tigerplk, I'm sorry to hear about the problems you've been having and I'd like to help. Can you tell me more about the vehicles you are having issues with, they symptoms surrounding your battery issues and the types of tenders or maintainers you are using?
JWilly, some units will have a “Gel/AGM” or “Gel” charger setting. These should be avoided, as gel charger settings (even if they also include AGM) will not fully-charge an Optima and could damage it over time. A “standard” setting will work just fine on our batteries, but some units have “AGM”-specific settings, which will also work fine. Badrich & wetdog, I'm glad to hear your Optimas are providing excellent service for you. We're always looking for great Optima stories, so feel free to
share yours with us.
Tim, I have not heard of such an issue before, but I will certainly forward your comments to one of our engineers. As snakebittexan indicated, many batteries are not properly-maintained, which is the most common cause of low-voltage situations. This has been problematic enough for some companies that they have simply begun voiding the warranty on batteries they deem to be “overdischarged.” We felt a better option was to be pro-active in helping folks better understand their batteries and proper maintenance. Our
YouTube channel has a lot of very informative videos.
SP01715, the quality of our batteries has always been excellent and building an entirely new facility from the ground up, featuring more automation and subsequently, more precision, has only served to improve the quality of our products. You can watch a video of production facility
here.
Bxx1, I'm glad to hear your YellowTop is performing well for you. Unfortunately, sometimes information conveyed at the retail level is not always accurate. I have heard comments from customers whose retailers discouraged them from buying one brand over another, even though both brands were manufactured by the same company in the same facility and the only diffference between the two batteries was the label on the case.
tmareina, if you know your vehicle will be in storage for two to three months at a time and regular use of a tender or maintainer is not possible, another viable option is to leave the battery fully-charged and disconnected from your vehicle.
SMOKNAC, I'm sorry to hear about the problems you've been having and I'd like to learn a little bit more about your application. Is this vehicle driven daily and if not, what kind of battery tender or maintainer are you using? What was the voltage of the batteries when you had issues and the circumstances surrounding those issues?
Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries