I have been running AGMs in all of my vehicles, the biggest thing I have found is if you slowly run them dead (sitting not on a maintainer,) they don't seem to come back very easy.
Thoughts on Optima batteries?
- Thread starter cradkins_9591502
- Start date
Some do, Optimas especially don't. That's why Optima was forced to introduce their own special charger to help recover them. A standard battery charger won't bring back an Optima that has too low of a charge.
Last edited:
A deeply discharged Optima won’t charge with a standard charger because they will discharge below 10.5 volts , which a standard charger recognizes as a faulty battery. You can connect a charged battery in parallel with jumper cables (pos to pos and neg to neg) and then connect a standard charger to the good battery to revive it enough to connect it by itself. Make sure you disconnect your battery from the vehicle first.
DETOUR
TJ Enthusiast
Howdy All
•Interesting opinions and experiences out there
•we been using OPTIMA’s red-tops over the last 30 years in northern British Columbia , CANADA ( temperature fluctuations from -40 Celsius to +40 Celsius)
• minimum lifetime 10 years plus
• ‘92 Ford F350 CC
• ‘05 Jeep TJLJ
• ‘06 Toyota Sienna minivan AWD
• I’m curious if quality of the OPTIMA batteries took a drastic nosedive ?
Much appreciate anyone’s input
DETOUR
•goin the xtra mile - it’s never crowded•
•Interesting opinions and experiences out there
•we been using OPTIMA’s red-tops over the last 30 years in northern British Columbia , CANADA ( temperature fluctuations from -40 Celsius to +40 Celsius)
• minimum lifetime 10 years plus
• ‘92 Ford F350 CC
• ‘05 Jeep TJLJ
• ‘06 Toyota Sienna minivan AWD
• I’m curious if quality of the OPTIMA batteries took a drastic nosedive ?
Much appreciate anyone’s input
DETOUR•goin the xtra mile - it’s never crowded•
I have a yellow top. Battery works but my charging system doesn't put out the right voltage to properly charge a AGM deep cycle battery.
Case in point the refrigerator I have works when the Jeep is running but the battery voltage quickly drops to the 11.7 shutdown voltage.
Either need to go for two batteries...or figure out a way to either reprogram the PCM or trick the PCM into increasing the voltage by adding resistance to the battery temperature sensor.
-Mac
Case in point the refrigerator I have works when the Jeep is running but the battery voltage quickly drops to the 11.7 shutdown voltage.
Either need to go for two batteries...or figure out a way to either reprogram the PCM or trick the PCM into increasing the voltage by adding resistance to the battery temperature sensor.
-Mac
internet lore is that quality nosedived when Johnson Controls moved Optima production to Mexico
That "internet lore," at least on the Jeep forums, traces in large part back to our friend, Jerry Bransford, who must have cut, pasted and re-posted the following passages a thousand times to be cut, pasted and re-posted again and again by his followers:
"Optima used to have a great reputation and they're now surviving based on that reputation but they're no longer living up to it. Optima was bought by Johnson Controls who moved their entire manufacturing line to Mexico to cut costs."
"Avoid Optima's batteries. Johnson Controls bought them and moved all of their manufacturing to Mexico which is when their quality tanked."
While I appreciate Jerry's preference to "buy American made whenever you have a choice," his jingoism and apparent personal prejudice against Mexicans and his erroneous beliefs about Mexico's ability as a nation to work and produce quality products not only colors his thinking, it mixes fact and fiction and does a disservice to his readers.
Optima batteries may not be the best option for Jeeps and offroaders, but Optima's place in the battery pecking order bears no rational relationship to the country in which their batteries are manufactured or the nationalities of the workers.
It may be internet lore, but my personal experience was consistent with this view. I had a yellow top manufactured prior to the Johnson Controls move. That battery lasted well over 5 years. I replaced it with a Johnson Controls verion, and it died in under two years. It was replaced under warranty, and the replacement yellow top died in a little over a year. I replaced that with an Odyssey Extreme and have had much better luck.
All that having been said, I’ve recently been reading about charging levels with regard to AGM’s, and need to dig into this a bit more.
Take this for what it’s worth. I purchased a red top optima for my Subaru 4 years ago. It lasted 2. I got it replaced with a new one and so far it’s hanging in there but, it will be 2 years in October so we’ll see.
I also installed a yellow top in the Tj 2 years ago and it’s doing fine so far.
I know that my Subaru would only get 2 years on factory batteries. I’ve replaced more batteries on it than I have my entire life on all of my other vehicles.
I also installed a yellow top in the Tj 2 years ago and it’s doing fine so far.
I know that my Subaru would only get 2 years on factory batteries. I’ve replaced more batteries on it than I have my entire life on all of my other vehicles.
I do not question your experience. My experience with Optima batteries has been the same. I no longer use them.
My point is that the particular country in which a factory may be located and the various nationalities of the workers who may be involved are irrelevant factors with respect to the quality of a product or its longevity.
It is one thing to say, 'In 2000, changes were made in raw materials and manufacturing processes when Johnson Controls purchased Optima and began construction of new factories in Mexico,' which are factual statements, but it is something entirely different to imply as Jerry has that Johnson Controls moved production to Mexico to take advantage of cheap foreign labor and that quality tanked because production moved to Mexico.
I found those implications objectionable long before I chose to split my time between the U.S. and its southern neighbor.
• minimum lifetime 10 years plus
The first few we used, circa early-mid 2000s, were great. Two replacements from around 2016 were crap lasting only 3 years, just a few months out of the warranty period IIRC. Friends had similar issues around that time. I typically get a standard battery to last 6-7 years.
Friends do not let Friends buy Optima.
There was a time when Optima was Optimum but the Chinese bought them out. But that is not all bad because you now stop in at Wong Hung Lo Chinese take out, Stomach pump room and Optima Battery Outlet...U come soon since OK?
Yes I ran them and finally got tired of failures. On a Moab run7 rated trail that was ONE WAY in, same way out! I got the end of the trail and it would not start after our break. Turns out it was a internal short...again. I went thru 3 of them and never got a refund or anything, always somehow my fault.
That said I have a 15 year OLD Odyssey Battery that came out of Jeep, then out of my RV, then. out of F 450 truck and its now used as a back up battery.
https://www.odysseybattery.com/
NOT cheap and Cheap don't good and good don't come Cheap! If you wheel and go remote or stay out for a week or more like I do, only Battery: Odyssey!!!
YES, its worth it...my 15 year old Odyssey is still cooking...Odyssey meets Mil Spec on the Extreme line.
DETOUR
TJ Enthusiast
The irony, which too many have missed, is that much of the American made gear Jerry owns was given to him or provided at a reduced rate because he's an influencer (has lots of posts). It wouldn’t be unreasonable to consider his product takes to be disingenuous and his “buy American” stance to be comical.
Last edited:
I must have gotten the one Diamond in the ruff. I have a Optima Yellow Top from 2018 that is still going strong and sits in the garage with no maintainer for extended periods of time in the winter and has never failed to start in the past 6 years. Maybe its the fact i park in a garage all the time and it's somewhat temperature controlled? Never in freezing weather?
Is it actually the battery or maybe your fridge? I had a snow master fridge that now is in the basement as a freezer, it pulled significantly more power than advertised and quickly drained my battery doing the same thing - reaching the shutdown voltage. I now have an Engle and it's significantly more efficient.