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.
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