Racecar batterys,OPTIMA

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barnym17
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Re: Racecar batterys,OPTIMA

Post by barnym17 »

Well since you put it that way I won't bother to tell you what most Zoners know that is 12.3 is not a fully charged and in fact is damn near dead.And I am sure you would not load test a battery at that state of charge,and of course I am sure you used a carbon pile load tester not a toaster oven tester or trust having it tested at a parts store. And I. Am. Sure a person of your obvious knowledge and experience did a system off amp draw test,a alternator output test, a voltage drop test of both the positive and negative circuits from alt to battery? Of course none of these tests are quite as accurate as pulling the battery cable off with the engine running.
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Re: Racecar batterys,OPTIMA

Post by justahoby »

barnym17 wrote:Well since you put it that way I won't bother to tell you what most Zoners know that is 12.3 is not a fully charged and in fact is damn near dead.And I am sure you would not load test a battery at that state of charge,and of course I am sure you used a carbon pile load tester not a toaster oven tester or trust having it tested at a parts store. And I. Am. Sure a person of your obvious knowledge and experience did a system off amp draw test,a alternator output test, a voltage drop test of both the positive and negative circuits from alt to battery? Of course none of these tests are quite as accurate as pulling the battery cable off with the engine running.
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Re: Racecar batterys,OPTIMA

Post by barnym17 »

Just razzing ya,A battery is like anything else built by man god only knows how many things can go wrong with them internal shorts, connector strap breakage etc,etc. A fully charged optima will normally show around 13.1 if it is in good shape.
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Re: Racecar batterys,OPTIMA

Post by 77cruiser »

OptimaJim wrote:77Cruiser, how high did the voltage get on those batteries when you attempted to parallel charge them?

Jim McIlvaine
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http://www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries
They would go to about 12.8 but within hours of remove the charger the voltage would drop to under 12.
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Re: Racecar batterys,OPTIMA

Post by oldhead »

I bet 12.8 is not enough to charge a battery,need atleast 13.5.I believe a fully charged acid type reads 12.8 at 100%,12.7 at 80% down to 12.3 =10%..After siting 4 hours after charge......Oldhead :D :D :D :D
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Re: Racecar batterys,OPTIMA

Post by Hectori »

You can only get vague idea if battery is faulty by measuring it`s voltage. By that i mean you can only know if voltage is low or it drops after charging. You could still have battery that gives you decent voltage but does not work properly. I used to work as a mechanic at dealership, and sometimes you just did not find anything wrong with the battery, even with extensive testing. But still, when battery was replaced, problem was fixed.

I think that best way to deal with battery or charging related problems is that just check the car and make sure everything in there is in order. Like charging, amp draw, wiring and connections, etc.. If that checks out, just throw in new battery and be done with it.
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Re: Racecar batterys,OPTIMA

Post by JoePorting »

OptimaJim wrote: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
Hi Jim: Great to see some industry people out here. Since charging systems are around 14.5 volts, why doesn't Optima make a 14 volt battery. I assume that would be a drop in.
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Re: Racecar batterys,OPTIMA

Post by redcorvette »

The nominal "full charge" voltage for a lead acid battery is 2.2 volts per cell. The actual voltage is slightly lower, ( with flooded lead batteries being slightly lower than AGM batteries ) so a 14 volt battery (7 cells) would have a nominal "full charge" voltage of 15.4 volts which would require a slightly higher charging voltage.

People where I live who want the best chance for their vehicles to start without being plugged in have switched to Odyssey or Northstar AGM batteries. These are flat plates not spiral and have more lead in them than standard AGM flatl plate batteries, providing more CCA for the same size. Sears sells a rebanded Odyssey and Exide sells a Northstar version of these higher density flat plate AGM batteries.
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Re: Racecar batterys,OPTIMA

Post by OptimaJim »

justahoby, how was your battery secured in the vehicle? Normally, the only time we ever see posts come off a battery, is if terminals are over-tightened or the battery is being held in place by the terminals. I'm not even sure how an alternator could pull a battery terminal off. If you still have the battery, I'd love to see a picture of the terminal. I worry about everyone's opinion, but I'd really like to understand what was going on with your vehicle and the battery. Where was the burned up alternator and dimming headlights in the chronology of what happened?

While our batteries aren't commonplace in OEM applications, they are in several models, ranging from Ford and Jeep to Ferrari and a few others. While many of the automakers still use wet batteries, most will all be transitioning to dry products as they introduce models with start/stop technology.

77cruiser, were the batteries still connected to the vehicle during parallel charging? Fully-charged, RedTops will measure about 12.6-12.8 volts, while YellowTops will measure about 13.0-13.2 volts.

JoePorting, I think charging systems are only one aspect that is considered in the electrical equation. We get a lot of requests on the drag racing side for a 16-volt product, but that market is extremely small and seems extremely prone to having issues. I know of at least a few guys who have run 16-volt batteries in systems designed for 12-volts, only to run into issues with some of their accessories and lights burning out.

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

Post by justahoby »

OptimaJim wrote:I'm not even sure how an alternator could pull a battery terminal off. If you still have the battery, I'd love to see a picture of the terminal. I worry about everyone's opinion, but I'd really like to understand what was going on with your vehicle and the battery.
Dont put words in my mouth [-X , I ( me myself and I, undferstood subject :roll: ) pulled the terminal off... redneck way to see if it was the alternator, I know. Battery started it right up, yet pulled it down 200-300 rpm at idle.... ..... I didn't think it was the battery myself, but after an old dead one in the corner didn't make any belt noise, and a new one didn't do that, and the ac on, headlights and everything on , your not going to convince me to put it back in... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: I really dont need to say it over and over again, do I? ](*,)
As I'm approaching 40,I still think I'm 20. What the hell is wrong with me?
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Re: Racecar batterys,OPTIMA

Post by justahoby »

Hectori wrote:You can only get vague idea if battery is faulty by measuring it`s voltage. By that i mean you can only know if voltage is low or it drops after charging. You could still have battery that gives you decent voltage but does not work properly. I used to work as a mechanic at dealership, and sometimes you just did not find anything wrong with the battery, even with extensive testing. But still, when battery was replaced, problem was fixed.

I think that best way to deal with battery or charging related problems is that just check the car and make sure everything in there is in order. Like charging, amp draw, wiring and connections, etc.. If that checks out, just throw in new battery and be done with it.
I agree, in my case it was the battery..... I too have done POS equipment for years and found the same as you, batteries can test fine, but just be a headache of all kinds...
And I know you know all the nonsense playing with batteries at an hourly rate, and then finding it is just a bad one is sometimes a colossal waste of time over simplifying the diagnosis.
In my case, battery was not dead but pulled the living shit out of my electrical system, new battery doesn't...
To me that means it will pull a load test if it cranks my engine over, yet I know for it to also has a draw is strange (clue it aint right, and I am not making up some si-fi shit)

And no again, I am not saying OPTIMAS are shit, they have good and bad, and IMO they are overrated for non special application. Will i go out and buy a 200 buck battery... hell no...
Optima Jim.... I dont have any more answers to please what you want to believe.... I have wasted much time, nursing this thing... pm me if you want it back...
As I'm approaching 40,I still think I'm 20. What the hell is wrong with me?
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Re: Racecar batterys,OPTIMA

Post by OptimaJim »

I apologize for the misunderstanding justahoby. When I asked you if you had pulled the post off, I didn't understand that you had disconnected the terminal from the post and not pulled the post/stud off the battery. So where was the burned up alternator and dimming headlights in the chronology of your events? You did indicate you had both of those issues, didn't you? I'll gladly send you an empty box with an airbill.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries
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Re: Racecar batterys,OPTIMA

Post by treyrags »

OptimaJim wrote:I apologize for the misunderstanding justahoby. When I asked you if you had pulled the post off, I didn't understand that you had disconnected the terminal from the post and not pulled the post/stud off the battery. So where was the burned up alternator and dimming headlights in the chronology of your events? You did indicate you had both of those issues, didn't you? I'll gladly send you an empty box with an airbill.

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

You don't need to apologize. His smartass attitude and cynical remarks point to an inferiority complex. Student, go figure. Thanks for contributing your battery knowledge.
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Re: Racecar batterys,OPTIMA

Post by 77cruiser »

OptimaJim wrote: 77cruiser, were the batteries still connected to the vehicle during parallel charging? Fully-charged, RedTops will measure about 12.6-12.8 volts, while YellowTops will measure about 13.0-13.2 volts.
No they weren't, when I take the charger off they read 12.8-12.9, & start dropping voltage in a short time.
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Re: Racecar batterys,OPTIMA

Post by OptimaJim »

If they were disconnected and dropped significant voltage in a short amount of time after charging, they probably need to be recycled. Sometimes a surface charge can be present after charging, but if they aren't connected to anything they should level off near their fully-charged voltage levels.

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