Optima Batteries.... who makes them?

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In the old days automotive generators were tested by disconnecting the battery with the engine running. If the engine stays running, then the generator was operating.

Now, Some people still disconnect batteries with the engine running to test alternators. If the battery were discharged heavily, and asking for ~40 amps from the alternator, then the battery were disconnected, I could see the voltage easily briefly spiking above 19 volts and releasing the magic blue smoke from some expensive electrical component. But I'm sure we'll still get some old timer saying this is a valid test on current alternator equipped vehicles who has done it a hundred times with no issue.
 
I already said that the gauge went straight from 14 to 19 momentarily until I shut it down. I have no idea why it would do that, and everything else tested fine and still works perfectly to this day in that Jeep. All I know is that is what the gauge said, which anyone who owns Chrysler vehicles will say how useless the factory gauges are. Bottom line was the battery was a year old, it failed, and replacing it solved the problem. The fact that the SAME problem happened to a friend with the SAME battery makes me believe the battery is the issue.

I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but the fact that production was switched to Mexico already tells me that profit is much more important to the company than quality construction. The guys at Autozone even told me they have been getting lots of Optimas back lately, all with similar problems.
 
wirelessF, if your vehicle has significant upgrades to the stereo system, you should be using a battery designed for deep-cycle use, like our YellowTops. RedTops are not designed or warrantied for deep-cycle applications, including car audio. If you post the ten-digit serial number listed on the side of the battery, I can tell you exactly how old your battery is and where it was produced. It is definitely bad for any battery to vent during charging and you should discontinue charging immediately if that happens.

jeepman3071, the fact is that most large, successful consumer product manufacturers either contain internationally-sourced components or have international manufacturing capability. This is vital for Optima because unlike many other brands, we distribute a significant volume of batteries outside the USA. The decision to place a manufacturing facility in a certain location is based on many factors. For automotive batteries, component and product distribution plays a much larger role in total cost than labor. Building a brand new, state-of-the-art production facility using Six Sigma methodology is a move companies make to improve quality, not cut corners.

It's interesting you should mention you've noticed more battery/electrical issues in Chrysler vehicles. Just last year at SEMA, I ran into a gentleman who sold our batteries at his shop and used to use them on his show vehicles. He indicated he had to change batteries on his new Jeep show vehicle, because he was having issues with his Optima. I gave him my card and asked him to contact me the next time he had a customer come in with a warranty issue with one of our batteries. He called me 20 minutes later from the other side of the parking lot.

Now he claimed he didn't have a battery problem, but some sort of electrical issue that was causing his new battery to also fail. I brought over one of our Group 51 batteries, used it to jump-start his Jeep and told him to hold onto it until his Jeep was positioned where it needed to be at SEMA. Do I notice Chrysler owners having a lot more problems with their batteries/electrical systems than other vehicle owners? Absolutely. Do I immediately chalk this up to an issue with Chrysler vehicles? No. The fact is, many of these folks have significantly modified their vehicles. The guy in the SEMA parking lot swapped in an LS motor, added a winch and pulled off his doors (among other electrical modifications). With that much done to his vehicle, it is very likely his issues have anything to do with the fact that he is driving a Chrysler product.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries
 
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Most cars now will shut down as a safety precaution without the presence of a completed 12v circuit. They always look for a reference signal from the battery. I know VW's do it and pretty sure her Mazda 3 did as well.

So it is not the proper way to test an alternator at least in those terms. The proper way is to throw loads on the car at idle & 2000rpm and see if the voltage stays constant.
 
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Yanking the battery cable to "test" the chargning system was no more VALID back in the days of generators and vibrator regulators than it is today. The change to alternators didn't make any difference, other than the fact that an alternator isn't self-energizing, so that if the regulator throttles it too close to 0 current output and then an electrical load comes on, it will just shut down.

The big danger today is the rest of the car. You used to be able to pull a battery cable and the voltage would flutter wildly from 5 volts to 40 volts, and nothing (except maybe a light bulb, and probably not even that) would fail. Today, that kind of overvoltage can do bad things to nav systems, body control modules, stereos, and even the powertrain controller (although the powertrain controller is probably the toughest of all due to built-in protection diodes and a very high temperature rating compared to the other components.)

So basically I'm saying it was never a good idea.

As for any one brand having more electrical issues, my experience is that it used to be GM. Measurements seemed to indicated that GM set their voltage regulators a few percent higher than other brands- you'd usually see at least 14 volts on a GM all the time. This did make headlamps perform better, among other things, but it tended to be hard on batteries. I've had relatively few charging system issues with Mopars, although I would say that Chrysler has always skimped on wire gauge for big loads like headlamps.
 
Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
Originally Posted By: Donald
The battery is more expensive with the same warranty. I do not see the point.


It is a deep cycle gel battery.
I hate to resurrect such an old post but since no one else addressed that point, no, Optima batteries are not gel cell batteries. They are conventional lead-acid batteries. Gel cell batteries are not well suited to general automotive use due to a lot of characteristics like the inability to provide a lot of current or be charged at a fast rate with high current. They require a special charger to even be used, standard automotive alternators cannot be used with gel cell batteries. Optima does not manufacture any gel cell batteries at all.

Also another subject going on in this thread is can our modern alternator equipped vehicles be run just on the alternator after the battery is disconnected. Yes and no. First, it's not a good idea at all to disconnect the battery while the engine is running. That can damage some alternators and electronics. Yes, some alternators that are self-exciting will continue to produce power if the battery is dead or disconnected. GM's single-wire alternators were like that, though I'm not sure if GM is still using them.

Most alternators however require a good solid 12 volts from the battery which is used as the exciter voltage. If the battery goes dead or the battery is disconnected while the engine is running, the engine will die. Not immediately but it will within a short period of time That is the case with all three of my cars... Jeep, Lexus, and BMW. The battery in my wife's Grand Cherokee died and I had to jump start it about every half-mile on the way to the battery shop. They'll run for a bit after being jump started but once the magnetic field dies from lack of the exciter voltage, the alternator will stop producing power and the ignition system will no longer be able to provide spark.
 
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i still have a usa made red top that is closing in on 17 years old.
its been in 2 chevy g20 vans.it can still sit several months and still start like i drove it the day before.
going to run it till it gives up.
at the rate i see bad 2 year old ones i know something changed for the worse with the newer ones.
and the ones i see failing were not abused and electrical tests show no problems with the car.
they just up and die like they went open.
i also have a d31 yellowtop on a ups that is 12 now.
still runs the load about 4 hours like it did at the first test.
it recently got run to shutdown which is at 10.5v under load.i fully expected that to be its last run but it recharged normally and passes a load test.
 
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The main issue I don't like about the Optima is the spiral cell technology. It has only one negative and positive plate per cell. When the grid fails you loose the whole cell.
 
the plates have multiple tabs on each plate.
loss of one isnt the end.
the sudden death is either a shorted cell or loss of a bussbar.
happens to stacked flat plate batteries the same.
except you lose a whole plate in flat plate cell.
the jellyroll type losing one tab causes a small resistance increase.
and with both a short is a short.you lose the cell either way.
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
The main issue I don't like about the Optima is the spiral cell technology. It has only one negative and positive plate per cell. When the grid fails you loose the whole cell.
 
Absorbed Glass Mat


They use to be great batteries when in USA. Now they are made in Mexico and quality went down.

My first red top lasted 6-7yrs. I didn't know the trick of using a fully charged regular flooded battery jumper cables to dead red top in parallel. Then using a ten amp charger to charge for two hours. To bring voltage back up to12-13volts.

A yellow top was then put in place of that red and its 8yrs old.

A different red top that was bought in '12 had to go onto being brought back to life like stated above when that agm optima was lended to someone.


Haven't tried their blue top marine gray case battery but I'm debating on it or a Duracell /DEKA made AGM for fishing. Trolling motor, bilge pump, and depth finder.


Pay more up front and find a good deal and BE SURE TO BUY A FRESH BATTERY off the shelf.
 
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the real disadvantage is wasted space vs a flat plate design.
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
The main issue I don't like about the Optima is the spiral cell technology. It has only one negative and positive plate per cell. When the grid fails you loose the whole cell.
 
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