Anyone Use Optima Batteries?

[Invasionss]

Hello & good day guys & girls,

How many of you, if there are any, use the Optima Battery?
These are fully sealed, non-maintenance batteries that are said to better so much better than the rest. I firts heard about these when i had a 4WD years ago & ARB was selling them i think from memory.

My battery is still the same one from the day it left the factory & is closing in on it's 5 year of service. I'm noticing that it is just taking the little extra second to kick it in the pants to get it started.

Thanks People, enjoy your weekend:wave:

Justin

[kart_racer]

They are very common in high-power car audio installations because of their deep-cycle abilities and their durability. I'm sure if you do a search you will find information on yellow and red top Optima batteries in the car audio technical section or on some car audio websites.

Cheers.

[Invasionss]

I just realised after putting this post up, "use the search button" you idiot.

Many thanks kart_racer, will do. I was on the Optima Battery site lastnight & read as much info as they give on them.

I think my battery could last alot longer (?) if i didn't drive with my lights on during the day, but i do this for safety reasons cause they say that black cars are hard to see! Plus i like having my lights on, might piss people off, who knows?

[Mozz]

If your battery has lasted 5 years it might be time to change it - they can fail in the most inconvenient of places.

I still distinctly remember being at PowerTorque one afternoon where one of the old staff (Jamie) just casually mentioned that my battery sounded a bit lazy when I fired up my car. I responded no worries its been like that for a while now - that night it gave up the ghost while in the staging lanes of willowbank - and the car was an auto (doh)

[bpm]

we bought an optima battery to install into the boot of a nissan gti-r were are building an engine for 3 years ago. the poor fella ran out of funds so the car has been sitting in the back corner of the workshop ever since. i just took the multimeter over to it and the battery still registers 12.2 volts!!

[nemesis5]

brilliant batteries :)
if you've got a VU then you'd be after a D34 - i had mine in the calais before upgrading to its bigger brother the D31A, it lived in a vs calais for 3 years after i used it (for about 2) and now lives in his 383 jet boat, cranks first time, ever time, and every application has seen a sound system in the mix too :thumbsup:

[Invasionss]

Thanks Guys, i'm going to get one soon & maybe buy an amplifier so the music will sound better

[CV8UTE]

I've got a yellow top battery in my ute. I'm running 3 amps, 2 subs 2 sets of speakers and I've had no issues (touch wood). Been in there since the stereo got put in about a yr ago. Good battery

[Invasionss]

Thanks again & at $399 over here in Perth, they'd wanna be F'ING good.

[Carrots]

Bought a D34 Yellow top for my SS Fifty the other day. Really impressive battery. Picked mine up for $332. Basically same kind of dollars as a Oddysey battery but apparently much better and no dramas where as the oddysey is prone to playing up according to the supplier I got mine through (who also stocked oddysey I might add).

[Invasionss]

Mr Carrots, how'd you get yours so cheap???

As i mentioned above, in Perth they are $399 & i also emailed the Australian Optima Battery website & the Yellow top D34 was $395.

Maybe people have it in for us West Ozzies?

[GenX]

The Optima Yellow Top batteries are not a bad battery. Mine lasted 2 years before playing up. The good think about it is it lasted almost a year before it was cactus.

I replaced it with a Bosch unit only 2 weeks ago. I figured at $120 with 3 years of warranty, the bosch beats the optima hands down which was $400 and 1 year warranty.

[Invasionss]

Another curious question regarding the optima batteries. They say (Optima People) that in the first 10 seconds from starting the engine that it is a critical time & this is where strong power must be needed.

Can anyone on here shed some light on this subject?

Thankyou

[Yoda]

I was also looking at the optima battery's.
I ended up with a fully sealed AGM Deka instead. About half the price of an optima Yellow top. Great battery
I have heard great reports on the Optimas but I couldn't justify the price and wanted a lighter battery for a track car.

[IWARNDU]

I use a yellow top optima battery running my car stereo only..connected to the alternator so it can be charged aswell..
highly recommended increased power to my amps and to my speakers aswell

[iamhappy46]

If your not going to be draining your battery flat all the time, the red top battery is more suitable and is cheaper than the yellow top.

I got a red top in mine and love it :) Nice alloy battery carrior to stop it being flung around too.

[Invasionss]

I asked the people at Optima Batteries about the 10 second thing after starting, haven't gotten back to me yet.

I asked them about their pathetic 1 year warranty on offer. They said they offer a 2 year warranty if you buy through them & because they only offer this is because the Optima Batteries are deep cycle.

Greame at Optima Batteries.

Thats about it there!

[iamhappy46]

America offer a 3 year replacement warranty and then a further 3 year warranty pro rata ;)

[IWARNDU]

America offer a 3 year replacement warranty and then a further 3 year warranty pro rata ;)

Only if we could be the same as america in the peformance world..

[Invasionss]

Fairly dumb response from Greame at Optime Batteries with asking about the 10 second thing.

His reply was "I am unsure of your question". It is important to start your engine asap. I am not sure about after you start it.

He is trying to sell batteries for a living & a simple thing that is on their website, couldn't be answered. I'll try again.

[iamhappy46]

Another curious question regarding the optima batteries. They say (Optima People) that in the first 10 seconds from starting the engine that it is a critical time & this is where strong power must be needed.

Can anyone on here shed some light on this subject?

Thankyou

The first 10 seconds is where the starter motor is drawing a considerably amount of current from the battery to start the car and as it turns over, the alternator begins to generate a charge as well. As the starter is drawing so much current, it can cause the lights/PCM/other electrics to not receive enough power. As the CCA rating of the Optima batteries is much higher than many other cheaper batteries, this is why the first 10 seconds is so important.

[Invasionss]

iamhappy46,

I knew that it would have something to do with the starter motor, but I would of thought that after the engine has started being 1-2 seconds, the starter motor wouldn't be used as the engine is running with the alternator starting to charge.

I guess you could sell batteries, this is the response I got from Optima.

I think that means the cranking power is so high that if you are starting a high performance engine, it can take longer to start, so that the battery will not go below 10 volts & not upsetting any electrics.

Invasionss

[APCLB]

For a battery boot install,would this be over kill for an Optima battery?


http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p319/drgwnut1/74050.jpg

[iamhappy46]

The idea behind an Optima is that you do not need a battery box as they are sealed. That is why they can be freighted by air, they emit no fumes.

[bwhinnen]

I've got a red top in the WRX, brilliant battery, I got it when I had the Motec in there as I needed as many CCA as possible to get the RPM up to get a good sync on the cam and crank angle sensors.

Has so much juice and really does last better than the standard ones. I can leave it sit for four weeks without starting and it will still start first pop.

Well worth the money.