Optima Red Top Concerns

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

The Optima Red Top batteries that we are occasionally offered as PAS members really are great. Good power out of a small package. But I have concerns for which I’d appreciate being corrected or to hear from others if they agree.

It seems that the Optima Red Top is designed for those applications where you have quick starts with minimal auxiliary power drains. I gather from the Optima website that the Red Top is not appropriate if you might “deep cycle” your battery if you would, say, crank your engine for extended periods of time if the thing won’t start, or if you do many starts without driving the car sufficiently to recharge the battery. . . or if you have a charging system without a voltage regulator and drive long distances where you might overcharge the battery.

I owned a 1926 Packard years ago which I typically took on 100+ mile trips. Even with the generator turned way down, after one long trip I noticed all of the caps had blown off the lead-acid battery, effectively “cooking” the battery. It died soon after and I later installed a bypass to get the charging rate down to about 3 amps.

Although Optima does not seem to address overcharging, they do say that for undefined “deep cycle” conditions they recommend the Yellow Top battery.

So, because of the way I use my antique car is not how I use my 2004 Toyota, I’ve often wondered if the Red Top is appropriate. The Red Top I had in my ’32 died after two seasons. It was my only experience with Optima. I replaced it with a huge Napa 6-volt lead acid battery, which in my opinion has the thermal mass to better accommodate overcharging and deep discharges.

What do you think?

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

Since the Optima red top is a standard AGM battery it does not tolerate being flattened or run very low.

They also do not tolerate being overcharged for extended periods.

I first installed an Optima red top in my ’29 back in 2006.

It was still working fine when I replaced it 7 years later but given its age I replaced it anyway.

I now keep the old one as a spare and it still holds a charge just fine and starts the occasional project car here and there.

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

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

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

Scott, I run a pair of Optima 6V batteries in parallel on my 8-cyl Pierces, *primarily* for the Reserve Capacity (RC). Each Optima has 100 ampere-hours (AH) reserve capacity, so a pair has 200 AH RC. Pierce 8s came with a Group 3 wet-acid battery of 140 AH RC, and Pierce 12s had a Group 4 with 160 or 165 AH (can’t remember, saw in a 1934 trade publication), The RC is important to me for long drives home with the lights on. Until late 1934 when the Owen Dyneto system was adopted, the Pierce Delco 927 (standard) generators had a 25 amp capacity with 3rd brush turned all the way up, which drops to 16 or 17 when the temperature compensator kicks in after 8-10 minutes.

The primary advantage of an AGM battery such as the Optima for our cars is that to service the battery, one must remove the seat cushion or the floorboard. AGM batteries never need water, are rarely if ever have corroded terminals. Further, a car can sit for 6 or 7 months without a trickle- or smart-charger and fire right up. Like Craig, I replace mine at 8-10 years on general principles and save the old ones for backup.

Now when an Optima or other AGM battery gets really low, it will not accept a charge unless you wire it in parallel with a reasonably-well-charged 6V battery, wet or AGM, at least until the Optima comes up to about 6.0V–in MY experience, anyway.

I run a single Optima in my 6-cyl Pierces–Series 80 and the 525 cid 48-B-5. The single Optima cranks that big 48-B-5 engine over just fine. I tend not to run that car much at night due to the headlights, but if I replace the plain glass lenses with 1920s B&L I may be able to see well enough to run it at night more often.

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

Just wanted to repost what I posted back in September about running Optima 6V in parallel:

I was going to wait until the batteries were offered next year to mention this, but I did find a very simple solution to having two Optima batteries in parallel to give you a little more cranking power.

Lawson Products (www.lawsonproducts.com) offers 2/0 gauge battery cables which have a regular terminal on one end, and a terminal with a standard battery post on top of the terminal on the other end. This allows you to hook up your batteries in parallel and connect them right to the cables in your car.

Part Nos. are 84816 for positive and 84817 for negative. Cost is about $25. each

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

Those are nice items Kenneth, I’ve not been to that website before. Thanks for the heads up!

[Author]

Posts