Whats up with my Optima battery?

RenegadeT

RenegadeT

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A few months ago, my redtop was dead, its about 2.5 yrs old. There's a short somewhere in my CJ that I havent tracked down yet, and usually I disconnect the negative battery cable when its gonna sit for more than a week. I brought it to AutoZone, it tested bad. They said they could charge it overnight and re-test it when it had 12V. So I left it there, and when I picked it up, it tested good.
In those few months, I drove the CJ a few times, but always disconnected the battery. When I went to crank it Wed or Thursday, it was drained to 6V. I hooked it too a 2A charger and now I'm seeing something weird. The ammeter on the charger will light up FULL CHARGE for a minute or so, then all of a suddenly shut off and and show a draw, but bounce back to FULL CHARGE in 3-5 seconds.
Is this normal? Dead cell? Autozone's only gonna pro-rate me $30, but in the meantime, they've increased the red top from $120 to $180.
 
yeah, ive seen a number of them come back time and time again at work, all when they are used in cars that sit more then their driven.... but ive seen others that never have any problems with them...
 
Amen man! I have one that got about 6 weeks of service. Optima SUCKS! Batteries Plus would not refund my money because it held a charge overnight there and even under a load the next morning. But after a couple of weeks without even hooking it up, it would die. Never again for me...
 
You should still be able to get a new one for free. Mine had the same problem. I had a bad alternator that was draining the battery when sitting in the garage.

I had them charge it a few times and then the third time I told them it was bad and they needed to give me a new one and they did.

:beer:
 
I have been through 4 Blue tops in 3 years. I bought a multi-battery charger (reg./deep/??) w/ 3 diffirent charging rates. Works great. The Jeep that it is sitting in has been sitting for 2-3 years. Thinking about going to Odessy... same stuff just alot cheaper!!!
 
spraypaintman said:
You should still be able to get a new one for free. Mine had the same problem. I had a bad alternator that was draining the battery when sitting in the garage.
I had them charge it a few times and then the third time I told them it was bad and they needed to give me a new one and they did.
:beer:
Click to expand...

How old was your battery? Mine is now approaching 3yrs old. Since I've moved, I've been hitting the zone in K'ville, but maybe I need to go back to the one on 220.
 
Mine was almost 2 years old. I think they have a free replacement warranty for 3 or 4 years. I told them that I could leave the battery on my workbench and it would drain down not even being hooked up. Mine would drain down to about 7 volts on the workbench. Must of had a bad cell.
 
Where were all you guys in the battery thread a few weeks ago? Anyway, my Optima red top bought in 2000 or 2001 has been going great ever since. Im about to put in the third starter in that span though (thanks jeep :rolleyes:)
 
spraypaintman said:
Mine was almost 2 years old. I think they have a free replacement warranty for 3 or 4 years. I told them that I could leave the battery on my workbench and it would drain down not even being hooked up. Mine would drain down to about 7 volts on the workbench. Must of had a bad cell.
Click to expand...
Got 3 doing the same thing. Charge, test, ok then after a week or so its at 9-10 volts not even in the rig.
Jon
 
i got a free jeep wrangler power wheels from my neighbor, he claimed the battery was dead (it was).. But I've got a super duper IOTA float charger battery tender for the camper so i hooked it to that for 2 days, and while its not perfect it will ride again!

The key is to find a charger/tender that will de-sulfate the battery.
 
^- was about to recommend a battery tender. Any kind of float charger is a good idea on a non daily driver.
 
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