wolfdogs

yeah, thought I was cool..."hey, I got an Optima Yellow Top battery, I dont need a battery tender, I can let it sit for 3 weeks without starting or driving it........."

Roads finally got washed off enough, went to take it to the gym yesterday........"click click click"........lights came on bright, not enough power to crank. jumped it with the Yukon, took it out on the interstate and did 30 miles round trip leaving it in 5th. Went the gym, came out 2 hrs later, cranked fine. Got gas, cranked fine. Store, cranked fine. Then to Advance Auto and 137 bucks later got an AGM compatible battery charger/tender. 4.5 yrs with the O.E. Delco, it never happened..but i always pulled it out of the garage and ran it for a while every 2 weeks max, plus, this year, in the last 3 weeks, we have been in the single digits, even though it was in the garage.
Gonna keep an eye on the yellow top's voltage reading in the test mode on the charger/maintainer i have...to insure its not the battery. Of course, as yall know, if you have ON Star activated, you have a drain....funny too the night before this happened, i got my monthly On Star email diagnostics report.... I also remembered getting in an out to do some stuff while she sat idle for those three weeks.. funny how suddenly you think about all that.

TOBASCO

CTEK !!!

NormWild

The benefit of the YT is that if you do drain it dead there is damage done to the battery like a normal lead core. I wouldn't expect them to hold a charge any longer especially with a drain.

Steve_R

Used to swear by Optima. No way I'd buy one now.

And if your battery is dead after 3 weeks you need to find and fix the problem, not simply use a tender.

dvilin

Drivers manual I believe states 3 weeks sitting idle is about it, you can expect battery to be dead.
I have the Deltan Battery Tender Plus and it so easy to hook up I just got in the habit of hooking it up whenever I am done driving for the day.
Hope it all works out for you and the battery is fine.

wolfdogs

single digits temps man man...opening and closing the door, lights staying on.etc. ill have it checked, if the need arises, so far its looking fine after the tender and the readings...

Steve_R

I've let mine sit for up to 6 weeks with no tender and the battery was fine. No tender. I do have a heated garage. Mine had dead battery syndrome new until the original owner forced GM to find and fix the problem. I don't even own a battery tender.

Torchsport

Been there. I refused to charge a battery of a brand new car the first few winters.
Last spring it was dead.

Lesson learned.

hawkgfr

Needs more Zaino. Cold weather sucks, I thought you were hibernating...

R&L's C6

I attended a car care seminar at the bash last year. Tom Hill, a Bowling Green plant engineer, highly recommended using a battery tender.

Snake.Oiler

You get the email once you turn the vehicle ON. Did you leave it on?

Steve_R

Of course he did, that's GM's official story. GM told the original owner of my Vette that dead battery syndrome is normal for Vettes and that he should get a tender. He refused to accept that BS. It's much easier and cheaper to tell people to buy a tender than to fix a problem, and GM has done a very good job convincing Vette owners that it's endemic to Vettes and can't be fixed. They lie.

wolfdogs

nope. i got the email and the car had not been driven.....??

wolfdogs

heated garage........... try 9 degrees in the garage i never had a problem when it was warm out, and the car has sat for weeks while i was out of town, or bad weather

VET4LES

I have a RED top in the C6 and Yellow top in the family car. My last RED top was replaced at 5 1/2 years. It was still going strong I just wanted to replace it before I had a problem. I use the Optima 1200 charger, maintainer and charger when necessary. I'm sold on Optima and that's the only battery I will own.

https://www.optimabatteries.com/en-u.../digital-1200/

TarHeelDon

put a couple coats of Zaino on the battery, that should protect it and keep the power from leaking out!

4SUMERZ

I bought a Yellow top one Fall, had the car stored over the winter, connected to a battery tender plus. I was in and out of the car, inputing some Nav addresses and or listening to music while taking off my radio surround.
The battery showed fully charged, but even the slightest draw from the hood light etc, and the battery tender charge light would turn red as if the battery needed a charge.
Come time to start the car, and I got the dreaded click as well, even though the battery tender had the full voltage light.
I recharged the battery with a heavy duty charger, but when the car sat for a few days, not enough juice to start the car.
Long story short, got the battery tested and it showed a bad cell.
That battery lasted less than 1 year. I bought an interstate, and not had a problem 3 years later.
Maybe I just got a bad battery, but I'm not going back to an Optima.

Snake.Oiler

Don't have to drive it, just Key On. Or maybe even Accessory mode would be enough to trigger the email. <- I haven't tested that yet.

z51vett

Mine sits for 2 or 3 weeks no problem.
z51vett
Doug

Flame Red

The last optima I had lasted 10 years. Yeah I was shocked when I found the receipt taped to the side. Given that the lead acid would never last me more than 18 months in the Florida Inferno, I'm sold.