I'll try to get this right, but some of the background info regarding Optima history may be off by a year or two.
First: 4 star rather than a 5 star rating. The warranty would need to match the longer warranties offered by others, and quality control tightened to earn five stars. Performance is normally excellent, so why not offer a longer warranty?
Gates Tire and Rubber invented/ designed/ developed the Optima and Genesis AGM batteries in the '80's/ early '90's. As I understand things, the Optima was intended for rugged/ abusive applications requiring the highest starting current, while the Genesis was intended for more sedentary uses and maximized charge/ volume by using flat plates. Both minimized venting and maintenance requirements.
The Optima brand was spun off to a Swedish company but the batteries continued to be manufactured in Aurora, CO. Johnson Controls purchased the Optima brand in ~2000 and continues to own the brand. All mfg was moved from Aurora to a suburb of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, around late 2007. Genesis was spun off to Enersys, which used YAUSA to mfg these in China, Mexico and who knows where; I believe their premium Genesis EP series are made in Warrensburg, MO.
Optima Red Top battery design changed sometime in 2007. Apparently the glass mat was often pinched/ crimped leading to premature shorting and failure. Ratings of the 34/78 Red Top was reduced from 55 Ah to 50 Ah, the CCA rating remained at 800, and curiously, the warranty was reduced from 3 yr free replacement + 3 yr prorated, to 3 yr free replacement + 0 yr prorated. This roughly corresponded with moving the production to the Monterrey suburb, although a number of the newer style batteries were still made in Aurora in 2007. From my experience with a number of both batteries, the older Red Top 34/78, 55 Ah batteries were either the very best or very worst depending on the luck of the draw. All seem to lose Voltage faster than the newer design, but they were still much better than conventional flooded lead acid batteries, and generally tested above 10.5 V 2.5 years after mfg. If allowed to run down while on the pallet and then charged, these frequently would experience thermal runaway unless charged at a low rate, and if that problem was not incurred, they would frequently charge up only to fail open after, say 15 seconds at a 400 or 500 A draw. Optima apparently was aware of the problem yet did not tell customers. Optima sold a number of these for military applications, too, but it seems did nothing to correct the problem; nice to know when someone is shooting at you. But those that sat on the pallet for a long time of the older-design and that passed the high current load test seemed to surpass the performance of the newer design. Some batteries that failed early or lost Voltage quickly were found to be missing a vent cap. (Missing caps are rare, but they sometimes aren't there and are not noticed unless the cover is pried off. Optima may not even believe this.) Great quality control for a premium product.
All but about 5 or 50 batteries of the newer design left on the pallet for 4 years tested at 11.0 V or higher, so those claiming leakage should look for a electric system parasitic draw rather than blaming the battery; newer design charged Optimas just don't normally lose Voltage in a couple of months.
Because of their lower internal resistance, Optimas can accept a higher rate of charge and require less energy to fully charge.
Normal operation
Keep the battery at or above 12.5 V as much as possible to minimize sulfation. Spiral wound AGM batteries, while more resistant to sulfation, will sulfate and reversing it is tougher than with flooded lead acid batteries. NEVER allow the battery to fall below 10.5 V; recovery will be tough if below that and irreversible damage may result if left below that Voltage for long. Red Tops are not meant for deep cycling, which means these are intended to be charged soon after starting the engine.
A major cause of warranty claims for AGM batteries, not just Optimas, is early sulfation due to failure to fully charge the battery, which many charging system in late model vehicles fail to due in order to improve fuel economy so ever little. GM vehicles may be more likely to fully charge AGM batteries because their charging systems are reportedly set to a Voltage higher than other vehicle manufacturers; their OEM Delco batteries have larger spacing requiring higher Voltage to fully charge. Many battery chargers also fail to adequately overcharge the battery whereby the battery undergoes the full recombinant reactions restoring full performance. But it is also important not to overcharge the battery such that loss of electrolyte and overheating occur.
Best non-commercial battery charger for Optimas I have used so far: Interacter Inc. (and mfg in the USA), seems to give better end performance than CTEK 7002's. Both gave better results than Vector chargers, which performed okay on Optimas 11.5 V or higher, but the Interacter and CTEK would charge Optimas that had fallen to just a few Volts without having to resort to wiring the Optima battery in parallel with a battery already at 12+ Volts to fool the charger into charging, (Optima's recommended procedure for charging a depleted battery). Also, Interacter seemed to give about the right amount of overcharging. (Many smart chargers see the low Voltage/ low internal resistance as a failed battery and thus refuse to start charging.) Please do not try charging a battery less than 12 V below freezing; warm the battery to above freezing first, and do not forget a discharged battery allowed to freeze will likely suffer irreparable damage. If hot spots develop or venting occurs while charging, stop charging. Resume at a low rate after the battery has cooled. A battery that has been left setting for a long time at a low Voltage should be charged at a very low rate for the majority of charging. This can be followed by a high rate charge, say 50 A, for several minutes while ensuring no over heating or venting, to help restore performance. High-rate charging may open additional surface area that had been heavily sulfated and reduce grid point discharging (?).
All Optimas are not created equal. When performing high current load tests to evaluate the CCA ratings, I have seen 5 of 7 fully charged batteries from the same layer on a pallet fail open within seconds, and 13 of 44 on that pallet fail open, only to see none fail from other pallets of the same lot. Some batteries left uncharged on the pallet for several years perform as well as a factory fresh battery, and batteries left on the pallet for less than a year fail open during testing. Why? Do not expect an answer from Optima.
Charging Yellow Top(deep cycle/ starting) Optima batteries
Surprisingly, the Yellow Top batteries seem to lose Voltage a little more quickly than Red Top, but still both are less than flooded lead acid batteries. Now for charging, it is assumed the Voltage is at or above 10.5 V and that the battery has been in recent use. (Remember, never allow the Voltage to drop below this or expect the worst.) For a 50 Ah Yellow Top, charging can be fast, say 30 to 50 A, until reaching the Zero dV/dt, (Zereo Delta), point, at which reduce charging to 1 to 5 A and continue, charging an additional 3 to 5 Ah after reaching Zero Delta. New batteries may take 30 minutes for this last stage, while older batteries, 2 or 3 hours. This may extend battery life from 200 deep cycles to deep 500 cycles. NOTE: This is a general charging guideline and it is the responsibility of the reader/ user to ensure safe operation at all times. If using this charging technique, first review research articles found by Googling "national renewable energy lab, Optima battery, charging".
I hope this will help those who already have an Optima battery or thinking about purchasing one. Please share your experience if you have some better ideas and techniques.
I bought this battery from a local Optima dealer on January 2008. It died on August 2009.
Since it comes with a three year warranty, I tried to get it serviced under the warranty by calling the Optima 1-800 number. Customer service agent was very rude and kept telling me I'd have to pay a fee in order to get my battery serviced.
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Perhaps I just haven't had a new battery in a while and I've forgotten how they all work when new, but this battery seems to throw a LOT more power than I expected to the engine to start it up on even the coldest days so far this year. If this battery can perform at this level for a couple years, it'll have been the best battery I've ever bought. At this point though, expensive compared to the "el cheapo" brands you may find at walmart, but worth it knowing it's got the juice to get it done.
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I bought this battery in May 2009. It just suddenly failed Dec 2010. Just over 1 1/2 years. I originally bought the battery for my Mustang because of the early reviews and the 800 amp capacity. Perfect for my car. Now, researching why the battery died so suddenly and quickly I read on another site that it really is a good, powerful battery just you have to disconnect it when you're not driving so the trickle doesn't drain the battery. The stock battery that was with my car when I bought it lasted over 3 years (plugged in the whole time.) I read enough about Optima's poor customer service and not honoring their warranty that I'm not even going to bother trying to get warranty service thru them. I checked with the local Ford dealership, a mechanic friend and a rep at Advanced Auto Parts and they all agreed that it sounded like the battery was the issue ("a short inside the battery.") In fact, after I described what happened to the Advanced Auto Parts rep and he recommended getting a new battery, I told him the problem battery was an Optima and he called across the store to another worker, "Hey, Carl! I got another customer here with your favorite battery!"
I highly recommend that anyone avoid the Optima batteries. They will give you great starting power in your car, but they appear to have a habit of dying suddenly and without warning about 18 months in. Mine was great the last time I drove, then after not driving for 2 days, I got in the car and the battery was totally dead. (And I'd gotten back at night the last time, so I'm sure the lights were off they shine right on my garage door.)
I'd only recommend this battery to someone who just needed a battery to connect to as needed. The rest of the time, it could just sit there. Or if you live in a cold climate and are okay with changing car batteries out every year.
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I bought my first Optima battery for my '96 GMC C1500 with a vortec 5700 in 1998. This battery has been through all kinds of weather from New Mexico to 4 years in Germany, a couple years in Seattle, and the last 4 years in TX. I have drained this battery dead at least 4 times and it recovered/recharged every time except for this last weekend. My truck has been parked for most of the last month since the a/c is out and the temps her in TX have been 100+ for the last 2 months. I finally killed it for good... after 13 "short" years of life. I have replaced the batteries in all 3 of my vehicles with Optima's since then and will be buying another Optima for my truck. I'm sure this battery will outlast the truck this time. I'm SOLD!!!!
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It's a better charger than the one I ordered for the house. It seems to fit better and my phone stays charged longer.
