So,

I have had my vette for just over 2 years, love driving it, however beginning to really hate it, However need to talk about the current issue, battery red top, has died, I charged it about a week ago, then earlier this week it needed another charge the fault came on charging system fault when I started in the past, it has happened several times, I charged it up, added water before hand, and it would be fine for a couple of months with regular driving, while I was gone, the battery finally died, my buddy who was taking care of it for me, bought the optima red top which appears to be dead as well, it has been on a charger for over 24 hours and seems to be failing has not charged back up as of yet.

So with the history is there anything I need to be looking for or is this another battery issue with this kind of vehicle.

looking for some thing I need to look for. I will be exploring the grounds on the front of the car and other associated areas.

Thanks for you help in advance

 

Do a search, You have to charge an Optima battery a special way to bring it back to life, The C5 is really a battery killer, If you don't drive them you have to put the battery on a CTek battery charger.

 

100% Mr. Bill

 

This car is hard on batteries and there's a constant drain even when the car is idle. There are some components which fail regularly and drain the battery such as the power seat switches. Let's look at the problem logically 'cos I'd hate you to lose faith in your Vette..

Most of us chose Optima Red Tops in the days when the AC Delcos were leaking. The good news is they don't leak but AGM batteries don't like being discharged. Once they are they can be difficult to recover.

An Optima Rep posted this link to a video explaining how to recover a deeply discharged AGM battery. Give it a try first to see if you can coax it back to life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIoaL3DWWEg

Failing that you'll need to fit a new one. When you look for a replacement the shop manual quotes the GM spec for the Vette which requires a Cold Cranking Ampage (CCA) of 500A and a reserve capacity of 80 minutes. Most fit batteries which exceed that spec. Don't worry too much about leaking batteries as the early OEM AC Delcos are nearly all gone now. The recent batteries won't leak. You can pick up a battery that meets this spec quite cheaply.

If your car is a daily driver any battery will work as it will stay topped off. If it's not, I'd suggest you get a standard lead acid battery as they are more tolerant of irregular use.

In any event buy a battery tender and hook up the car when its not in use. That way the battery stays topped off.

Hope that helps.

 

thanks for the info,

I was looking to find out if there is anyother cause, of note that I left out in my original post was that I did charge my cell phone. half a day. That seems to have killed the red top, I went in teh garage today, and it had errored out on my charger. I will read the post later today on seeing if I can recover it or not.

Is there anything else that I might need to look into. Only additions is that it has a after market stereo and I was planning on adding a in dash GPS, from dennis at double d mods, with that in mind is there anything I need to do maybe move to a yellow top optima?? opinons appreciated

thanks

it is suppose to be my daily driver 50-60 miles a day.

 

I'm not a big fan of Optima batteries. Once they are discharged like yours they are no good. In my opinion, an AC/Delco 7 year Professional Series battery coupled with a C-Tek battery tender is the ticket to forgetting your battery troubles.

 

If you can't get the battery back to life, then a new one is in order. With this car, unless you drive it regularly, it's best to keep it hooked to a battery tender. I ran an Optima Red Top in my '00 for seven years with no problems and I kept it hooked to a battery tender when not driving it. I have a Red Top in my '03 and no problems with it either.

 

Just buy a standard battery and get a Battery tender from Harbor Freight and you'll be set!

Very easy to install and low cost

Thanks,Matt

 

I put a red top in mine and use a tender when I will not drive my Vette for more than a week, battery is over 6 years old now

 

How do you add water to a "red top" (OPTIMA?)

If it really is an OPTIMA battery, you should only apply low amp input per OPTIMA or damage the internals. Most OPTIMA batteries can be re-charged with a slow input charge. The BATTERY TENDER PLUS (DELTRON CORP) inputs only 1.25amps. The CTEK US3300 has two settings of (if I recall correctly) .8amp and 3.3amps.

 

I was wondering the same thing, But didn't want to ask....

 

If you don't ask you won't know...

Maybe it's just a generic battery with a red top but not an OPTIMA? I hate to see bashing of a product when it's not actually that product involved.

 

True...lol

 

the battery I was adding water too, was not a red top, car is back to life for now will wait and see how long, bought a battery from a local battery shop that sells batteries for a business went with a deep cycle optima type battery. meanign same technology but a little cheaper. My friend who was taking care of the car while I was dep0loyed and the old battery died on him while I was gone replaced the old battery with a red top, which died officially yesterday. replaced the red top with a genearic type yellow top, took the car for a drive today ran fine, no charging system fault. Let hope that fixed the problem so to speak will be adding a battery tender, the charger I was using uses a 2 amp cycle, and 12 amp, if chosen and a 75 amp start feature but it only was charging on the 2 amp. Thanks for the help.

Will be investing in a charger,

new question

I have a motorcycle battery tender that is not being used, I will try to find the spec's but will that work for a battery tender.?

if there is a low amp rating for battery tenders for optima would be interested in knowing before hand.

thanks again


great forum.

Jim

 

Yep, it'll work but will take a little longer. I use a m/c tender (The Jr) to keep my battery topped off.

Get an Interstate battery. You won't have battery problems for the next 5 to 7 years.

..rickko..

 

Why do you think they invented drill bits?

 

Some people use "battery tender" to include any manufacturer of float maintenance charger. You'd have to check the specs of the specific charger you're asking about.

If it's a BATTERY TENDER JR. (by DELTRON CORP) usually intended for motorcycle applications, it will work on an automotive battery. Keep in mind it only inputs .75amp though. If your battery is healthy and w/o any abnormal parasitic draw, it will work fine and many use them. It'll take a little longer to charge a discharged battery. For long term storage (winter hibernation), it should work great as it won't input high amps (heat) to the internals. The BATTERY TENDER PLUS (by DELTRON CORP) which is intended for automotive batteries, will input 1.75amps. And as I mentioned earlier, the popular CTEK has dual settings of .8amp and 3.3amps.

I inquired with both OPTIMA and DELTRON CORP. a few years ago about specific requirements for OPTIMA batteries. I was told then that a float maintenance charger with input around 1amp was ideal to maintain a full charge on an OPTIMA. You could check with the customer service of the manufacturer(s) to see if that still applies in regards to your "genearic type yellow top". From your description, I'm not certain you bought a yellow top OPTIMA.

 

I think Optima batterys suck.Why would you buy an expensive battery that needs a maintenance charger on it if you doen't drive it each day?My Optima Red Top was less then a month old when I left one of the interior lights on for 6 hours.I think it was the glove box.Battery was dead as a door nail.I've had a number of Die Hards and AC Delcos that could handle this situation and have plenty of power to start.I really can't remember the last time I heard of a battery leaking in a Vette and ruining the wiring.My Optima was on a maintenance charger all winter and now it's toast.Last one I'll ever buy.Dam I wish I could find the receipt.just my 2 cents.

 

Let you in on a little secret.. On a C5 any battery will need a tender if it sits for more than 2 weeks. You killed the battery leaving on the lights.

 

I've said this before, but a Optima Red Top is an excellant battery so long as you don't allow it to go dead. It can be charged back up by hooking a good 12 volt battery in series with your dead Red Top, then hooking the charger to the second battery and give it about twelve hours and it should be fine.

But Optima's are NOT intended to left unattended, or without a Ctek float charger hooked up. The 'Ctek' as a float charger is great and will only bring the battery voltage back to normal and it shut's off till the drain has met the low charge requirements, then it turns itself on and charges once again. But if you take care of a Red Top it'll give you a good six years of service. But like any other part of the car, you have to know how to maintain it.