So an update related to post #50 as the very last Optima battery I was cursed with and gave away finally totally died at a little over 7 years old. It was showing cracks for years at the unused top post terminals, but, not yet leaking from them. The cracking is a covered by warranty event so I am being generous by saying it was still good even with cracks. (BTW You get 3 years warranty now with zero prorate after it. Unlike the longer pro-rate warranties of the past.) Over-discharge was it's final killer. IMO it didn't used to be this sure of a death with Optima's.
Refresher on Optima Red Top fleet: 4 total batteries in two 6.5TD's
ALL failed 2x in under 2 years. Ten total Optima batteries and only one goes the distance in "light duty". As posted earlier the initial failures were due to cracking on the unused top post and starting to leak from the cracks. The refund and warranty exchange left me with 2 new Optima Batteries that, bluntly, I gave away. Mainly because Optima made them a Royal Pain in the A$$ to get warranty on by using different part numbers for the same battery. This means Interstate Batteries and online retailers sell a different part number than say O'Reilly Auto Parts. No one is paying anyone to be in on the weekends at Optima to authorize any retailer to handle "other" part numbers. In my case Interstate Batteries is a 2 hour round trip from me to get warranty. Unnecessary aggravation intentionally done by Optima Batteries to make warranty exchange harder. Why? Everyone including Jim's hot stand sells the damn things, but, may not warranty all of them. You had better have your receipt as well or No Warranty ... due to free batteries that are given away. Yeah you may win a half-assed free battery with NO Warranty.
Screw Dealing With This! Esp. on a weekend in the middle of nowhere.
The above said in the past I have dived in battery piles looking for batteries to power a CB Radio (anyone recall these?) Yeah in the 90's. Optima Batteries gained a Zombie reputation to be able to come back from the dead. (Over-discharge conditions where the battery is below 10v and sometimes at 0V. )
The last two Optima's both died in gas engine rigs from over-discharge. The first one may have even been under warranty at the time. So 50% failure rate to start with. Now the one that went the distance (light duty in a garaged GMC Yukon used by retired folks) was finally done in by over-discharge sitting at a body shop waiting for parts.
Not sure what's different, but, recovery from over-discharge isn't as reliable as it used to be with Optima's. Welcome to the same as everything else on the market category...
I have posted AGM Deka batteries, post #5, that were worse for taking the heat under the hood of Patch. Also Odyssey Extreme AGM batteries where over-discharge kills em. So again you reach for an AGM if you want longer storage life from less self discharge and less chance of acid everywhere eating wires and harnesses up. Just Vegas Odds here as Dry Cell's can leak and damage things just not in the constant wet cell acid spray build up from their normal changing.
An update on warranty for Odyssey Extreme AGM that voids my past post on they should be able to take Over-discharge: but
we won't warranty it anymore. Like I said: welcome Optima and Odyssey to the SSDD club.
Odyssey understanding your battery warranty:
Understanding Your Battery Warranty. Learn more about ODYSSEY® Battery including news & events at OdysseyBattery.com.
blog.odysseybattery.com
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