Reply To: Optima Red Top Concerns

[Gregory Long]

Hello Troy,

Your concerns are an example of how we need to be more ‘interactive’ or ‘in-tune’ with our older cars.

The very easy and simple way to not overcharge your battery, whether it is an Optima or a Lead-Acid Wet-cell battery.

Just look at your ammeter, and after you have driven the car long enough to recharge it from the drain of starting the engine, then turn on parking lights, or headlights to take most if not all the charging current. The ammeter indicates the charge going into the battery, not the amount of current the generator is putting out.

i’ve had excellent luck with optima batteries. I had 6 years of perfect reliability from the Optima in my 1925 Series 80 Touring, and then I backed the car into the shop, and left the car in reverse. Which with our alway-hot reverse and brake lights, cause the battery to be deeply discharged.

I got lucky on that, the battery took a recharge, and the battery appeared to have dodged-the-bullet.

THEN I did it again. And this time the battery was very low. And even using the second battery in parallel with the battery charger, it would not take a re-charge..

So in this case user-error killed an excellent battery.

If a person has a car that starts only with a lot of cranking with the starter, and the battery is run down with this long use of the starter, the battery is not dead, it just is unable to provide enough current and voltage to turn the starter motor. This is not as deep a discharge as leaving a light on in the car and drawing every bit of power from the battery. I think an Optima battery used for heavy engine starting should survive well.

But I will say: there really is no reason to punish your battery and starter motor. Find and repair the reason for the engine to need long periods of cranking with the starter. Depending on the car, there are various reasons that cause an engine to need long cranking cycles.

Greg Long