Which Optima Battery To Buy?
#1
Which Optima Battery To Buy?
Hey everyone,
I used to post here years back under my old user name SoCal Screw*, but I forgot the password and e-mail so I had to create a new account.
Anyways I currently have an Optima Red top battery (34/78), and it's about time for a new one. I've had this battery for 6 years, and there's only enough juice in it to start the truck now.
So I've been looking at a new one and have some questions. I have 2 Hella off road auxiliary lights. I plan to get maybe 2 more and definitely put a stereo in the truck at some time, as well as add H.I.D lights etc..
Should I be looking at getting a yellow top battery to power all this? Or even a blue top? I know the red top is just a basic upgrade over the stock battery. I am looking at the yellow top, well just cause it can handle all that I plan to add to the truck.
I am also looking at the blue top because it also has two other connection ports on the battery that I could possibly use to hook up my 2 Hella lights on.
Anyways as you can see I'm pretty confused as to which battery I should purchase. If anyone could offer me some suggestions as to which battery or maybe even another brand of battery that would perform better I would appreciate it.
Thanks everyone!
P.S Sorry for the extremely long post!
I used to post here years back under my old user name SoCal Screw*, but I forgot the password and e-mail so I had to create a new account.
Anyways I currently have an Optima Red top battery (34/78), and it's about time for a new one. I've had this battery for 6 years, and there's only enough juice in it to start the truck now.
So I've been looking at a new one and have some questions. I have 2 Hella off road auxiliary lights. I plan to get maybe 2 more and definitely put a stereo in the truck at some time, as well as add H.I.D lights etc..
Should I be looking at getting a yellow top battery to power all this? Or even a blue top? I know the red top is just a basic upgrade over the stock battery. I am looking at the yellow top, well just cause it can handle all that I plan to add to the truck.
I am also looking at the blue top because it also has two other connection ports on the battery that I could possibly use to hook up my 2 Hella lights on.
Anyways as you can see I'm pretty confused as to which battery I should purchase. If anyone could offer me some suggestions as to which battery or maybe even another brand of battery that would perform better I would appreciate it.
Thanks everyone!
P.S Sorry for the extremely long post!
#3
A mod or admin will be along shortly to share your old password for your old account. Not allowed to have miltiple user names.
I have good luck with my Interstate Mega Tron Plus. Oprimas are junk and are not what they used to be since they sold to another company. Other members swear by Kinetic (iirc) and the Sears die hard equivalent.
I have good luck with my Interstate Mega Tron Plus. Oprimas are junk and are not what they used to be since they sold to another company. Other members swear by Kinetic (iirc) and the Sears die hard equivalent.
#4
A mod or admin will be along shortly to share your old password for your old account. Not allowed to have miltiple user names.
I have good luck with my Interstate Mega Tron Plus. Oprimas are junk and are not what they used to be since they sold to another company. Other members swear by Kinetic (iirc) and the Sears die hard equivalent.
I have good luck with my Interstate Mega Tron Plus. Oprimas are junk and are not what they used to be since they sold to another company. Other members swear by Kinetic (iirc) and the Sears die hard equivalent.
Also, I will have to look those two batteries up. Thanks.
Thanks I was leaning towards a yellow top.
#6
#7
Hi ImAti0n, since your RedTop is still functioning for you, I’d like to ask you a few questions about it, before you get rid of it. Even though it’s six years old, it may still have some life left in it. What is the voltage of the battery when the vehicle is turned off and what is the voltage of the battery when the engine is running? Is this truck driven daily?
If you do decide to get a new battery, selecting a battery with the ability to be deep-cycled is a good idea, given the stereo and lighting upgrades you mentioned. Our BlueTops do have additional threaded top posts, but are otherwise identical internally to their YellowTop counterparts. The one exception is the 34M BlueTop, which is the marine version of our Group 34 RedTop starting battery.
The quality of our batteries has always been excellent and has continued to improve, since Johnson Controls acquired Optima in 2000. We still manufacture all of our own batteries in our own facility and they are the only batteries made there. We never re-brand or re-spec our batteries for any retailer. Many of the “bad” batteries returned to us now are just deeply-discharged and work fine, when properly recharged. Many battery chargers will not recognize or charge any battery that has been discharged below 10.5 volts. Optimas can be recharged with such chargers, by using the parallel charging technique explained in this video-
If you have any other questions about our batteries, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
If you do decide to get a new battery, selecting a battery with the ability to be deep-cycled is a good idea, given the stereo and lighting upgrades you mentioned. Our BlueTops do have additional threaded top posts, but are otherwise identical internally to their YellowTop counterparts. The one exception is the 34M BlueTop, which is the marine version of our Group 34 RedTop starting battery.
The quality of our batteries has always been excellent and has continued to improve, since Johnson Controls acquired Optima in 2000. We still manufacture all of our own batteries in our own facility and they are the only batteries made there. We never re-brand or re-spec our batteries for any retailer. Many of the “bad” batteries returned to us now are just deeply-discharged and work fine, when properly recharged. Many battery chargers will not recognize or charge any battery that has been discharged below 10.5 volts. Optimas can be recharged with such chargers, by using the parallel charging technique explained in this video-
If you have any other questions about our batteries, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
Last edited by OptimaJim; 03-06-2014 at 03:27 PM.
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#8
Blue is a deep cycle marine battery, yellow is a deep cycle auto battery - and the only difference between them is the type of terminal posts they use, and the location of the posts.
Last edited by curio; 07-01-2010 at 11:55 AM. Reason: whoops - just noticed OptimaJim said that too
#9
get out of the optima state of mind, they are all hype...the only good thing about them is that they are sealed. i have a duralast "red top" and i've got a 1200W amp 2 10's, 2 sets of HID's hooked up to it(no big power drain), AMP research steps and i've had no problems with it, plus its literally 80$ less than the cheapest Optima out there.
Products like that advertise the greatest, but honestly they are no better than a standard or slightly better than stock batt.
Products like that advertise the greatest, but honestly they are no better than a standard or slightly better than stock batt.
#12
Hi ImAti0n, since your RedTop is still functioning for you, I’d like to ask you a few questions about it, before you get rid of it. Even though it’s six years old, it may still have some life left in it. What is the voltage of the battery when the vehicle is turned off and what is the voltage of the battery when the engine is running? Is this truck driven daily?
If you do decide to get a new battery, selecting a battery with the ability to be deep-cycled is a good idea, given the stereo and lighting upgrades you mentioned. Our BlueTops do have additional threaded top posts, but are otherwise identical internally to their YellowTop counterparts. The one exception is the 34M BlueTop, which is the marine version of our Group 34 RedTop starting battery.
The quality of our batteries has always been excellent and has continued to improve, since Johnson Controls acquired Optima in 2000. We still manufacture all of our own batteries in our own facility and they are the only batteries made there. We never re-brand or re-spec our batteries for any retailer. Many of the “bad” batteries returned to us now are just deeply-discharged and work fine, when properly recharged. Many battery chargers will not recognize or charge any battery that has been discharged below 10.5 volts. Optimas can be recharged with such chargers, by using the parallel charging technique explained in this video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIoaL3DWWEg
If you have any other questions about our batteries, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
If you do decide to get a new battery, selecting a battery with the ability to be deep-cycled is a good idea, given the stereo and lighting upgrades you mentioned. Our BlueTops do have additional threaded top posts, but are otherwise identical internally to their YellowTop counterparts. The one exception is the 34M BlueTop, which is the marine version of our Group 34 RedTop starting battery.
The quality of our batteries has always been excellent and has continued to improve, since Johnson Controls acquired Optima in 2000. We still manufacture all of our own batteries in our own facility and they are the only batteries made there. We never re-brand or re-spec our batteries for any retailer. Many of the “bad” batteries returned to us now are just deeply-discharged and work fine, when properly recharged. Many battery chargers will not recognize or charge any battery that has been discharged below 10.5 volts. Optimas can be recharged with such chargers, by using the parallel charging technique explained in this video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIoaL3DWWEg
If you have any other questions about our batteries, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
I will look into that charging technique since that may be cheaper than buying a whole new battery.
If I were to recharge my battery would it be like new?
I'm assuming Kinetic is a brand of batteries? I will have to google that.
#14
Even if you are able to recharge the battery, it is still six years old. No six-year old battery is ever as good as it was when new, but that doesn't mean it won't continue to get the job done. Please keep me posted. Thanks!
Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
#15
I love my Sears P2 (re-labeled Odessey) battery. I've been beating the heck out of it with a high powered stereo system, with the truck turned off, a lot of the time, for 2 years now. Granted, I added a voltage gage in my dash, so I could see if my volts were trying to drop below 12. In fact, if it ever does drop below 12 volts, the gage will start flashing, but I can play several songs full tilt, and that's still never happened.
In fact, a few X's, I even screwed up, and left my headlights turned on too ! Doh ! And still never a problem starting.
Peace,
Fish
In fact, a few X's, I even screwed up, and left my headlights turned on too ! Doh ! And still never a problem starting.
Peace,
Fish