I installed a Red Top in July 02. (98 coupe) With old battery, the DIC always showed 12+ volts when I would get in and turn key before starting engine. After Red Top, it dropped usually 10 11.9, and some times as low as 11.2. I went to start the car today, the last time I started it was about December 10th, so about a month ago. Battery was DEAD. I am thinking of getting the receipt out and returning it as not holding a charge. Opinions please? Thanks.


[Modified by Stilcrazee, 10:03 PM 1/11/2003]

 

My Red-Top installed June of 02' operates at 13.1-.2 all day long.
And I go sometimes a week before start ups. If it's not the battery,
it could be the alternator not keeping the charge.

:cheers:

 

I'm actually thinking of some relay being stuck. Alternator could be a possibility I guess. Point is I never had the prob with original battery, I only changed it cause it was 4 years old. Car has 7500 miles on it.

 

Any one know what the difference is between the yellow and the red top?

I have a yellow car and thought the yellow one would match better :smash:

 

Yellow has a higher amperage rating, supposed to be used if you need more amps for a lot of electrical equipment, radio amps powered speakers etc. But it won't hurt anything if you use it.

 

Thanks for the reply :cheers:

 

The yellow is a deep cycle design. If you discharge a regular wet cell batttery deeply and often, it causes the plates to warp then touch. Deep cycle models are designed to prevent that from happening. That is why the red tops are for most folks. Batteries that are used in applications that deeply discharge such as trolling motors or car owners let allow their batteries to become heavily discharged can benifit from a yellow top. :yesnod: :lol: :seeya

 

Sounds like you have a problem somewhere.. I get 14.3 volts on the DIC when running. My car can sit for a week or more without any starting issues.
You can go down to Sears and or other auto stores and get the Alt and battery checked out for free. A simple load test should show if you have a problem.
mike

 

As noted, the Yellow Top is a Deep Cycle battery (so is the Blue for that matter), whereas Red Tops are Starting, Lighting, Ignition (SLI) types.

From Optima's FAQ:

17. When should I use a Deep Cycle OPTIMA as a Starting battery?
"Deep Cycle" batteries are designed for applications that require deep, repetitive amperage drain, like trolling motors, golf carts, and electric wheelchairs, or RV house power sources. However, there are other applications, called "Heavy Cycling" or "High Cycling", when a Deep Cycle OPTIMA can successfully replace a starting battery to provide longer life and better performance.
In heavy cycling or high cycling applications, a vehicle will pull unusually high amperage levels from the starting battery due to extra accessories or limited alternator capacity. Public safety professionals, such as police, fire, and ambulance fleet managers often find that traditional starting batteries cannot provide adequate life and performance due to heavy cycling. This is an excellent opportunity to provide your customer with longer life and better performance by using an OPTIMA Deep Cycle battery in this type of application.

In any vehicle or equipment that will use the battery only for Starting, Lighting, & Ignition requirements and has a properly working alternator, the OPTIMA Red Top Starting Battery will perform extremely well, often providing up to two to three times longer life than conventional batteries. If the vehicle has few or no after-market accessories and uses a stock or upgraded alternator, the OPTIMA Red Top Starting Battery is the appropriate choice.

Remember, it is possible for the customer to have a completely discharged Yellow Top OPTIMA that will not start their engine; the advantages of the Yellow Top are that it can accept a rapid recharge and it will recover from discharge many more times.

To provide the customer the best OPTIMA solution, it is, necessary to consider both the application and the charging system before recommending the correct OPTIMA. For example, if your customer has a Ford Expedition with an after-market alarm system, which OPTIMA would you recommend? If the customer drives the car every day, the Red Top would be the correct choice, since the amperage drain will be nominal and the battery would be recharged on a daily basis. However, if the customer stores the vehicle for a long period of time with the alarm system engaged, you should recommend the OPTIMA Yellow Top, since the amperage drain over several weeks would damage a Red Top and reduce its life.

 

When I first changed to a Optima Red Top Battery in my Y2K C5 last summer the battery voltage was 12.0 volts , after sitting for only 4 days after I installed it was 11.5 volts. I put my trickle charger on it for 2 days which brought it up to 12.7 volts, so now since i started with a full charge I check it once in a while and the average is 12.5 The longest it has sat idle without starting has been 2 1/2 weeks and starts up with no problems !! One thing good about the Optima battery it recovers its charge very fast ..... :cheers:

 

I get 14.2 to 14.3 all the time with red top :yesnod:


[Modified by Jerryk, 3:41 PM 1/13/2003]