battery
08-22-12, 12:55 PM
#16
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Location: Tennessee
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Beware!! Many people are recommending Optima Yellow Top and Odyssey and some other fancy expensive ones. Since 2002 I've been fighting batteries, it's my only car complaint. I started with a Yellow Top - died. Went to an Odyssey - died. Just had the second Odyssey DIE. I'm $600 into the battery companies. I just put in a Kirkland from Costco.
These deep-cycle batteries (gel/absorbed glass mat (AGM)) cannot take a deep discharge. I thought that's what the stinking things were for!!! I don't drive my car every day, sometimes it sits for a few. Once one of these batteries gets really discharged (and it doesn't take much), it may get partially sulfated, or one or more of the cells just doesn't come back to life, and may become a drain on the others. I even have the Odyssey charger that is the only type of charger you're supposed to use with Odysseys - the charger has a special cycle that supposedly can break up sulfation crystals if your battery is toasted. Well, doesn't seem to work very well.
The other thing is that I don't think they produce as much current as their regular wet-cell brothers. The Kirkland I have (made by Johnson Controls, same mfr. as Optima) seems to produce at least as much current as any of the batteries I've had.
I'm really thinking the Optima and Odyssey are really a bunch of horse-hooey. The Kirkland has a 3 year full replacement, before they even start to prorate it.
These deep-cycle batteries (gel/absorbed glass mat (AGM)) cannot take a deep discharge. I thought that's what the stinking things were for!!! I don't drive my car every day, sometimes it sits for a few. Once one of these batteries gets really discharged (and it doesn't take much), it may get partially sulfated, or one or more of the cells just doesn't come back to life, and may become a drain on the others. I even have the Odyssey charger that is the only type of charger you're supposed to use with Odysseys - the charger has a special cycle that supposedly can break up sulfation crystals if your battery is toasted. Well, doesn't seem to work very well.
The other thing is that I don't think they produce as much current as their regular wet-cell brothers. The Kirkland I have (made by Johnson Controls, same mfr. as Optima) seems to produce at least as much current as any of the batteries I've had.
I'm really thinking the Optima and Odyssey are really a bunch of horse-hooey. The Kirkland has a 3 year full replacement, before they even start to prorate it.
I read your post and would like to try and find out a bit more information about your battery issues. How much time between your battery replacements? Did you happen to check the voltage on the batteries when you replaced them? Just wondering who determined they were in fact bad and non rechargeable? I can not speak for the other brand but I am pretty familiar with Optima batteries and common misconceptions about them. Just to be sure everyone knows, Gel cell technology and AGM technology are not the same. Even though some battery charger manufacturers have one setting for both batteries, they are not built the same or have much in common. You are correct, if any battery becomes deeply discharged, they may suffer from sulfation and that can shorten the life of your battery. On a YellowTop, Optima considers it 100% discharged at 11.20volts, and fully charged at a range between 13.0 and 13.2 volts.
The 10.5 volt measurement you mentioned is the voltage that some chargers don't recognize the battery if is at lower voltage. At this point, Optima recommends putting a known charged battery in parellel until the discharged battery gets to the 10.5 volts. In fact, some manufacturers will void your warranty if you bring in one of their batteries below that 10.5 voltage so that is where you hear 10.5 volts.
An Optima can be charged with any standard charger, we just ask that you don't charge at a rate over 10amps and be sure to watch it to be sure it doesn't get hot to the touch. AGM batteries are more efficient and therefore don't need 20 amps or more to recharge. In fact, over 10 amps could possibly ruin a perfectly fine battery other than it's state of charge.
Again, I am not sure about the other brand charger, but Optima released our branded charger earlier this year. It does have a cycle that breaks up sulfation, and works great. I recently recharged a RedTop that read 4.3 volts before charging. It cycling through about 12 hours on the new charger, and has worked fine since, and this particular battery is 11 years old. Any micro-processor style charger with an AGM setting should work fine as a charger.
Any battery that sits for a period of time should be left in a fully charged state to avoid sulfation.
One last thing, all deep-cycle batteries are created equal. We call, and rightfully so, our YellowTops and BlueTops “dual-purpose deep-cycling” batteries. This means they are of course deep cycle batteries but also are fine to use as OEM starter batteries. Some deep-cycle batteries have a much lower CCA or CA rating and may not start your car properly.
On our warranty, we offer 3 year free replacement as long as it isn't commercial use.
I hope this helps and if not feel free to ask more questions, either here or via PM.
Thanks,
Bill Howell
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
08-22-12, 01:00 PM
#17
I just had Lexus replace mine before I sold the car. They wanted $105 for the battery and $80 to install it.
Needless to say I laughed at $80 to install the battery and had it done at no charge. I was already having other things done to the car that required the battery to be disconnected. $105 is probably still too much for the battery but I was being lazy.
Needless to say I laughed at $80 to install the battery and had it done at no charge. I was already having other things done to the car that required the battery to be disconnected. $105 is probably still too much for the battery but I was being lazy.
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