 2003/4 timeframe were flat awesome!


Optima now makes some of the fanciest paper weights and doorstops on the market!

cliffs notes for the lazy: NEW OPTIMA BATTERIES ARE COMPLETE GARBAGE- DO NOT BUY ONE unless you have hundred dollar bills to light on fire!... Red Tops made in the past 5 years suck donkey balls.... Optima will give you some Bullshit reply about you have to charge them a special way, but it's a crock... I have now had the last 5 Red tops I have owned fail within 2 yrs and they never hold a charge after the first year or so, in an occasional use vehicle. One of these, I had a battery disconnect in so I know if wasn't a short... If you get a replacement under warranty, sell it immediately and go buy something else...

Wait, I'm confused...

 

[WTF]

Every Optima i've used that was built 2005 or later was crap iand is long dead.

The old ones were awesome, which is why these guys are posting about their 8/9/10 yr old batteries finally dying.

Jim swears nothing has changed though, since johnson controls took over.

 

[jeepgeek2002]

Well he did kinda say the Mexican plant wasn't so good. didnt he?

 

[OptimaJim]

jeepgeek2002, I apologize for not being clearer in my earlier post. From our perspective as a manufacturer, we monitor our warranty returns and manufacturing defect rates very closely. All the data we have gathered on our end indicates the batteries we are producing today are the best we have ever made, although our quality has always been excellent.

I understand that information is often greeted with a degree of skepticism, especially from those who have had personal experiences that don't match what we see as a company. However, those familiar with us and our parent company, JCI, understand we're not trying to hide anything or deceive anyone. Ask if our warranty has any unusual conditions and I'll post a link to the whole thing. Ask who makes our batteries and I'll tell you we make our own. Ask if we've made any changes and I'll tell you any changes we've made have improved our products (yes, we still use 99.99% pure lead). Ask where our batteries are made and I'll post a link to the video of our production facility that we host on our website.

When every other battery manufacturer or brand makes their way onto message boards and people start asking the same questions of them, they might be surprised by the answers given. Until that happens, we're willing to take the heat.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

 

[jeepgeek2002]

I'm not complaining.. matter a fact im getting an other Red Top friday!

 

[jbmoose]

Damn, OptimaJim is the most patient person on the internet.

X2. I would buy an Optima yellow top again, hands down. I've had mine since '03, and I run (4) PIAA 520's on the roof, (2) PIAA 540's on the bumper, (2) PIAA 510's in the bumper, and an Excelon 300W amp. Mind you they're all not on at the same time very often, but when it was required, that yellow top performed flawlessly. Most other batts would have crumbled under that load for the sustained period of time (had all lights on to assist local PD with vehicle recovery). And all with an OE alternator and I dont run a capacitor for the amp, since it is only a single 12". If I can get a guy like this to answer my questions or concerns, it's worth it. And I drive past Deka Manufacturing, in Topton, PA, every day.

 

[97XJ Jeeper]

I got a yellow top 2 months ago and now on cold mornings it is really slow to crank. Once the battery is warmed up it works fine for the rest of the day. A few warm morning we had it starts normal. Anybody else having a problem like this?

 

[Milford Cubicle II]

I recently picked up a yellow top from my friend, who went roughly four days without starting his car and when he tried, the battery was dead. He just went and bought a new battery and said I could take the optima. It was about a year and a half old so I said sure, thinking that he just left his amp on or something and drained the battery after letting it sit for a few days. So I took it home and threw it on my charger - it charged fine and held the charge for several days. So thinking that my original, factory motorcraft battery in my car could probably use replacement, I threw the optima in. The very next morning it was dead. It would crank, but not fast enough to start. Now I'm back to my 7 year old motorcraft battery and it's still working fine.

Personally, I'm 0 for 2 with optima and like 6 for 6 with every other random brand. Take it for what it's worth.

 

[Lowrange2]

You just charged it with a standard charger?

You know, they charge differently...

Had a guy bring a redtop into the store for a core and bought a new battery. I took it home and charged it the way that Optima recommends. It's in my Jeep to this day (3 years later) with not one hard start.

 

[97XJ Jeeper]

Well turned out to be a bad battery. Had it replaced for free. Yes I know they charge differently.

 

[Milford Cubicle II]

You just charged it with a standard charger?

You know, they charge differently...

Had a guy bring a redtop into the store for a core and bought a new battery. I took it home and charged it the way that Optima recommends. It's in my Jeep to this day (3 years later) with not one hard start.

Most "standard" chargers nowadays have an AGM setting - which is what I used.