Battery Question - Optima Yellow Top
03-03-16, 02:44 PM
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Battery Question - Optima Yellow Top
I had a Optima Red top that died on me. Stupid me drained the battery all the way down by leaving the map on light for two weeks. Battery cells were completely dead from testing and trying to recharge it.
I replaced with an Optima Yellow Top battery recently and things look okay so far. From my understanding with deep cycle battery from my searches:
I brought my car to my shop recently and he said that my alternator will shred and destroy this battery and will be bad for the car. Can someone to me explain to me why? Would love to understand further on why. Is it a bad idea to run a deep cycle battery? Should I be getting another type of battery?
I figured this application would be good since I only drive my car bi-weekly in the winter.
Thanks!
I replaced with an Optima Yellow Top battery recently and things look okay so far. From my understanding with deep cycle battery from my searches:
It sounds like a deep cycle battery can withstand being drained almost all the way, and filled up all the way, better than other batteries.
I figured this application would be good since I only drive my car bi-weekly in the winter.
Thanks!
sent the battery for recycling
03-06-16, 10:38 AM
#6
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Just because a battery is "deep cycle" does NOT mean it responds well to being fully discharged. 
Anything below 2V per cell is considered discharged, so your 12V battery is discharged with a resting voltage of 12V. Very discharged at 11.8V, and anything below that is stone dead.
Deep cycle batteries have thicker electrodes and are designed to stand up well to repeated discharges (not much less than 2V per cell), however no lead acid battery responds well to stone dead. A battery at 0 volts needs some very careful charging to bring it back without reversing any cells. Just hammering voltage into it will likely damage it with severely reduced capacity due to a bad cell.
After a few incidents of recharging from less than 10V, the battery will fail.
Anything below 2V per cell is considered discharged, so your 12V battery is discharged with a resting voltage of 12V. Very discharged at 11.8V, and anything below that is stone dead.
Deep cycle batteries have thicker electrodes and are designed to stand up well to repeated discharges (not much less than 2V per cell), however no lead acid battery responds well to stone dead. A battery at 0 volts needs some very careful charging to bring it back without reversing any cells. Just hammering voltage into it will likely damage it with severely reduced capacity due to a bad cell.
After a few incidents of recharging from less than 10V, the battery will fail.
03-06-16, 01:27 PM
#7
To address his concern about the alternator, there should not be any major problems with your alternator. I have personally seen in my shop, cars with yellow tops that work fine for years. Other cars seem to kill them. The alternator is what powers the car while the engine is running. The battery is only there to start the engine and act as a buffer for the alternator charging voltage and heavy loads. They may be referring to the fact that Optima AGM batteries can not be charged rapidly with high amperage.
When you hook up a regular lead acid battery to a charger, you can charge them at 40amps for about 20-30 minutes to bring them up to speed quickly. With an AGM, you can't exceed about 1.5-2 amps otherwise you will smoke the battery and kill it. After a car starts, the battery has a slight discharge and the alternator pumps amperage into the battery to bring it back to nominal, but I just have not seen enough cases where I can say that a Yellow top is "bad".
The battery is not "bad" for your car. I personally am not a fan of optima batteries though. They tend to be overpriced and fail early. My recommendation is to either return it, if you can, and buy a standard lead acid battery and get a battery tender.
Deltran Battery Tender
They trickle charge and float a battery when not in use. You just unplug the charge cord before you leave the garage and off you go with a healthy battery. If you want to have an AGM battery and not lead acid, then Optima is really the easiest one to get your hands on, but go with a red top. They are cheaper.
When you hook up a regular lead acid battery to a charger, you can charge them at 40amps for about 20-30 minutes to bring them up to speed quickly. With an AGM, you can't exceed about 1.5-2 amps otherwise you will smoke the battery and kill it. After a car starts, the battery has a slight discharge and the alternator pumps amperage into the battery to bring it back to nominal, but I just have not seen enough cases where I can say that a Yellow top is "bad".
The battery is not "bad" for your car. I personally am not a fan of optima batteries though. They tend to be overpriced and fail early. My recommendation is to either return it, if you can, and buy a standard lead acid battery and get a battery tender.
Deltran Battery Tender
They trickle charge and float a battery when not in use. You just unplug the charge cord before you leave the garage and off you go with a healthy battery. If you want to have an AGM battery and not lead acid, then Optima is really the easiest one to get your hands on, but go with a red top. They are cheaper.
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03-08-16, 04:38 PM
#8
I am personally not a fan of Optima, due to the fact that the corporation which now manufactures them (Johnson Controls) is the same one which offers the garbage found at Autozone and Walmart. Suffice to say that failures in Quality Control bleeding over from one product line to another are quite possible.
For the same price, you can't really go wrong with a Deka Intimidator AGM battery. After seeing the results in Aaron Cake's Project Tina, I purchased one and have been exceedingly happy with the result. Mine is a bit bigger than his (that's what she said!) as it's a 9A48 rated for 70AH, so I had to make a custom box for it to fit in the storage bin, but it was a good project to learn to weld on. As for long-term impressions, I've drained it with far more cranking than a battery should endure, then recharged it with a common 2/10/50 amp Walmart Everstart charger. A few times, it has dipped below 11 volts which has probably affected its lifespan as Aaron said. My general rule for charging is to have a voltmeter on its terminals and charge at the lowest possible rate if it has gone under 12 volts. After it has come back up to over 12v at rest, then I switch to the 10 amp mode. upon the charger saying it is full, I switch back to 2A to double check it. Fortunately, my charger will not go above 14.1v when charging so the method is generally reliable.
In total, I have drained/charged my battery at least 50 times since purchase in 2011.
Of course, a proper AGM type charger such as the Battery Tender products would be best.
For the same price, you can't really go wrong with a Deka Intimidator AGM battery. After seeing the results in Aaron Cake's Project Tina, I purchased one and have been exceedingly happy with the result. Mine is a bit bigger than his (that's what she said!) as it's a 9A48 rated for 70AH, so I had to make a custom box for it to fit in the storage bin, but it was a good project to learn to weld on. As for long-term impressions, I've drained it with far more cranking than a battery should endure, then recharged it with a common 2/10/50 amp Walmart Everstart charger. A few times, it has dipped below 11 volts which has probably affected its lifespan as Aaron said. My general rule for charging is to have a voltmeter on its terminals and charge at the lowest possible rate if it has gone under 12 volts. After it has come back up to over 12v at rest, then I switch to the 10 amp mode. upon the charger saying it is full, I switch back to 2A to double check it. Fortunately, my charger will not go above 14.1v when charging so the method is generally reliable.
In total, I have drained/charged my battery at least 50 times since purchase in 2011.
Of course, a proper AGM type charger such as the Battery Tender products would be best.
03-08-16, 09:00 PM
#9
I get where you are coming from, but Johnson Controls makes almost ALL of the major batteries out there. Including Interstate, Die Hard, Kirkland, Duralast, WalMart, and OEMs like, Ford Motor company, Diamler Chrysler, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and Isuzu.
There are three big companies for batteries and all of their quality seems to have gone down. Delphi and Exide are the other two big names.
I had a Duralast Red in my Dodge and it was seriously the best battery I have ever had. It ran dead a handful of times and it never failed to start my car. I replaced it after it was 8 years old and I had left the lights on overnight. I managed to jump it, but it started to slow crank.
I think the problem lies with Optima themselves and not so much the company. I have noticed that it used to be where you could only get an Optima from a catalog, then all of a sudden every single parts chain carries them on the shelf. There is something to be said about mass quantities and lower quality.
I personally have not used a Deka yet, but the reviews on them are fantastic. I do agree with your charging method and I also am an advocate for using a Battery Tender when storing the vehicle for longer than a month.
There are three big companies for batteries and all of their quality seems to have gone down. Delphi and Exide are the other two big names.
I had a Duralast Red in my Dodge and it was seriously the best battery I have ever had. It ran dead a handful of times and it never failed to start my car. I replaced it after it was 8 years old and I had left the lights on overnight. I managed to jump it, but it started to slow crank.
I think the problem lies with Optima themselves and not so much the company. I have noticed that it used to be where you could only get an Optima from a catalog, then all of a sudden every single parts chain carries them on the shelf. There is something to be said about mass quantities and lower quality.
I personally have not used a Deka yet, but the reviews on them are fantastic. I do agree with your charging method and I also am an advocate for using a Battery Tender when storing the vehicle for longer than a month.
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