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Optima Batteries Buyer's Remorse


ffdawg

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Went to Costco today and picked up two Optima dual-purpose blue tops, $175 each. Also had to go to Boater's World for some misc. stuff and saw there the Excide Nautilus batteries. I can get a 1000 MCA starting battery + a 182 minute reserve deep-cycle battery for the price of one Optima + a $10 rebate and a $25 gift card for the store. The Optimas warranty is 18 mos. vs. 12 for the Excides, and the Optimas are smaller and can be mounted on their sides, etc. but I can't seem to justify their price in my head. I know a lot of you use the Optimas, how do you justify the extra $?

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Get what you pay for..

why did you head for the Optimas in the first place... coulda told you they were expensive. Size and performance make up for it.

Relocate them under the seat, and free up all that wasted space behind the observer seat, and they'll be worth their weight in gold!

Spread the cost difference over the life of the battery, and the difference is insignificant

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We have always ran Optima yellow tops in are trail jeeps and they have never let us down even leaving the lights on all night without running. You should not regret your purchase.

Edited by RobSMalibu
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I ran into the same thing as you when I went to Sam's Club, since the battery boxes were already mounted and all wiring cut to length for that location I decided that two regular batteries for the price of one blue top was the best thing for me. Till this day no regrets, never had a problem. As far the boxes being in the way, we like them there, we put what needs to stay dry on top of them. I would rather spend the $150+ I saved on a new toy for the boat.

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Went to Costco today and picked up two Optima dual-purpose blue tops, $175 each. Also had to go to Boater's World for some misc. stuff and saw there the Excide Nautilus batteries. I can get a 1000 MCA starting battery + a 182 minute reserve deep-cycle battery for the price of one Optima + a $10 rebate and a $25 gift card for the store. The Optimas warranty is 18 mos. vs. 12 for the Excides, and the Optimas are smaller and can be mounted on their sides, etc. but I can't seem to justify their price in my head. I know a lot of you use the Optimas, how do you justify the extra $?

I found mine for a smokin' deal at about $113 per battery. At that, I jumped on it, but I wouldn't have at the price that you quoted above. I had been thinking about relocating mine the way that Sac & yabetcha talk about, but up to that point couldn't see spending almost $400 on the setup. At just over $200, that was easier to stomach.

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Dang Jeff I didn't know they were going to be that much there. When I got mine last year I only paid $130 a piece there. You can get other drycell batteries at Boaters World for cheaper. You can take them back to costco anytime and get your money back.

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Last year I got mine at Costco for $139 I believe, well I remember I bought 2 and with tax it was right around $300. But like Jeff said I guess the prices went up on them there.

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Excide makes a mait. free identical to the Optima and is under $100 bucks. Academy stores sell them. Got mine 2 years ago and works great. The boat never saw the charger this spring when I de-winterized. Fired right up.

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I ran into the same thing as you when I went to Sam's Club, since the battery boxes were already mounted and all wiring cut to length for that location I decided that two regular batteries for the price of one blue top was the best thing for me. Till this day no regrets, never had a problem. As far the boxes being in the way, we like them there, we put what needs to stay dry on top of them. I would rather spend the $150+ I saved on a new toy for the boat.

I did the same just last night. Biggrin.gif

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FYI - A gel cell battery (like the Optima) is a lead acid battery. Its just that they have the acid in a gel. While unlikely, they can leak if the outer shell is compromised :(

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I got two YELLOW top running in my BURBAN........... 9 years later and still holding the charge and cranking power, So its worth the money.

I have relocated mine(3 BLUE top batteries) under the middle bow cushion and they also serve as ballast, leaving me more room under the glove box for my Amps

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you can also look at west marine. they have an excide battery on special for $37. i've had one in each of my boats for 2 years, with no problems at all. good price, and even if it dies this year, it was only $37.

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You are comparing apples to oranges here:

ORB34DC-48 ($140) is the equivalent battery to the Optima Blue Top D34M ($180). The

The Orbital has a max charging current of only 35Amps.

You can give the Optima all you got... so it charges quicker.

I would be happy with either of these batteries.

They are Absorptive Glass Mat (AGM) technology. They can take a beating in rough water. Flooded Lead Acid or Gel batteries are different technology and cost less because they are inferior.

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Last year I got mine at Costco for $139 I believe, well I remember I bought 2 and with tax it was right around $300. But like Jeff said I guess the prices went up on them there.

Yes they have gone up $40 since last summer.

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FYI - A gel cell battery (like the Optima) is a lead acid battery. Its just that they have the acid in a gel. While unlikely, they can leak if the outer shell is compromised :(

Optima and the Orbit (O6) are not gell cell battery. MoonDawh has it right about them being AGM.

You are comparing apples to oranges here:

ORB34DC-48 ($140) is the equivalent battery to the Optima Blue Top D34M ($180). The

The Orbital has a max charging current of only 35Amps.

You can give the Optima all you got... so it charges quicker.

I would be happy with either of these batteries.

They are Absorptive Glass Mat (AGM) technology. They can take a beating in rough water. Flooded Lead Acid or Gel batteries are different technology and cost less because they are inferior.

This is kind of funny because we had a battery load test demo yesterday and had talked a little bit about both the Optima and Orbital. I will have to look into the charging amps and other tech info. Both are great battery's but we have found in Police cars, the extra battery (Optima)in the trunk (that runs the radio equipment) will hold a memory after a few months. We are now testing the Orbital to see if the same thing will happen.

burbanized your battery has lasted so long because of a few reasons.

1 you keep the top of the battery clean.

2 you drive your vehicle longer than 30 min each time or charge it up from time to time.

3 you don't let your vehicle sit around for weeks on end.

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..... the extra battery (Optima) in the trunk (that runs the radio equipment) will hold a memory after a few months. We are now testing the Orbital to see if the same thing will happen.

I thought only Ni Cad Batteries had a memory....that is very interesting...seems like the PD could exercise that 18 month warranty. Optima spec says 120min Reserve Capacity at 25 amp discharge, 80F to 10.5 volts cut-off. If it don't meet the spec they should replace it.

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The bummer part is that the computer program will shut down the system when the battery hits 10.8, so guess what the memory is stuck at. Mad.gif The Orbital dealer didn't think this was right so he is giving us two Orbital O6 for free. We just have to track all the charging or problems we have with the cars electrical system. The other problem is the battery's came with the PD system install kits and the battery's are already 8 months old. That gives just 3 months before the warranty runs out, then its prorated.

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I wonder if something else is going on there like the battery gets hot during recharge so it stops charging. Like I said I have never heard of memory problems with lead acid type batteries. These are AGM but the Acid is a paste form that impregnates the glass cloth so the physics should still be the same.

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Yep I agree 100%, but the recharging is being done with the car Alt. Do you work in the battery world? From what we are guessing the battery's are being drained to the 10.8 once a day and after 3 months they start to take a dump. One of the things are looking at doing is every time the car comes in for service (every 40 days or so) we would take the extra trunk battery out and install a freshly charged one. We would have 5 battery's sitting nn a maintaining station waiting to be used.

Cop cars have always had problems with batterys because of all the junk and crap they want running all the time.

disclaimer. Alt are maintainers not chargers.

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