Anyone discharged Optima battery?

PCH · 03-03-2009, 01:32 AM

My yellow top Optima got discharged due to the lights left on for 5 hrs

Got lower than 6 Volts but jump started OK. I know they are supposed to get low amp charge (trickle charge) but that was not an option so i just let the alternator do the job and drove home for 20 minutes. The battery got kinda hot but restarted the car fine (not sure about tomorrow morning).
So the question is should i get a new one or is it likely to recover? It's almost 3 years old.

SAKURA · 03-03-2009, 01:40 AM

i had my red top dead for 3 years on my bronco, and i trickle charged it over night and started the bronco with no problem.

gravebox · 03-03-2009, 01:45 AM

optima batteries have a specific way of charging.

under normal circumstances, a trickle charge is fine. but when you do a discharge, you need to crank charge it at 50amp for 15 minutes i think it was, otherwise it wont hold the trickle charge like it's suppose to.

surfcitylocal · 03-03-2009, 08:21 AM

I'll need to do the crank charge. I've done the trickle charge a few times but it still goes dead if I leave the Box sitting for a week or so. How do I go about doing that kind of a charge?

PCH · 03-03-2009, 11:04 AM

The car started fine this morning so i hope i dont need to buy a new battery. Talked to a couple of Optima sellers and they recommend charging it at 10Amp for 2 hrs and then at 2Amp for the rest of the day. And making sure it doesn't get too hot during that time.
Now i need to somehow wire the horn to the warning buzzer so my wife doesn't miss it again

kkawana · 03-03-2009, 11:23 AM

hmm... wonder if thats why my yellow top wont hold a charge anymore... let it go dead then tried to charge up on hi-amp fast charge... the 2a trickle charge just errors out on my charger...

gravebox · 03-03-2009, 06:03 PM

yep, gotta do a crank charge on it first and then do trickle charge. otherwise it'll seem like the optima is plain dead or defective.

SpeakerBox · 03-03-2009, 09:21 PM

When my yellow top went dead a couple years ago, I tried all of the above and it would never hold a charge after sitting for more then about 12 hours. I decided to buy a new battery. So my suggestion would be to buy a new deep cycle battery like Stinger, Kinetic, or my personal favorite Odyssey. I love my Odyssey battery. Never had a problem with it and it's lasted through all the strain I've put on it. If you decide to keep your yellow top, good luck. From my experience, after a complete discharge they're never the same. They seem to need more and more maintenance.

gravebox · 03-04-2009, 03:51 AM

thing about Optima is that they are Gel Cells unlike Kinetic and Odyssey which are Dry Cell.

i personally would prefer a Dry Cell due to their quick charging ability. only problem with a Dry Cell is that if you are a person to have a large subwoofer setup or any electronics that still pull power while the vehicle is shut off, the Dry Cell will drain VERY quickly but they are great for performance applications.

Optima batteries just need precise care to work properly. after a complete discharge, they have to go under a heavy crank charge for a while before they can receive trickle charge. this is specifically so that the amperage can help carry the gel based acids to get back to the anode side of the internal electrodes for the charge to stay. even though it's a gel cell, it still uses a liquid based acid like a wet cell does, it's just put into a gel state so that it lasts longer under heavy loads.

sid · 03-04-2009, 10:31 AM

i've drained my red top last year before Knott's scion night. kids left the video screen on for a day.
i charge it on 2A for prolly 6 hours that time, until now its still working good for me.

Big_Kokujin · 03-05-2009, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpeakerBox

When my yellow top went dead a couple years ago, I tried all of the above and it would never hold a charge after sitting for more then about 12 hours. I decided to buy a new battery. So my suggestion would be to buy a new deep cycle battery like Stinger, Kinetic, or my personal favorite Odyssey. I love my Odyssey battery. Never had a problem with it and it's lasted through all the strain I've put on it. If you decide to keep your yellow top, good luck. From my experience, after a complete discharge they're never the same. They seem to need more and more maintenance.

Really?

Thanks a lot asshat

SpeakerBox · 03-06-2009, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big_Kokujin

Really?

Thanks a lot asshat

Well I told you it had been sitting for a while man!! I even told you it was dead and that's why I let you have it instead of selling it to you!!!!!!!!

Big_Kokujin · 03-06-2009, 09:29 PM

You right...cuz you don't give shït away. LOL j/k. You practically gave me headlights and billet grilles

PCH · 03-11-2009, 05:18 PM

So i didn't have any problems with the battery during last week but wanted to check it out so i gave it to the battery place to trickle charge it and do a load test and whatever. They gave it back and said nothing was needed as it tested great and wasn't taking any additional charge. Looks like my alternator just charged it up during driving. Not bad for the battery almost 3 years old.

sid · 11-16-2009, 01:43 AM

freak'n optima, never again!!! been charging it every morning for over a week

yeah i know its stupid, also brought it to kragen for them to do the crank charge then trickle, only work for like 3 days, then still dead the next morning.

just gonna buy a regular battery today at pepboys.

ketchup_xb · 11-16-2009, 01:47 AM

i bought bosch. they work pretty good sid. and it costed like like 80 bucks i think wif a 3 year warranty.

gravebox · 11-16-2009, 03:53 AM

tell'n ya, straight from Optima thier batteries need a crank charge first for a small amount of time and then trickle after that. but like i said, this is from optima... my knowledge with capacitor based materials, a slow trickle charge over a long period of time will seep deep into the acids and move them over slowly. it's kinda like my hydrogen project, after a while the minirals in the water begin to ionize and stick to the cathode side and the best way to get rid of it is to do a pole reversal and do a low input charge to get rid of the miniral diposites without doing damage to the capacitor side walls *given the type of metal used*.

in short, do a slow charge for a while and try it that way. i was adimit before about the optima charge process but seems thier own advice isn't working...

sid · 11-16-2009, 09:24 AM

yeah man, i did both. got it charge the optima way from kragen, guy there even told me the battery is still holding, but after 3 days went dead again.

tried the slow trickle 2-6 amp, will start the car, but leave it over the night, its dead in the morning.

Yeah Heinz, i'ma just get bosch from Pepboys, adds some to the rewards points.

PCH · 11-16-2009, 10:39 AM

Update on mine: 8 month later not having any problems.

sid · 11-16-2009, 04:07 PM

good for you Victor!!
by any chance, what voltage do you have on it right now??
mine only goes 12.3 the most.

anyways, heinz, i got the bosch today. measured it at 14.2 volts.