Problem after problem and rant about optima battery :thumbsdown: long*

Do not buy a deep discharge battery to use in a car

They are not designed to supply enormous short term currents that starting a car demands.

By the same token DO NOT deeply discharge a car battery, because they will fail if you do it too often. (ie run your 100,000 watt stereo for 2 hours)

 

Battery world spoke to optima who offered a 'high discount' on another batt

ery. Given that they hold a 2 year warranty, my 2 years isn't up yet so we didn't accept the discount or even ask what it was. They are sending the battery to sydney to optima to get it checked out. The battery was NEVER deeply discharged by me. It sat out of the car for ~3 weeks not even 1 month when I look back at my diary.

Anyhow, the guys at battery world told ME they would deeply discharge it to recharge it. As far as I know, they are the only ones who deeply discharged it, and getting them to admit that will be no problem. I will wait until tuesday of next week when they said they would have an answer back from optima.

We said we would take it to consumer affairs and they said not to bother as all optima will say was that the battery was deeply discharged.

I will update next week on how it went. Also the guys at battery world wouldn't give us Optimas contact number so we could speak to them personally. We will leave it with them to see how it goes and if it doesn't work out I will get the number regardless of what they say. If nothing is done about it, I am a member of most car clubs online, I will post a message with good reasons of why NOT to purchase a battery from them on all of these forums. Even if I can convince 1 or 2 people out of the 100,000 I will be happy.

We shall play the waiting game now...

 

Been said before, but I'll reiterate >>>

Yellow Tops, like any deep-cycle battery are NOT ideal for motor cars. Best suited to marine, aircraft & perhaps motor-homes, where apart from cranking, the battery is used to supply 'house' or on-board appliances during periods of non-charge.

Hence, the battery discharges (up to 50%, sometimes more) before being used again to start an engine & thus receive a re-charge via the alternator.

Having said this, I note Optima advertise the Yellow Top as suitable for cars ~ misleading in my opinion.

Also, Battery World should not specify such a battery for the use you may have specified ~ unless you asked for a battery to sustain high discharge from Stereo Amp & Subs whilst parked? Even then, you'd have to be 'cycling' (heavy discharge/big recharge) the battery pretty often.

Put this argument to them, eh?

NB: Century make an excellent wet-cell, NS70L or NS70LX, for Zeds.

 

Thanks for the info. When I went to buy the battery I was informed it was

the BEST battery to get for the car. I never said it would be used to power a stereo while off. Also, if they are meant to sit for a long time and then be recharged by the altenator, the battery didn't even sit for 1 month and wouldn't crank the car over, pretty pointless if this is what they are meant to be good for.

Optima make all these claims, it will last up twice as long as a conventional battery blah blah, all just bullshit ways to con people like myself into purchasing their product.

 

I was told the same thing by Optima, which is why I bought.....

a fairly expensive Yellow Top. Hope it doesn't crap itself.

Let us know what happens.

CheerZ
Vincent

 

So METHOD/WYKKED, what happened with the erratic idle??

Very interested to know.

CheerZ
Vincent

 

Nothing has happened so far.......>>

Paul is still without a battery while he sorts out what Optrima and Battery World are going to do about his old one. No battery means his car is off the road at the moment. Once he gets the car back on the road we will work out a time/date to try and sort out his problem. If you want to bring your car down and have a play with it just let me know Vincent.

 

Hi, I was unable to post messages.. was getting some wierd error when the

reply box was about to load. Seems to have been fixed now though.

The latest is what I heard yesterday which is that optima will "most likely" be sending me a replacement battery on tuesday of this week. Hopefully it works out. Once I get it in the car I will let you know Peter and we can work out a time/day to meet up. I will post up the outcome of all of this as soon as I find out.

 

Great! PM me when you 2 are gettin togther & if I can I'll come over too.

 

Update on battery problem :thumbsdown:

Well it seems as though battery world ripped me off a good one. They led us on for about a week with the idea of it being replaced by optima however, optima arn't going to replace it.

We are waiting for a call back from the victorian regional manager of battery world to see why they didn't even try to do much about the problem when they know it was THEIR problem. Battery world deep discharged it to recharge it, TOLD us it was faulty and yet no replacement?

Anyhow, we are giong through battery world, then if nothing can be done straight to optima and consumer affairs because their 2 year warranty isn't even up yet.

If all else fails, the entire www forum community will know about how shit optimas service is and will know to buy a different brand battery next time one is needed.

Will keep everyone updated for those who are interested

 

Why not let them know that you have a forum community

of hundreds of interested parties wanting to know the outcome to share with ten of their mates who will share with ten of their mates etc ... the www is a powerful negotiation tool...

 

Battery World

Slightly off topic but wouldnt buy a thing of those guys, I had to buy two batteries (lead acid 6 volts) for my UPS (uniteruptable power supply) for my pc and they had the cheek to want to charge close to $50 per battery.

Ended up getting the batteries delivery from Ballarat for $55 for two including postage!.

Beware of battery world.

Regards

Mark

 

Update >>>>>

Ok, so we rang battery wolds victorian manager. We were then referred to their Brisbane head office I think it was.

The deal is, 1 year warranty, and a 1 year pro-rata ontop of the 1 year warranty for optima.

After a long talk with them he offered us a brand new optima yellow top battery delivered to our door for $170. We accepted this as he said absolutely nothing else can be done via battery world and was VERY polite about the entire situation.

He also said that the yellow top is a good battery for a high performance vehicle.. Confuses me.. but anyhow, the battery should arrive here shortly, not exactly sure when. We could have taken this further to optima and then consumer affairs but at $170 its not really worth the trouble.

The gentleman also mentioned that on the odd occasion a faulty optima battery pops up.. It just happened to be that mine was faulty towards the end of the second year.

 

Should've asked for a Red top

If the BIG Boss doesn't know his deep-cycle from cranking batteries, what hope do the Franchisee's have:wacko:

 

Update>>>

Brand new yellow top arrived at my door today. I suggest that if anyone has any trouble with their battery and they refuse to do much about it for either reason, kick up a fuss and you may end up with the same/similar result as what I achieved.

During this time, I took off my mufflers to get them re-designed internally. They are at the exhaust shop getting built now. As soon as this is done I will slap them on and try to sort out my idle problem.

Thanks for everyones advice / thoughts regarding my problems with this over the past few weeks.

 

While that battery is brand new

I would take it back and swap it for a red top cranking battery. That should last a bit longer.

 

I was just reading the specs of both batteries and the yellow top has

better specs, higher reserve capacity, lower resistance etc than the red top. The only thing which seems to be better is that the red top is 800cca compared to the yellow tops 750cca.

Is there a main difference between the two? I don't mean for the obvious name difference of 'cranking batter' to 'deep cycle' battery, I mean what does the red top do/have which makes it a better battery for starting the car besides the extra 50cca?

Thanks

 

Its not the CCA rating that makes it good for cranking cars

The construction is very different. The ability of the battery to deliver high currents is linked to its internal resistance.

A deep cycle battery has a higher internal resistance. This means to do the same job as a car battery its dissipating more heat inside the cells at very high discharge currents.

Thats the reason they have two sorts of batteries.

Different applications. In theory if the red top is the car duty rated battery it will last longer.

 

This is taken from the optima site

Red top

Internal Resistance - Ohms
.0030


Yellow top

Internal Resistance - Ohms
.0028


??

 

what they dont tell you is the resistance rises as you discharge it

The OPTIMA RedTop

The looks alone generate plenty of buzz. But it's the patented SPIRALCELL® Technology in OPTIMA RedTop batteries that's truly worthy of praise. OPTIMA RedTop batteries are built to withstand the abuse Trucks, SUV's and 4x4's experience on and off-road. SPIRALCELL Technology immobilizes the internal components of the battery, enabling OPTIMA batteries to withstand incredible amounts of vibration.

Vehicles modified for better engine performance demand more from a battery. OPTIMA batteries withstand the high underhood temperatures associated with these Performance vehicles. The sealed cells make the battery spill-proof, even if you install it on its side! This prevents external gassing and leaking which can damage engine components and limit battery performance.

If your battery is used in vehicles that demand extra reliability and performance, or if you just take pride in getting the best performance out of your vehicle, OPTIMA RedTop batteries deliver the performance you demand.


The OPTIMA YellowTop

Demand more from your vehicle? Then get more from your battery. OPTIMA YellowTop batteries are made for the extremes. If you have an extreme vehicle, you expect high performance. Whether your vehicle is made to take the abuse of off-road driving or cranking out decibels, you need more from your battery. OPTIMA batteries with patented SPIRALCELL® Technology deliver that performance. The deep cycle characteristic of this technology coupled with its extreme resistance to vibration provides performance vehicles with the repetitive power they need in a spill-proof package.

If your vehicle has a lot of accessories like running lights, high-performance stereo/AV system, winches, or hydraulics, your vehicle demands more from its battery. OPTIMA YellowTOP batteries provide the extra performance and deep cycling capability that your vehicle demands.

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It even says in the product blurb, RED TOP for automotive starting. and Yellow top for commercial.

The red ones are designed to survive high under bonnet temperatures.

Do you have high under bonnet temperatures Dude ??? :LOL:

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Inspired by a passion for power and reckless behavior.

An OPTIMA RedTop battery is the only battery specifically designed to take abuse. Its patented SPIRALCELL® Technology offers 15 times the vibration resistance and up to twice the life of ordinary batteries. Plus, it's spill-proof, highly resistant to heat and cold, and can be stored for long periods without maintenance. If you like to play hard, OPTIMA is the battery for you. Look for it's colored top and six-pack shape at your local Optima dealer.

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