well i had 2 option either a duralast gold or a optima battery...is the duralast gold a good battery?? 20 dollars less than the optima
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well i had 2 option either a duralast gold or a optima battery...is the duralast gold a good battery?? 20 dollars less than the optima
I've heard really good things and really bad things about Optima's... Look around at some more options online!
the optimas sold now are dog shit, they are made in mexico ,every person i know who has bought one says the same thing. And if it goes bad,no one will warranty them. here's a page on the H.A.M.B where people were asked or their feedback to otmima, it's not pretty,be warned. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...hlight=odysseyQuote:
Originally Posted by Bass Man
Ok thanks guys cause my shit dird today while I changed the headlights I might have left some on for a bit cause the battery had a lil bit of power in it and when I tried to turn it on nothing not even a turn over and I knew this day would come but didn't think this soon well any good batterys you guys think that has good voltage? And that could be used in cold weathers without fail?
i just bought the red top optima on yesterday for my car...yes it is made in mex...i got a deal on it and only paid like 130for it
good luck, the ones made within the last couple of years are lasting on average of a year or so, someone on the hamb weighed some of them, and the new ones weigh about 15 pounds less, a good battery has good lead in it, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened to the quality. They were bought out by Johnson controls, and moved production to Mexico, after that the quality went to total shit. Whats interesting is, the person who designed the original optima, is the same guy who designed the odyssey. he doesn't work for Optima anymore. There's an interesting post in there, they screwed up on thousands and thousands of batteries, they decided it would cost too much to junk those batteries, so they were sold at a discount to distributors, they are all out there somewhere.Quote:
Originally Posted by MessyHonda
i would not expect a batt to last more than 3 years...expecially if you run lots of electronics...sucks that the new optimas dont last long but i took a tester and out of the store it still had 12 volts even after being in the shelf since 8/09....i was trying to the old napa ones one that was made in 1/09 and it was dead....like i said it for 130 bucks its not a bad deal if it lasts me 3 years....at least its sealed...so now i can relocate it to my trunk
how about duralast gold? it has a 8 yr warrenty?? is that good enough and i might relocate the battery to the trunk next year
so like autozone, napa, pep boys and discounts auto??Quote:
Originally Posted by lostforawhile
Dunno about the duralast gold, but my duralast red has been in my car for 2 years. 0 problems. If you are looking to relocate to your trunk, though, you absolutely MUST use a sealed battery.
oh ok thanks bro might relocate in march or April and whats the amp range on the red duralast?
no they were sold as optimas but damaged so they were sold at a discount, i'm sure not everyone revealed they were.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shyboy88Lx-i
duralast gold and duralast are johnson controls. They're basically a rebranded interstate. I work at autozone, and we rarely get back any duralast, or duralast gold that are still in the warranty period. Good batteries. Only difference between the two is that the gold has higher CCA and a year extra on the warranty.
They make a sealed box with a vent tube for trunk batteries.
alright thanks turabaka i think i might get the duralast gold for now and then do the relocation later and thanks for the info learning alot of things
One extra thing to add for anyone reading this thread.
Do not buy the valucraft line of batteries. They suck ass. They barely last the year out of their free replacement period, and they tend to leak acid like crazy. I've got a picture somewhere on my phone where the whole top half of one is blown clean off.
same goes for everstart. Which is wallmart's brand of batteries.
So, stay away from valuecrap and neverstart. Just spend the extra on a decent battery.
strange, we have a walmart brand in the civic, haven't had any problems with it, the old one was five years old and it heated up and started smoking.Quote:
Originally Posted by turabaka
no clue on the amperage honestly. have NEVER had a problem starting the car, even in the dead of winter (although i will also tell u oklahoma winter doesnt get below 0 usually.) the duralast batteries wont be any good for relocating unless you get a box with the aformentioned vent tubes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shyboy88Lx-i
I bought a Optima red top in early 2000 It's made it through FL, CT, TX and now CA. It's a good battery if you take care of it. I'd buy another one no problem with no worries.
A battery is only as good as the care you give it. And thats any battery.
So who makes a good sealed battery,I plan on doing a relocate to the trunk in the spring.Can't find a sealed box around here.Can i make my own.
odyssey, you can buy them online, and they can be shipped as a regular package,because they are considered a dry cell.Quote:
Originally Posted by import racer
Optima now is crap. My energizer battery from costco is better than my old optima.
Ah, Johnson Controls is BAD.Quote:
Originally Posted by lostforawhile
Ah, Johnson Controls is GOOD.Quote:
Originally Posted by turabaka
...wait...
When I went in to Autozone to buy a new battery, the guys at the counter steered me away from the Duralast, saying they saw a lot of returns on those. This was about a year ago, so maybe they've changed. I bought an Optima. It weighs about a million pounds, so it must be one of the good ones. From what I've seen, the Odysseys are very small (ie: low form factor, not wimpy). They'll take up a lot less space in the trunk.
I've heard a TON of very conflicting arguments about odyssey batteries.
eg: Great deep cycle, meaning TONS of cranking amps, vs
They deep cycle, which means they cant crank in the cold
They aren't fully charged until 15v, unlike normal batteries, which means they wont last as long because they are constantly undercharged, vs
My odyssey battery lasts forever!
I dunno, hard to wade through all of the different crap i've heard.
odyssey batteries are awesome from what I heard. Almost bought one, but the price is what steered me away and toward the optima.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr_Snooz
I've worked at autozone for a little over a year now, and from what I've seen our duralast batteries are good. Thinking about it the most common batteries we tend to get back as cores are neverstarts and motorcraft. I think that's mostly due to how many people here drive fords and/or crappy cars.
i had a duralast gold and it worked very well but the one i got was 1000 cranking amps and 800 CCA but i had beat in my car so it worked out and oh it was group 34 battery, it takes up the whole battery tray space.:werd:
they are both a deep cycle and a cranking battery, they are fully charged at regular battery voltages, if you run one all the way down,it will come back up to 400 times with no damage, but if it's totally dead, you need to use a voltage controlled charger, to bring it back to 100 percent. they have a list of approved chargers from different makers, on their home page. if you use a cheap charger, and it goes above 15 volts, which a lot of chinese junk does, it will cause the emergency vent to open the battery will out gas, and be ruined, the high voltage a lot of cheap chargers use, is bad for about any battery. They have no current limit on charging, just a voltage limit, you can put as many amps in as you want, as long as the voltage stays below 15 volts. The good thing about these batteries, is if you take care of them, they will last for years. the pc625 i want is just over a hundred bucks, compare that to a cheap battery, then figure in a collector car, they are estimated to last for about a decade. I don't have a huge stereo, so i don't need a large battery, the car runs on the alternator anyway, when it's running. even with a dead alternator, this battery would go 30 minutes with a 25 amp load, cut off everything not needed and it could last a couple of hours. this will get you out of a dangerous situation easy. as far as cold cranking amps, they test their cca at 0 degrees Fahrenheit, most average batteries are tested at 32 degrees. so the cca may look low, but the batteries are tested at a much colder temp. test them at the same temp as a regular battery, and they actually produce more. the design of these batteries lets them put out a lot of current in a hurry if neededQuote:
Originally Posted by 2drSE-i
I'd have to agree with Tim here guys. The bad stuff I heard on these, most of the time it's operator abuse. As Tim has said take care of it and they'll last. I will probably be picking one of these up when the battery dies in the coupe I just bought.
I've been wanting to try one but just haven't had a need to since the optima in the sedan is still operating well.
But Tim I have a Schumacher smart charger it has a gel cell setting this should handle the Odyssey right?
Kinda what i was thinking. A ton of the bad comments left things out, stuck them on cheap chargers, ran them empty and didnt fully charge them(repeatedly), etc. Proper care does wonders, no?Quote:
Originally Posted by nswst8
:bowrofl::thumbup:Quote:
Originally Posted by turabaka
it depends on the output voltage of the charger, i'll have to find the link, I just know a lot of people run these batteries, and are very happy with them. You can get them in a lot of different sizes too.Quote:
Originally Posted by nswst8
I did a ton of research and searched a bunch of opinions before i decided to run the odyssey, i just don't have the money to go pick it up yet, i already built the box to fit the pc625. it's the one that's in the old toolbox. you can figure if someone spends years building a hot rod or a custom, and decided to built it just for one of these batteries, you know it's good. they also have an odyssey approved for aircraft use now, that says a lot,takes a lot of work to get FAA certification.
tech info
http://www.odysseybatteriesonline.co...r/techinfo.php
approved chargers
http://www.odysseyfactory.com/docume...argers_000.pdf
Well i need a battery that's good in the cold,and something i can put in the trunk.Might have to go with a seal battery box.
the odysseys are good in the cold, don't be fooled by the cca, they test at a lower temp then standard. I know lots of people with them and i'm sold on them. I just hope i can get mine soon so i can start testing circuits.Quote:
Originally Posted by import racer
Agreed - I put an Everstart battery in the Accord and the terminals (which were brand new) corroded over in just a few months. I even used those little anti-corrosion felt rings (do those even work at all?).Quote:
Originally Posted by turabaka
I must say all this talk of Optima batteries being crap has me concerned - I just put a Yellowtop in the Jeep in October (yep, it's made in Mexico). It's been fine other than the time I left the lights on overnight and drained it, but it charged back up no problems and has been fine since.
Optima batteries are fine.
did you read the thread where people were given the chance to tell optima their opinions? 90 percent negative, there would have been hundreds of complaints if they hadn't cut off the thread eventually ,before it became a mob. And those are people who put a lot of work in their cars, and expected the battery to live up to it's expectations. I never listen to the companies advertising i listen to peoples experiences. it's pretty much they used to be the shit, now they are shit. once they moved the factory they raised the price and lowered the quality. on the other hand the Odyssey has tons of positive comments all over the web, the complaints on it seem to be people not understanding about using the proper chargerQuote:
Originally Posted by nswst8
Well optima battery battery sucks I read about it and hearing from you guys then this company should just scrap them shits and produce a better battery or if not shut down the plant and ossydey sounds like a good battery
Going on 3years with my redtop the only time it has failed is when the car sat for a long while
I've had mine for about 7-8 years now and it's still strong.
yeah but was it made in mex?Quote:
Originally Posted by nswst8
it's been the ones made in the last couple of years that are the problem batteries, since the moveQuote:
Originally Posted by Shyboy88Lx-i
I run the duralast golds in all 4 of my cars, low to mild sound systems and dont have any problems with them. Also you can't beat the warranty.
I guess only time will tell. In 20 years I never had a battery last longer than three years until I bought my Optima Red Top in 2002. It lasted six years. In addition, when it went bad it continued to start the car, though cranking slowly. Every other battery just stopped cranking abruptly. I am personally sold on the Optimas, regardless of the comments made here.
FYI there are only like three battery manufactors in the US and they go out to all brands for example:walmart, autozone etc.. so in other words you stand to get the exact same battery no matter where you buy it.
Just get a good free replacement warrenty, long as possible, that means no pro rated replacement for at least say 18 months or so. yes
thats the other reason i'm going with odysey,they make their own batteries right here.Quote:
Originally Posted by roodoo2
I like Duralast red tops, Have had great times with them.
Unfortunately they arent localized for here. Almost every forum reviewing optimas is great until the johnson controls takeover. After that, all thats been said is garbage.Quote:
Originally Posted by DBMaster
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2drSE-i
I hope that's not the case with the one I bought last August. At least they have a long non pro-rated warranty. I think it is three years. The last one I had in there was the best battery the car has ever had. I think Wal Mart batteries are a lot better now than they were in the past. They changed manufacturers a few years ago. Before that I had one that lasted a mere 16 months. I have also had good luck with Delco batteries, believe it or not. The car came from the factory with a Delco and I bought one just before the Optima from a commercial battery place.
good luck on the warranty, a lot of places had so many come back, they quit honoring them, they were great batteries, and the company took that great product and ruined it,like so many other good products. I had bought one by mistake for the civic, it quit in three months, took it back, was given a hard time, finally got another one, it lasted 2 months, warranty was refused, claimed it was the electrical system, I had already tested it and it's just fine, the optima became a very expensive lawn ornament, had bought a used walmart battery lasted fine for a while until it quit, put a new one in, and it's fine, the optima went to the dump on the day the city picked up anything.Quote:
Originally Posted by DBMaster
damn :jaw: lol read this
When I bought the car, it had a Mopar battery and never had a problem with it. We noticed it was leaking one day so swapped it for an Optima Redtop....thats where the horror story began...
I jumped in the Viper yesterday afternoon to go meet a friend I hadnt seen in a long time. Insert key, depress clutch, turn key....barely a whimper. Repeat process 3-4 times. For the FOURTH time in about 3 years...my $180 "top of the line" Optima Redtop battery was dead I jump out of the Viper, muttered several inappropiate words, hop in the daily driver and go meet my friend. I called the battery place (which was across the street from where we met) and explained I was already busy and going to Atlanta last night, so I didnt have time to go home, drop the rearend out of the Viper, take old battery back, get new battery and go home and install the new battery. The guy looked up my history and saw where this was my 4th Optima and said he'd give me a new one, but they were out of the redtops I needed. I asked him what in the hell made him think I'd EVER put an Optima in any car ever again? He said they had one other type of a completely sealed battery and he'd give me one of them. So, we went and he gave me a full refund on the Optima and sold me a $80 Werker battery (their own line of battery). When I take the old battery back Monday, he's going to give me a copy of my purchase history so I can write Optima a letter and suggest a few places where they shove their batteries. :lol: about optimas battery
i prefer napa or interstate batteries. Ive had shitty luck with low end die hard and never start batteries.
More like APPROPRIATE words. :rofl:Quote:
Originally Posted by Shyboy88Lx-i
oh i didnt type that lol i copied it and pasted here lol man this guy was fired up
Everstart lasted me 3 years or so, but all I ran was the fuel pump, ignition, and light. No A/C, no stereo.Quote:
Originally Posted by lostforawhile
The $100 Napa battery in my Sidekick was in the Pathfinder 3 years ago when I had my big system in it, and the Sidekick has an 8000lb Champion winch on the front. The battery is never low on juice and I can leave my headlights on just about all day and it will start with no problem.Quote:
Originally Posted by AccordEpicenter
just thought i would add my civic had a 7 year old diehard in it and it still worked except in winter it would die in winter everynight and by the time i sold the car if i played the radio for 10 minutes it would need a jump start, but for being a 7 year old battery its pretty good imo lol
in my 4 door i have a napa Exide Orbital its like optima...sealed....worked good for me...only thing is that it kinda dims but its because i have a 2360watt stereo...and i run all kind of electronics including my msd box and radar detector
I had never heard of them before you mention them here! Ok so today I was in Charleston at the SGFMA annual gathering and those Odesey battery guys were there. Very interesting schpleel they have. He even offered a buy back deal. The CCA is way higher than the spec supposedly. The guy kept saying they were dry cell, then I asked him later if they had lead acid and he said yes.(lol) The lead is some kind of virgin high quality type. They have my attention.Quote:
Originally Posted by lostforawhile
The Optima guys were there, and I mentioned the bad mouth about them on the net.. one of them walked off and left the one guy to fend for the product. He said the only difference in them from before is the labor. I find it hard to believe that Mexicans putting them together is the quality issue. First thing that comes to my mind is somehow the materials are being bootlegged.
The best battery I ever had was a Die Hard Incredicell. I might be dating myself here, but I put one of those in my 72 Catalina in 1985. It was still going string in 1990 when I sold it. That was back when Johnson Controls made Sears' batteries. I discovered that you could pull the battery from the car to remove the top half and add distilled water to it. It was diminutive in size. but it outlasted any battery that had been used in the car for 18 years. I have been looking for something that good ever since. That car was hard on batteries as it took over 250 amps just to start it.
I think, I'm getting the feeling Tim does not like optima batteries.
yeah....too much time reading stuff online....i bought one and im happy...thats cuz i bought it with my own money and i didnt want to mess around with any other batt....yeah the odesey batt looks cool and all but sometimes you just need a oem replacement oneQuote:
Originally Posted by nswst8
i sent a brand new optima to the dump after replacing it and then no one would honor the warranty a second time, they are dog shit. It's not just me but a lot of people. they ruined a good product, sent it to another country, raised the price, and lowered the quality.Quote:
Originally Posted by MessyHonda
well im lucky.....my napa guy just defects stuff out for me and hooks me upQuote:
Originally Posted by lostforawhile
I used to do stereo stuff, back then they were the battery to have, it was a great product, why they changed it, i have no idea, but they ruined them . I don't know anyone who even puts them in anymore, as far as stereo stuff, they know it will come back. the link I had earlier was a feedback thread to Johnson controls about them, they had to close it they got so much negative feedback.Quote:
Originally Posted by MessyHonda
as soon as i can get the money up and bolt down this battery box, i'll be putting an odyssey in mine, I did my research and it works best for me. I want a battery where i can turn on the master switch and it's always ready.
yeah i know it was the batt to get back in the day...i asked the guy if they got any returns on them and he said not alot of them got returned back...but yeah we will see...i only had it for 2 weeks...il let you know after couple months or maybe even yearsQuote:
Originally Posted by lostforawhile
I wanted to get an Optima but I will definitely stray away from them, now... My dad's old boss has a little tiny Odyssy (looks like a Motorcycle battery) in his competition Samurai buggy. That's what they like to use at Trail Tough. And his son has a red top in his DD Samurai and I see it dead after a week sitting at the shop, but I think it's 7-8 years old.
you can get the odysseys in different sizes too, i built my box for a pc625, which is a little smaller then most, but i don't plan on running the radio with the car off or anything, and I don't have a huge stereo. all the electronics in the car as far as the alarm are just temp loads, the draw of the brain is so small it won't matter much. I have the kilowatt draw of the starter in the car, so i'll calculate it out to amps, I know mine is the geared one,which pulls a whole lot less current then the non geared one. eventually when it's back on the road,i'll probably put in another odyssey somewhere isolated,just to run the stereo with the car off.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bass Man
This I'd like to see this. I want to run a second battery but have no idea how to do it correctly.Quote:
Originally Posted by lostforawhile
Could you explain it to me as if I was a 5 year old.
well if you are running a small battery like the odyssey, you can either run a battery isolator box, or run the two in parallel and use a constant duty solenoid wired to the ignition, when the ignition is on, the solenoid is energized, and both batteries are connected to the charging system, when you switch off the ignition, the solenoid opens and the second battery is isolated, you wire the stereo to the second batteryQuote:
Originally Posted by nswst8
That's only an 80-85 amp draw.Quote:
Originally Posted by lostforawhile
I need pictures.Quote:
Originally Posted by lostforawhile
well i have wiring all over my car right now, but i will try and find a diagramQuote:
Originally Posted by nswst8
Well I got a duralast for now and new terminals in case but until I find a relocation to the trunk then ill sell my battery later
you can run 2 batteries in parallel if they are the same make/model and age like alot of heavy trucks do. If they are mismatched, they may discharge eachother, and youd need either a battery isolator or a switched solenoid to isolate each battery from eachother when the car is off.
thats what i'm doing, when the alternator is running they will both see an equal voltage, i have a battery solenoid that will separate the aux battery when the engine isn't running. the other nice thing is with an aux battery, if you run the main down somehow, once you switch on the ignition, it's like jump starting your own car.Quote:
Originally Posted by AccordEpicenter
Where do I find a battery solenoid? Is this what you are talking about?Quote:
Originally Posted by lostforawhile
http://www.bcae1.com/battiso.htm
pretty much except you really don't need the extra solenoid, they added it so you could switch off main batter power to the amp to work on it, it's just as easy to disconnect the battery to work on your stereo wiring, they also added a switch to turn on the isolator solenoid , all you have to do is run ignition power through an inline fuse to the solenoid coil. then it's switched on to charge any time you have the car running . with a couple of diodes you can also run fused power from the second battery through a switch to the solenoid coil, this allows you to use the second battery as a primary in an emergency. you use the diodes so power to the coil doesn't feed back into the ignition circuit.Quote:
Originally Posted by nswst8
I read this in hotrod and found it on the Optima website. Its under FAQ charging section. In a nut shell they are saying if the battery goes below 10.5v they wont take a charge with a regular battery charger the internal resistance is to low.
http://www.optimabatteries.com/product_support/faqs.php
Quote:
If an OPTIMA is deeply discharged (below 10.5 volts) most basic chargers will not supply a charge. Also keep in mind an OPTIMA will not recharge properly if treated as a regular flooded or gel battery. To charge the battery, you can wire a second fully charged automotive battery (12+V) to the discharged AGM in parallel (+ to + and – to –). Then hook up the charger to either battery, setting the charger at 10 amps. Leave for two hours, monitoring frequently. During this process if the discharged battery gets very hot or if it is venting (hissing sound from vents) then stop this process immediately. When the discharged battery reaches 10.5 volts or more, remove the standard battery and continue charging the AGM until fully charged.
For normal charging a relatively low current, such as one or two amps can work well, but when the battery has been deeply discharged, some sulfation of the battery plates may have occurred. If you charge at 10 amps, the higher current will help to break up this sulfation.
If you have an automatic charger, let it run until the charger indicates charging is complete. If you have a manual charger, you can get a rough estimate of the charging time in hours of a completely discharged battery (11.2V) by multiplying the capacity (amp hours or Ah) of the battery by 1.2. If your battery is not completely discharged the time would be less.
In most cases these steps will recover the AGM battery. It’s okay for the AGM battery to get slightly warm during the charging process. If it’s hot to the touch it means there’s a short and the process should be discontinued.
http://www.optimabatteries.com/_medi...lustration.gif
End quote:
wp
Well i have an energizer battery that i bought at Walmart 3 years ago and I've had no problems.And when i bought it the guy said if i had any problems to bring it back and they'd replace it no questions asked.
Well since I purchased the redtop I haven't had no problems battery reads 12v...
But I don't like how it looks in my car I've been thinking of relocating the thing but I also don't want a huge black box in the trunk....so I read picos thread and ima go with that since it looks better and gives it more room for a cold air intake :)
