Optima Battery Life

[wolverine86]

I thought I'd go ahead and post another thread on the life of Optima batteries, given that the threads about these batteries posted earlier are mostly 10 years or more old.

So what are your experiences on the length of life of these batteries??

I have a yellow top one in the Honda Ridgeline and a red top one in the Toyota Sienna. Both are at least two years old by now and seem to both be very strong. I haven't measured sitting battery voltage of either lately; perhaps I'll do that soon. I put a yellow top in the Ridge because I'm a ham radio operator and occasionally like to run my VHF ham rig in the truck sitting without running the engine, so definitely wanted the deep cycle capability. I've been told these batteries can last 10 years or even longer; does that jive with others' experiences here on BITOG?? I'm especially wondering about those made in the early to mid 2020's, as opposed to the 2010's when quality of some of them appeared to be an issue.

 

[Chris142]

Following. I do know that optima has fallen out of favor in all forums so its not just us.

 

[GSCJR]

@f355spider, has contributed some good data over the years; I suggest you do a search.

 

[BHopkins]

Following. I do know that optima has fallen out of favor in all forums so its not just us.

Are Optima batteries still in the market? It seems like a very long time since I have seen Optima batteries on the battery rack at an auto parts store.

AGM batteries are available everywhere now, from every battery brand imaginable. It is a totally different market, when Optima and Odyssey dominated the AGM market. The only place I see Optima batteries any longer is under the hood of tricked out Asian cars, and it really only seems to be for the unique look. Everyone else tends to go with flat AGM.

AGM batteries of almost all brands seem to have a very long life, so I'm actually curious, why buy an Optima over any other AGM?

 

[UncleDave]

I thought I'd go ahead and post another thread on the life of Optima batteries, given that the threads about these batteries posted earlier are mostly 10 years or more old.

So what are your experiences on the length of life of these batteries??

I have a yellow top one in the Honda Ridgeline and a red top one in the Toyota Sienna. Both are at least two years old by now and seem to both be very strong. I haven't measured sitting battery voltage of either lately; perhaps I'll do that soon. I put a yellow top in the Ridge because I'm a ham radio operator and occasionally like to run my VHF ham rig in the truck sitting without running the engine, so definitely wanted the deep cycle capability. I've been told these batteries can last 10 years or even longer; does that jive with others' experiences here on BITOG?? I'm especially wondering about those made in the early to mid 2020's, as opposed to the 2010's when quality of some of them appeared to be an issue.

My experience on land and sea is fantastic. I'm at <I think> 16 years on my truck battery? Maybe longer.

I killed two of them in my sand car (my fault) that were 2016's and my replacements weighed exactly the same.

I know they diversified their product line and I suspect the "new" stuff is not the equivalent of the old.

As long as I can continue to buy the original design they are all I will use when the OEM stuff goes.

 

[oil pan 4]

I thought I'd go ahead and post another thread on the life of Optima batteries, given that the threads about these batteries posted earlier are mostly 10 years or more old.

So what are your experiences on the length of life of these batteries??

I have a yellow top one in the Honda Ridgeline and a red top one in the Toyota Sienna. Both are at least two years old by now and seem to both be very strong. I haven't measured sitting battery voltage of either lately; perhaps I'll do that soon. I put a yellow top in the Ridge because I'm a ham radio operator and occasionally like to run my VHF ham rig in the truck sitting without running the engine, so definitely wanted the deep cycle capability. I've been told these batteries can last 10 years or even longer; does that jive with others' experiences here on BITOG?? I'm especially wondering about those made in the early to mid 2020's, as opposed to the 2010's when quality of some of them appeared to be an issue.

I use them. They seem fine.

 

[f355spider]

I have used Optima red tops off and on for over 25 years. Back in the day they were awesome. But I had three Group 34R leakers in a row over about a 6 year period. Each started leaking within about 2 years. The battery itself was still testing okay. They would leak out the black vent caps.

Recent Consumer Reports tests on red tops is not so good. Surprisingly the yellow tops (at least in the size or two they tested) performed quite will in life tests. (CR ratings are heavily weighted on life tests)

 

[dogememe]

 

[K-Man]

I have used Optima red tops off and on for over 25 years. Back in the day they were awesome. But I had three Group 34R leakers in a row over about a 6 year period. Each started leaking within about 2 years. The battery itself was still testing okay. They would leak out the black vent caps.

Recent Consumer Reports tests on red tops is not so good. Surprisingly the yellow tops (at least in the size or two they tested) performed quite will in life tests. (CR ratings are heavily weighted on life tests)

The highlighted part is troubling because one of Optima's selling points years ago was that its batteries could be mounted in any position.

 

[f355spider]

The highlighted part is troubling because one of Optima's selling points years ago was that its batteries could be mounted in any position.

Here is an example of the last one I bought. I posted about it on a Ferrari forum as these batteries are oem to my Ferrari 430 Scuderia and all that would it. Ferrari chose them due to the lighter weight over the Group 48/H6 AGM they normally specify in the 430 series. Two independent Ferrari technicians chimed in (one posted similar photos of a leaking red top). They both advised purchasing a standard 430 battery tray and forget red tops. That is what I did, and installed an Interstate AGM group 48/H6. They said the red top quality left something to be desired and they avoided them.