Yes, There a glass matt battery BUT NOT a gel battery,

BC

 

My Optima yellow top is 4 years old in my 05 C6 and I never thought about replacing it with new, maybe I should.

John

 

Well, ya see, my Vette is my daily driver and the Twin Turbo'd Camaro was ALSO my daily driver so this parking the car for weeks and months at a time never enters the equation for me. I buy my cars to drive, not hide them when the temperature goes below 50f. The Optima has performed admirably for me and until I get nailed with a couple of bad ones, I'll continue to use them.


Elmer

 

Easy for someone to say when you live where it never gets cold.

 

Camaro and Corvette have been through snow, ice, sleet and rain. Just because I live in Florida does not mean the car has never crossed the State line.

Elmer

 

There isn't any snow or ice across any nearby state line you'd cross.LOL

 

My OEM battery lasted 4+ years. I've never used a battery tender and the car has sat idle for weeks at a time. I've never had any starting or electrical problems (save for when the battery finally 'went south'). I know many guys swear by Optima and I imagine they make a fine battery. That being said the guys I know at an auto parts store (where they sell various batteries including Optima) said based on all the batteries they see returned daily the Optima battery just isn't worth the extra money. The significant premium in cost doesn't correspond favorably to an extended service life compared to conventional batteries.

 

Did you look at the news from Atlanta this week? Roads froze, trucks stranded for 36 hours, airport slammed, snow.

Last time I checked, Georgia is 55 miles north of me.

Elmer

 

I'm near Atlanta.But its really rare here.and you ARE 55 miles from Georgia.It got unusually cold in Jacksonville but no snow or ice.I got a buddy that lives there.

 

Yeah, I read that on the internet. I'm down in Little Torch Key right now! Hell, it got down to 51 last night! Would you mind keeping that cold crap on the other side of the state line?

 

Its been a royal pain.Today is the fourth day.Folks just today are trying to venture out.Lots of wrecks and backups.My Vette is under a car cover with 5 inches of white sealing it off. I got snow and ice off my 2009 Dodge 1500 truck yesterday.I've got two appointments today after 12p.m. I'm going to get out and see.

 

I've had several auto parts store sales jocks steer me away from Optima's over the years.Mainly at Auto Zones.

 

The time has come to replace the battery in my seldom driven 08 Z06. So, w/o doing awhole of research on the issues. I've opted to go w/ the (my first)red top Optima(still not installed, yet, didn't realize the ol' one was goin to be so hard to remove).

Usually, the Delco oem batteries are good enough for me. But, I felt the Z06 desired bettery. Hope I don't end up regretin this decission.

Anyhoo, after reading thru the thread here. I probably should've opted for the yellow top instead of the red. We'll see....

Anyone got any experience w/ a 'solar' trickle chargers?

Thanks in advance,
Don

 

You should have saved a few bucks and just bought a quality battery other then a Optima.But oh well.They are only good for high shock applications or rollovers. Has anyone tied fitting a larger CCA battery in the same spot? 650cca is not much of a battery.

 

Why try? The 650 CCA battey is excellent for our application. It really doesnt need to be any bigger. I have owned 2 C5's and 2 C6's and never have any battery issues as a result from being under current rated.

I have a high compression engine, and a high lift cam in my 02 Z and even wth a weak, old battey, it cranks fine.

BC

 

Mine starts fine as long as it dosen't sit more then a week.I've never had that issue on anything I've ever owned in the past.I've a diesel truck with all the bells and whistles and a new gas truck/Mercury Gran Marquis Ultimate Edition..They sit for weeks and turn over no issues.Not the Corvette.Its also got the smallest battery of the three.

 

The issue that you described above is NOT the results of a battery that is installed without a high enough current capacity. Its the result of an excessively high current draw. The C5 & C6 platforms are designed to have a SLEEP/Security Mode battery current draw of approx 20ma.

That will allow the car to sit 30+ days and NOT have any cold cranking issues (if the battery draw does not exceed the designed 20ma draw). I have actually had mine sit 45 days and it started with out any issues.

BC

 

I have an Optima (Red) in my Backdraft Cobra, installed in the trunk. The engine is a high compression 347 and I have not had a problem in 3 years. The car sits for extended periods of time, sometimes with a battery tender. The battery on the Vette seems a bit on the small side for a large displacement engine.

 

A 'bit' on the small side is correct.I've read a number of post of dead battery's and using battery tenders etc.I was a service manager in a Cadillac store and didn't have this issue.Battery LOOKS to small as well.Its the smallest battery of the vehicles I own or have owned in the past.

 

Hello, I noticed your conversation and wanted to offer some assistance. Strick, to answer your original question, our batteries can last up to twice as long as conventional, flooded, lead-acid batteries. They are also up to 15 times more resistant to vibrations than flooded batteries, although that is typically not a concern for most Corvette owners. The “sealed” design does minimize the chance of acid damaging the engine compartment, which is an important consideration for many Corvette owners, especially those with sensitive electronics within the immediate vicinity of the battery.

Our batteries have very low internal resistance, which allows them to discharge and recharge very rapidly. It also allows them to operate well beyond their rated specifications. Vehicles that have significant parasitic draws and those that sit for extended periods of time with the battery connected and no battery maintenance can deeply-discharge our batteries.

YLOFEVR is absolutely correct about long periods of non-use and non-maintenance being very hard on all batteries, especially those in Corvettes. As this poster indicated, even Corvette engineers have conceded the parasitic draw on many newer Corvettes can be significant, making a quality battery tender or maintainer an excellent investment for any Corvette owner.

Elmer Boggs, good to see you're still active and I'm glad to hear your Optimas are performing well for you, as well as carlrx7, YLOFEVR, timd38, JoesC5, jpee, Gering, Boomer111, got2hav1, chevybob, Tally Ho, saplumr, Mr. Big, Street Rat, VET4LES, GordyRay, keyplyr, vettecop1125, C6FirstVette, THECRAIGMEISTER, Vito.A, speedwaywhite, JohnDS, and VALS3.

speedwaywhite is correct- many of the “bad” batteries returned to us are just deeply-discharged and as he has found out, they do work fine, when properly recharged.

Since several folks have mentioned the “g” word, I should clarify that our batteries are lead-acid batteries in a spiral cell AGM (absorbed glass mat) design. They can be treated and charged just like regular lead-acid batteries, but “gel” and “gel/AGM” charger settings should be avoided, as our batteries are not gel batteries. Those settings may not fully-charge an Optima and could damage it over time.

THECRAIGMEISTER, when your lights dim when you have a bass hit, that indicates that your alternator is not providing enough electricity at that moment and your stereo is being powered off your battery. A larger alternator and Big 3 upgrade are great modifications for such applications and we recommend batteries designed for deep-cycle use, such as our YellowTops. RedTops offer plenty of cranking amps and are great starting batteries, but they are not designed or warrantied for deep-cycle applications, including vehicles with large, aftermarket stereo systems. JoesC5 is correct regarding our free replacement warranty- it does not “reset” every time a battery is returned under warranty.

Don, the best battery maintainers are microprocessor-controlled. Some less expensive solar chargers do not have proper voltage regulation and can overcharge a battery if left unattended. If anyone has any questions about our batteries, I'll do my best to answer them.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries