Optima Battery Concern/Question.

Before the insurance company came and pucked up my totaled 05 Tacoma I took out my Optima red top battery and that's been since May of 2011 since then its been sitting in my garage on a milk crate. My question is do you guys think its still good to reinstall in my current Tacoma or should I ditch it? If it can still be used is it worth recharging and how and still be reliable? I don't want it stranding me out in the middle of no where in the winter. Thanks fellas

 

How old is it, you can always have it load tested after a full charge. I have two in my boat, leave them on a trickle charger during winter months and get several years out of them

 

Yeah, load test it. Sweet-talk the guys at Sears and they might let you have their 40-minute multi-deep-cycle test for free.
Optima is one battery I would trust to last years sitting in the garage, even sitting on concrete (letting a LA battery sit on concrete for any length of time pretty much assures its destruction. Something about the concrete itself). I had a standard LA Interstate battery sit in my garage for six years, and it was two years old when I stored it. Took it in for Sears' 40-minute test and it passed with flying colors. And Optimas are better than Interstates.
Besides, they sit on the retail shelf for much longer than yours has sat on your milk crate. I'll bet you a steak dinner yours is in perfect condition, assuming it wasn't ten years old when you pulled it...?...

 

I bought it in 2009 and used it until I totaled my truck in may 2011 ....I'll take it to have it load tested and see what they'll say I don't feel like buying another one...hopefully they last longer then 3 years with 16 months of sitting

 

We've owned Red & Yellow Top batteries.

The Red Top was in our Grand Cherokee (daily driver) and didn't last any longer than any other standard battery.... I'd never buy one again.

We owned a Yellow Top in our jeep trail rig. Impressive battery for sure and much better than the Red top. The jeep sat in our garage for weeks & weeks before moving or being started - but it did start every time. I full discharged the thing one day (left my lights on) and we were able to hook it up to a charger and it ran like nothing every happend. It handled the winch during full load rather nicely.

 

The bad news is that all lead-acid batteries have a natural self-discharge. The rate of this self-discharge is determined by the ambient temperature and the plate chemistry. The good news is that plate chemistry of AGM batteries have the lowest self-discharge rate. This is important because when a lead-acid battery discharges, lead sulfate crystals builds up on the plates. Charging the battery converts the lead sulfate back to lead.

The answer to your question depends if the lead sulfate crystals are to hard to be converted back to lead. That will depend on what temperature you stored the battery and long between charges. If it were my battery, I would try to recover it because Optima are expensive to replace and I would have nothing to loose especially if I stored it in cold temperatures. Please see Section 16 on the Car and Deep Cycle Battery FAQ on www.batteryfaq.org for more information. I would load and conductance test the battery after recovery before using it in a critical application.

 

I STILL lol every time people talk about the old wives tale of putting a battery on concrete kills it.

 

I had a yellow top in my truck and I enjoyed it. I never had any problems until it took a crap about a week ago. I figured it would've lasted a lot longer than it did. I had it for 3 1/2 yrs. I decided to not get another one seeing how a regular battery lasts about as long of not longer than that. I went with an agm battery from autojoke. It was $100 cheaper than the yellow top optima and the warranty is better

 

Not to worry, that's an old myth. Concrete could actually do more good than harm.

http://www.supercharge.com.au/battery_care_4.php

 

I had a almost new charged red top sit in the bodega, for maybe six months. put the optima in the truck to use....nothing. Took the battery to get it recharged, would not take a charge. No more optimas for me. Whats the saying, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice M.F!.....

 

Sat for a year and a half is that right? Even in a garage I'd suspect it's long gone. Only way to be sure is to charge it per optima's specs. If it starts to smell or the voltage jumps super high it's sulfated and more likely than not only good for a core. If it takes a charge, it'll need to be at least 12.4 when you go to load test it and you'll want to make sure you take off the surface charge. 1/2 CCA for 15 secs - should stay above 9.6V.

If not, recharge, try again, and if it fails twice it's junk.

 

If it load tests good, then use it!



My experience with optimas is quite the opposite from everyone in this thread though. Mine have never lasted when sitting around for more than a month or two. They die and never recover.

 

My friend put one in his Jeep, but he had to park his jeep in his yard for a long period of time about over A year. When he started his Jeep again, the battery wouldn't hold the charge.. But I think you won't have a problem.

 

Optimas quality is crap and people are proud they spent a nice amount of coin on a battery so they will defend them to their grave.

I played the game in the past and was burnt as well on some reds and yellows. Their quality tanked after their name got big. Odyssey batteries are nice, use them on the race cars and some rigs. Nothing bad to say on them yet.

Since you already have the battery charge it up and take it in to get tested to see how it does. Hope it goes well and you get some life out of it.

 

I love this battle over Optima or not. Everyone has their opinions. Some people drive Fords and you could show them documents about problems until you are blue in the face and they will STILL love their Fords...Then you can find a GM owner in the same situation. I have owned Optima, Duralast, AC Delco, Interstate, the list goes on. I have had problems and success stories with every one. I will say I have had the most success with my Optima and Duralast batteries than most of the others. Does that mean they are the best? NO, it just means that PERSONALLY I have had the most success with them. Toyota trucks are great trucks, yet you will find those who would swear that theirs was the biggest POS they have ever owned, and they will never buy another one....People just need to realize that ANYTHING, regardless of what it is, that is mass produced will have some bad apples in the bunch.

 

Well said Bill! Please see Sections 11 and in the Car and Deep Cycle Battery FAQ on www.batteryfaq.org for ways to increase a battery's service life.