to optima or not to optima

[OptimaJim]

Hello, I noticed your conversation regarding our batteries and wanted to offer some assistance. chevy_mike, can you described what was going on when you encountered three issues with our batteries in three different vehicles? Were you able to get warranty service on any of those batteries?

I've noticed several of you have tossed around the “g” word, so I do want to clarify that our batteries are not gel batteries, they are AGM lead-acid batteries. Gel batteries are rarely found in automotive applications outside of electric golf carts and have very narrow charging parameters that may not fully-charge non-gel batteries and could damage them over time. For that reason, we recommend avoiding any charger settings that say “gel” in them, even if they say “AGM/gel.”

Many of the “bad” batteries returned to us under warranty are just deeply-discharged and work fine, when properly-recharged. This is due to the fact that AGM batteries have very low internal resistance, which allows them to deliver current for far longer than a traditional flooded battery. That's great news if you are a tournament angler and need your trolling motor batteries to keep operating on a windy day. It's bad news if you try to recover your deeply-discharged battery with an older, analog charger, that does not recognize or charge batteries discharged below a minimum voltage level (usually around 10.5 volts).

This is not unique to Optima, in fact, other AGM manufacturers have dealt with this issue by simply voiding the warranty on their battery if it is found to be discharged below a specific voltage level. We didn't do that with our warranty, but we did create this YouTube video, which explains how to recover deeply-discharged batteries.

The quality of our batteries has never been better. Our production facility is ISO 14000 certified for environmental management and ISO/TS 16949 for quality management and while some AGM manufacturers now use recycled lead in their products, we still use 99.99% pure lead.

Warrens69GMC, we changed our warranty policy in February of 2009, to equalize the warranty between our YellowTops and RedTops. We recognized some consumers were choosing RedTops for deep-cycle applications (including 4x4 owners with winches) because of the additional pro-rated warranty, even though the YellowTop was the more appropriate choice for their application. We also acknowledged that pro-rated warranties were often confusing and frustrating for retailers to calculate and consumers to undersand (you will see a lot of retailers moving away from pro-rated warranties in the coming years). When we eliminated the pro-rated portion of our warranties, we also extended the free replacement period on YellowTops from 12 months to three years.

Optima batteries used to be cheaper, because the price of pure lead used to be cheaper. Those who follow commodity prices know what has happened in the metal market in the past ten years, which includes lead. If your raw material prices go up by more than 300%, how much should your retail price increase?

The key to long battery life, regardless of brand, is proper voltage maintenance. When any battery is discharged below 12.4 volts and left sitting in that state, sulfation begins to form, which diminishes both capacity and lifespan. That makes a quality battery maintenance device an excellent investment for any vehicle that doesn't see regular use. If anyone has any questions about our products, I'll do my best to answer them.

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

[Pyrotechnic]

I went with an Oreilly Super Start AGM, which is a private label Deka Imtimidator. The specs were better across the board than the equivalent Optima product and the warranty was longer as well so I jumped on it. It's been a great battery ever since I've had it and I'd buy another.

The only problem is, Oreilly's has dropped this battery from their line up, I'm guessing from slow sales or maybe the deal fell apart with Deka. Gonna be interesting if I ever have to use the warranty.

I wish there we're moke Deka dealers out there though as it seems to be a really good battery.

[LEEVON]

Delete

[MadManAndrew]

Originally Posted by OptimaJim

Hello, I noticed your conversation regarding our batteries and wanted to offer some assistance. chevy_mike, can you described what was going on when you encountered three issues with our batteries in three different vehicles? Were you able to get warranty service on any of those batteries?

I've noticed several of you have tossed around the “g” word, so I do want to clarify that our batteries are not gel batteries, they are AGM lead-acid batteries. Gel batteries are rarely found in automotive applications outside of electric golf carts and have very narrow charging parameters that may not fully-charge non-gel batteries and could damage them over time. For that reason, we recommend avoiding any charger settings that say “gel” in them, even if they say “AGM/gel.”

Many of the “bad” batteries returned to us under warranty are just deeply-discharged and work fine, when properly-recharged. This is due to the fact that AGM batteries have very low internal resistance, which allows them to deliver current for far longer than a traditional flooded battery. That's great news if you are a tournament angler and need your trolling motor batteries to keep operating on a windy day. It's bad news if you try to recover your deeply-discharged battery with an older, analog charger, that does not recognize or charge batteries discharged below a minimum voltage level (usually around 10.5 volts).

This is not unique to Optima, in fact, other AGM manufacturers have dealt with this issue by simply voiding the warranty on their battery if it is found to be discharged below a specific voltage level. We didn't do that with our warranty, but we did create this YouTube video, which explains how to recover deeply-discharged batteries.

The quality of our batteries has never been better. Our production facility is ISO 14000 certified for environmental management and ISO/TS 16949 for quality management and while some AGM manufacturers now use recycled lead in their products, we still use 99.99% pure lead.

Warrens69GMC, we changed our warranty policy in February of 2009, to equalize the warranty between our YellowTops and RedTops. We recognized some consumers were choosing RedTops for deep-cycle applications (including 4x4 owners with winches) because of the additional pro-rated warranty, even though the YellowTop was the more appropriate choice for their application. We also acknowledged that pro-rated warranties were often confusing and frustrating for retailers to calculate and consumers to undersand (you will see a lot of retailers moving away from pro-rated warranties in the coming years). When we eliminated the pro-rated portion of our warranties, we also extended the free replacement period on YellowTops from 12 months to three years.

Optima batteries used to be cheaper, because the price of pure lead used to be cheaper. Those who follow commodity prices know what has happened in the metal market in the past ten years, which includes lead. If your raw material prices go up by more than 300%, how much should your retail price increase?

The key to long battery life, regardless of brand, is proper voltage maintenance. When any battery is discharged below 12.4 volts and left sitting in that state, sulfation begins to form, which diminishes both capacity and lifespan. That makes a quality battery maintenance device an excellent investment for any vehicle that doesn't see regular use. If anyone has any questions about our products, I'll do my best to answer them.

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

Thank you for your response Mr. McIlvaine. It's nice to get personal responses from companies like y'all.
Posted via Mobile Device

[C-10 simplex]

i'd like to reiterate that i've had absolutely no problems with any optima battery i've bought----two D34 yellow tops.

i did buy a schumacher charger specifically for AGM type batteries for recharging. And i think this is probably a very important aspect/ingredient to happy ownership.

i originally bought the batteries to see how long i could run a computer, fan, and heater(not at the same time). When that camping project did not pan out, i ended up using a yellowtop battery in my car because i wanted to test the previous battery by taking it out and putting the yellowtop in and decided just to leave the yellowtop in the car. It has performed flawlessly for around a year now.

While the plethora of negative comments regarding optima quality does concern me. This is my totally unbiased review based my personal experiences.

[FetchMeAPepsi]

Originally Posted by LEEVON

Delete

Shoulda left that comment in Leevon. It added to the conversation.

(and it was something I might say)

-FMP

[Willy Prost]

I have had a Optima red top in my 71 for ~7-8 years now.
Still crankin'.
I am the "go to guy" to jump start others in the parking lot.

[Greenlee]

My experience with Optima is good. I had a red top in an old truck that was still going strong when I sold the truck after about four years.

I have a 2006 Nissan Titan that seemed to be eating batteries. In fact i have owned several Nissan vehicles and they all seem to be hard on batteries for some reason. The first battery went bad when the truck was less than a year old and was replaced under warranty. I went through about a battery a year after that. I finally went with an optima yellow top about two years ago. It is still going strong and I have no complaints so far. I like that the terminals never corrode with the dry cell batteries.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Lemield]

I have an Optima red top in my 1949 Willys that is at least 15 years old....still works great! Nothing but good things to say about Optima.

[Rudy-g]

My brother put a redtop in his mitsubishi eclipse and a couple of weeks ago I left the headlights on in the car for about 3 hours, went out to start the car and battery was drained, oops, turned headlights off and left the car. Later that day I went to start the car and it cranked right up, and every day since.
Posted via Mobile Device