TX-Techman

Hi all,
I purchased my 69 in Sept 2008 and I replaced the battery with a Optima Red Top in Oct 2008. At the time they had a 6 year warranty with 3 year free replacement. I am in Texas and the car is driven year round but I have a battery disconnect and battery tender on it while parked in the garage, which is most of the time. I say that so that you understand that the problem is not the Texas heat or cold. The garage swings from around 40 to 90 degrees f which is extremely mild and the battery is inside the cabin on these cars too.

I put around 1000 miles per year on the car and the first battery only lasted 3 years, fortunately just inside the Free Replacement period in Oct 2011. The car started Monday evening but I went out today to head for our monthly Vette meeting and the battery was completely dead, under 3 volts is what my charger reported. I have a charger for gel batteries, so I put it on charge, and the charger soon reported BAD Battery. So now 2 1/2 years into the 2nd battery it too is completely done. I took it back to Autozone and they again replaced the battery free of charge. The manager was very nice but insistent that the car has a problem. I do not by that, in fact I put a meter on the battery and with everything off except the clock it shows 25 milliamp which is really nothing. With the disconnect off, there is no drain at all. He said most every classic car has Optima Red Top and this issue is very rare. He would have let me have a standard battery but I went ahead with another Red Top, if it lasts 2 or 3 years I will be happy, with the exception of the pain of dead batteries. I also found it interesting that the date code on the battery was 10/2011 but he said Autozone covers the warranty cost on batteries not the manufacturer. What a great gig for a manufacturer.

Anyway, I just wanted to check with the forum and see if my experience is typical. If so I have to wonder why they are such a popular battery.

KonaGolden

I use Red and Yellow Top Optima's in my RV, boat, trucks, my old Jeep, and the Vette....every one has lasted longer than the 6 year period, except the Yellow Tops. I've only had them 3 years, but they're still going strong, where regular Deep Cycle's failed every 2 years.....(RV's are notorius for having crappy battery chargers)

Just my experience......

AGM, or Absorbed Glass Mat, are not Gel batteries and they are sensitive to overcharging. I suspect this is your root cause.....


Battery University link:

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/a..._glass_mat_agm

Hot Rod:

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/g...a_agm_battery/

JKbride

I replaced my OEM battery last summer with a Optima Red top, so after one year it's hard to tell, but so far so good. I keep a battery tender on it all the time, so I'm sure that helps.

FWIW, I had a red top I purchased about 10 years ago, and that battery lasted 7 years and was put in 4 different vehicles.....fingers crossed for another good experience

Una4dbl55

I've had the same experience as yourself, my last red top was also just inside the 3 year deal,
I got mine at advanced auto and I got the same story, "it must be the car"
mine was in my 55 belair, no problems with the car and she wouldnt exchange it at first, she charged it then checked it, I explained to her that wouldnt help, but I'll give it a try, 2 days later I went back and she reluctantly gave me a new one, she said the warranty would only be the remainder of the original battery warranty,
she did mention to me that they get alot of this, I'm getting ready to roll it out for the first time this year and it's dead, charging now but we'll see how it does, I wont buy another one

MrJlr

I've had my yellow top for just over a year. I sure hope I dont experience your problem

At $200 it better last 4+ years!

tak82

I don't believe in keeping the battery tenders on them all the time, they are sensitive to charging. I have a Mopar reproduction battery in a Roadrunner, inside it is a Redtop I was told. There were very specific instruction NOT to keep a battery tender on it but to check the volts, when between 10-11 charge it. It will go 4-6 months sitting without needing charged. I bought it in 05. Just cracked the car up and the battery worked like new, 9 yrs old. I just removed the 8 yr old Interstate from the 82 and my Yuasa motorcycle batter was 8 yrs old also. If you maintain a battery properly they last a very long time. Don't over charge them.

MrJlr

I keep mine on a tender. Bad idea?

4SPDL81

I bought my '81 in 2007...it has an Optima red top installed...called the factory with my date code...and it is just this month (April) 10 years old...so I am going to purchase another Optima red top battery (even though the battery shows no apparent defect of any kind)...I drive about 3-4000 miles per year and charge it with a Battery Tender maintainer maybe once or twice each year...Note also as others have mentioned the latest Optima warranty is now only 36 months free replacement with no pro rating after that...I am hoping my experience with the next battery is as good as my last but, I have read and heard of poor performance issues similar to what others have said...Good Luck!

qwank

as long as autozone keeps honoring the warranty, I wouldn't worry about it too much. chances are next time you return it there will be a different manager and he won't be such a dick.

I have a battery tender but I only plug it in over night every 3 or 4 weeks.

REELAV8R

Just curious, why gel battery instead of a normal lead/acid battery?
I have just a normal battery from walmart.

hugie82

I've been messing with optimum batteries for over 10 years and they need to be cooked from time to time. Get a big heavy duty charger with the start setting (200amp) and charge it at that setting for 30-40 minutes. You'll hear it hissing and a little water may come out of the vent with a rotten egg smell. Do that once or twice and I will usually come back to life!!!
If it doesn't then return it. I only had 1 battery out of 6 or 7 I had to replace under warrantee .....

redvetracr

try this trick next time you have a dead battery...

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/g...y/viewall.html

tak82

MrJlr, as 4SPDL81 pointed out, he has done the same as I do, only charges his battery one or twice a yr. I'm not saying DON'T keep a tender on your battery, I'm just saying I don't do it. Motorcycle batteries are know for only lasting a couple yrs and I know many people who keep tenders on them all winter. I only charge mine maybe twice all winter and my battery last 5-8 yrs. I also periodically check them with a volt meter.

MrJlr

Hmmmmm.....I'm gonna have to do some investigation on thi!
I typically have it off the tender on my 3 day weekends and have it on charging 4 days a week while I'm working.

MIKE80

I have a redtop battery and once had a bad alternator that drained the battery completely dead. When I went to charge it the charger showed the battery as bad and would not charge it. I connected jumper cables to it and my truck that I had running for a while to give it a bit of a charge. Then reconnected it to the battery charger and it started charging it. I replaced my alternator and the battery has been good ever since.

resdoggie

I just replaced my original battery in my '03 Sport Trac. Lasted 11 years and no special care was taken. First time it was out of the truck was when I replaced it. Just sayin'.

7t9l82

you should check your alternator and belts anytime you have a battery problem. i have the new interstate A.G.M battery ant it is a great battery. i have had optima batteries in the past and they work very well, i sold the cars thats why i don't have one now. i will be getting an optima for my D.D because they have a deal with their awesome charger going on.
an actual " battery tender " brand unit by deltran won't hurt your battery, can't say about other types

Street Rat

I'm using "red tops" in both of my Vettes. So far no problems after 4 years in one and 2 years in another.

ctuinstra

I found out the hard way that the cheap Wal-Mart battery tenders are JUNK! I thought they were great at first until one of them boiled my battery dry! They are meant to leave on there, but it went bad and never stopped charging. A few months later, the other Battery Tender also went bad and tried to cook my battery, but I caught it and tossed it in the trash!

Do not rely on Battery Tender brand, at least not the cheap $29 ones!

Do your self a favor and get the proper BatteryMinder maintainer.

http://batteryminders.com/

This is the one you need for the Red Top Optimas

http://batteryminders.com/details.php?prod=2012-AGM

I have 4 of them now for all the different batteries I have around. One of them is mounted on the wall and dedicated to my Jeep that only goes out every couple of months. Not once has the battery been dead or low in six years.

All batteries will discharge at some rate or another, even if they are completely disconnected. They will discharge because of internal resistance. Discharging is a major death of a battery. Cycle is down a couple of times and it will never completely come back to full capacity. Leave on dead and it is self-destructing while it's dead.

While all of this is true for lead-acid, the AGMs aren't much different. LiPo is a completely different beast!

ctuinstra

Not a bad idea if it's a quality battery maintainer. Never a charger.