Racecar batterys,OPTIMA

[lorax]

Battery threads are almost as good as oil threads.

Nobody even mentioned Lith/ion. Bunch of blue hairs stuck with your slide rules and pencil sharpeners.
Wonder how many spiral wrapped AGM or flooded lead grid batteries are used in Nascar, Indy and F1? Probably the same number using dino oil

[justahoby]

Battery threads are almost as good as oil threads.

Nobody even mentioned Lith/ion. Bunch of blue hairs stuck with your slide rules and pencil sharpeners.
Wonder how many spiral wrapped AGM or flooded lead grid batteries are used in Nascar, Indy and F1? Probably the same number using dino oil

If our resident expert 540 Rat will grace us with his outstanding knowledge and send them to some unofficial testing facility that does not have traceability to NIST, maybe he could shed false hopes on batteries..lmao

Soon he will be buying cams and sending them off to test Rockwell hardness to tell people if they don't follow his charts their cams will go flat

IMHO , If you don't go off road and upside down, OPTIMA is an overrated , and as far as other batteries, they all are made by few manufacturers that slap Die hard or wal-mart stickers on them... And get returned to be recycled to let's say Auto Zone or back to Interstate.
I have had wal mart batteries last 3 years , left headlights on killed them twice, Optimas , interstate , al last for a few years, and upwards of 5.. With my habit of leaving headlights on.... I too buy "shit" brand oils and keep it changed and never had a problem...

[lorax]

Battery threads are almost as good as oil threads.

Nobody even mentioned Lith/ion. Bunch of blue hairs stuck with your slide rules and pencil sharpeners.
Wonder how many spiral wrapped AGM or flooded lead grid batteries are used in Nascar, Indy and F1? Probably the same number using dino oil

If our resident expert 540 Rat will grace us with his outstanding knowledge and send them to some unofficial testing facility that does not have traceability to NIST, maybe he could shed false hopes on batteries..lmao

Soon he will be buying cams and sending them off to test Rockwell hardness to tell people if they don't follow his charts their cams will go flat

IMHO , If you don't go off road and upside down, OPTIMA is an overrated , and as far as other batteries, they all are made by few manufacturers that slap Die hard or wal-mart stickers on them... And get returned to be recycled to let's say Auto Zone or back to Interstate.
I have had wal mart batteries last 3 years , left headlights on killed them twice, Optimas , interstate , al last for a few years, and upwards of 5.. With my habit of leaving headlights on.... I too buy "shit" brand oils and keep it changed and never had a problem...

Optimas and Odyssey are very popular in boats for that reason. I use Optimas in my boat with no problems to date. Run them 5 years and change them out. usually give them to friends and they get another year to out of them in a car. But I run a Walmart flooded grid in my road car.
IMO, the very best flooded grid battery is Lifeline's, but they are a little pricey.

[enigma57]

They have some marine type batteries which are sealed and jell filled, though. Was looking at a size 27 with 990 cold cranking amps to mount in the trunk near the right rear wheel well. Has anyone used the jell filled marine type batteries? And are they OK to use in the trunk without venting? Just wondering and thanks in advance for any info.

Best regards,

Harry

Harry, I would recommend venting any trunk mounted battery.....

Thanks, Bob...... Will do! Better safe than sorry.

Happy Motoring,

Harry

[Hectori]

Well, i have several friends that have tried optimas and they all seem to fail after one year. They has been used in all kind of daily drivers. Maybe they are manufactures in some other place than batteries that you buy. But on conventional lead batteries, only ones that fail, is old (atleast that 3 years, often more like +5) or just bad one. And i still don`t have a choke on my carbed cars and it never fails to start even when i don`t drive it for few weeks. Maybe Optimas here are manufactured on different place than those that you get.

(and sometimes we do have that -40f too. That -22F is still normal winter).

Gel batteries have some advantages, but when Optima costs here 300-450$ it is hard to justify buying it, when you can get good lead battery for 80$.

[jim_ss409]

I've had an Optima battery in my race car for at least 5 years and it's still working great.
I don't have a special charger but my charger only goes to 20 amps.

[OptimaJim]

Hello, I noticed your conversation involving our batteries and wanted to offer some assistance. While our batteries are “sealed” any lead-acid battery can vent gas that is both flammable and toxic in extreme situations. For that reason, we always recommend that any lead-acid battery mounted in a trunk or interior be vented to the outside air.

Orr89rocz, whenever any battery is going into storage for an extended period of time, it should be fully-charged beforehand. If that doesn't happen, the battery could end up sulfating while in storage, which decreases capacity and lifespan. When bringing any battery out of storage, it should be fully-charged again before going into use. Most alternators with stock pulleys are designed to maintain a battery near a full state of charge, not recharge deeply-discharged batteries. Asking that task of an alternator can lead to a cycle of dead batteries and jump-starts, until either the battery or alternator fails. Using an underdrive pulley can accelerate that process.

Once your engine is started, the vehicle's charging system should be able to supply all the electricity that is needed for the vehicle, while maintaining the battery. If your battery is being discharged down to 60% while your engine is running, your charging system is not keeping pace with the electrical demands of your vehicle. What is the voltage of your battery right now?

DaveMcLain is correct- many of the “bad” batteries returned to us under warranty are just deeply-discharged and work fine, when properly-recharged. The issue, as lorax mentioned, is that many chargers on the market won't deliver any current to batteries that have been disc harged below a minimum voltage level (usually around 10.5 volts). In most situations, most battery chargers will work just fine on Optima batteries, but if a battery is discharged below a charger's minimum voltage threshold, the charger may not work, unless a second battery with known good voltage is wired in parallel, which we also explain in this video- http://youtu.be/ovtO4C68Sg4 77cruiser, what is the voltage of your RedTops right now?

There seems to be some confusion about whether Optima batteries need a special charger- they do not. We don't recommend charging at a rate that exceeds 10 amps, but beyond that, most chargers will work just fine. I've noticed “gel” batteries have been mentioned several times in this thread and some folks believe the battery they are using is a gel battery. Optima batteries are not gel batteries and I have yet to see any automotive application with a gel battery, outside of an electric golf cart. That is relevant, because many battery chargers have “gel” or “gel/AGM” settings, which may not fully-charge non-gel batteries and could damage them over time. We recommend avoiding those settings for Optima batteries.

justahoby, I'd be interested in learning more about how any battery could make an alternator belt squeal. Whenever any battery is discharged below 12.4 volts, as you indicated is the case with your battery, suflation begins to form in the battery. I would encourage you to fully-charge your battery as soon as possible.

lorax, with weight savings being such an important concern for top-tier racing series, those cars almost all use lithium technology exclusively. However, our batteries are still used by many of those teams on a regular basis on race weekends- https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 077&type=3

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
http://www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries

[justahoby]

Optimajim, I'm pretty sure it was just a bad one... It pulls the motor down pretty hard 200-300 rpm and I just never noticed it till I pulled that hard till I finally pulled a post off... New wal mart battery it no longer pulls it down , and the belt squeal that I never could sort out stopped It is a new style serpentine belt with a 100 amp cs130 alternator.
I am pretty surre it was a bad one I got for nada.. Big short = big load to alternator= big load on belt
But hey it's just a bad one, happens to everything

[77cruiser]

77cruiser, what is the voltage of your RedTops right now?

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
http://www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries

One was @ 9.7 the other about 11.7.

[fdicrasto]

A 100 amp alternator w/serpentine belt and spring loaded tensioner can definitely cause belt squeal when trying to charge a drastically discharged battery. Not so much with a traditional V-belt that has been been tightened and locked tight the old fashioned way like some of us blue hairs might be inclined to do. We like replacing water pumps a lot. Phil D.

[justahoby]

A 100 amp alternator w/serpentine belt and spring loaded tensioner can definitely cause belt squeal when trying to charge a drastically discharged battery. Not so much with a traditional V-belt that has been been tightened and locked tight the old fashioned way like some of us blue hairs might be inclined to do. We like replacing water pumps a lot. Phil D.

Thank you sir..... this battery was charged some how but was pulling a short load, months before i found it... anyone want a free optima???

[OptimaJim]

justajoby, when you say you pulled a post off, does that mean you pulled one of your battery posts off? 77Cruiser, how high did the voltage get on those batteries when you attempted to parallel charge them?

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

[justahoby]

justajoby, when you say you pulled a post off, does that mean you pulled one of your battery posts off? 77Cruiser, how high did the voltage get on those batteries when you attempted to parallel charge them?

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
http://www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries

Yup while it was running ( it is of the non EFI Stone Age carburetor variety), not only did it stop squealing as it did for a year, it never did with a new battery. Would you like me to make a video of its charg and pulling down my motor ?
I am not bashing your product, but am saying 1: you can get bad of anything regardless of QC 2: I see no problem using a pos brand battery unless a non liquid type is called for. I wouldn't worry about my opinion , as you guys sell enough of your product bill boarded all over, and people can buy its pretty color. It is a good battery,
But I don't see many oems buy them, except military use, yet most of the batteries there are wet cell anyway
But them ricers and loud stereo boomers like them- Yo

[barnym17]

The reason the belt quit squealing is with the battery unhooked is you removed all the load on the alternator it was only supplying the ignition system, no longer t4ying to charge the battery so amperage requirement went way down as did power required to turn it.

[justahoby]

The reason the belt quit squealing is with the battery unhooked is you removed all the load on the alternator it was only supplying the ignition system, no longer t4ying to charge the battery so amperage requirement went way down as did power required to turn it.

i do know that. .... why even when charged did it squeal for a year.... do you doubt there was an internal short???? i also put another dead battery on it and it did not squeal( hence why I boughht a new one), put a massively shorted battery on something and tell me it wont pull a motor down 200-300 rpm..if it was a wet cell I am sure it would have boiled
would you like my shit battery? come and get it.

If you read what I said over and over... one year squealed like hell
Removed post, stopped squalling,
Dead battery in garage, no squeal,(i imagine the post was on )
New Battery from wal mart( i sure hope the post was on because something makes it crank over )

My battery is bad yet says 12.3, it pulls a massive load... dont like my diagnosis, come and get my lovely battery.
(oh my headlights dont seem so dim now, I always blamed it on my ancient sealed beams for about a year)

BUt if you read what I am saying ( and think i dont know I pulled a load off when I disconnected the cable) i invite you to keep such a battery that pulls 300 rpm of idle speed no matter how charged it seems.
Come to think of it it may have been a cause for a bad burned alternator last May , I am happy now... want me to go back fix a belt that no longer squeals under normal use with a decent battery, headlights and A/C on?
I am sure it was a bad battery, but hey thanks for the "Autozone" lesson