Optima battery question

[noteven]

Can an Optima yellow top battery be recovered from 10.9 volts state of charge in storage?

I have charged it with the 3 stage charger converter for 24 hours, disconnect and allowed to rest for 24 hours. Reads 12.2 volts. Connect the TC wiring to it - the only load I am aware of is the display on the stereo and the CO monitor. Voltage drops to 9.8volts.

Is this battery kaput?

It's mate was at 12.2 volts after storage, charged by itself for 24 hours, rested for 24 hours, and has sat at 12.66 volts for 3 days while I fiddled around with the other one. Does not change when connected to the camper wiring by itself as described above.

[AH64ID]

06Fargo wrote:
Hi ah64id - if I understand what your wrote - you add the AH together for parallel 12 volt batteries? - two 12v batteries at 75 ha each = 150 ah

two 6v batteries at 230 ah each in series = 230 ah at 12 volts

Correct. Parallel doubles amp hours, voltage stays the same.

Series doubles voltage and amp hours stay the same.

Parallel and Series (4 6V for 12V output) doubles voltage and amp hours.

[noteven]

Hi ah64id - if I understand what your wrote - you add the AH together for parallel 12 volt batteries? - two 12v batteries at 75 ha each = 150 ah

two 6v batteries at 230 ah each in series = 230 ah at 12 volts

[AH64ID]

2 yellowtop batteries would give you a combined 150ah, or 75 useable. 2 golf cart 6v would give you 200-225( depends on brand), and 100-112 useable.

The useable is the 50 DOD rating, which is the recommended routine discharge depth.

I don't think Optimas are a true deep cycle, where the golf cats batteries are.

[noteven]

These Yellow Tops are 12v 75AH each. How does that capcity compare to 2 - 6v golf car type 230AH in rv house load use? There is no inverter.

I believe I read 50% of AH is actual deep cycle capacity occasionally, and not drawing past 20% is better?


i r not vry smrt abt elect stuff lol!

[wa8yxm]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Call Johnson Controls, Oxide, and other battery manufacturers and ask them "Are any of your batteries made in Mexico?" I believe East Penn Deka, is the lone holdout because they have their own lead smelter and a virtual lock on the virgin lead in the Eastern USA. Never did ask them if they share lead with Rolls & Surrette. Virgin lead is at a premium these days. The Chinese are eating lead supplies like there's no tomorrow.

I am about (tomorrow) to put a pair of Deka's 6 volts in this house. Just so you know. Starting battery was replaced last month with a Deka as well.

[AH64ID]

It depends on the age of the optima, they have gone steeply downhill in the last decade. Throw it on the charger for 24-48 hours.

Little story on my yellowtop experiences thou.

I bought a yellowtop in the fall of 98 for my 99 ford ranger. I used it on that rig, winching and stereo use while camping where common) until spring of 01 when I moved it to a 95 4runner. It again saw a decent stereo and winch use, often with the truck off. In the spring of 04 I went to Alaska for 6 weeks and left the dome light on. Dead doesn't even describe it, 0.010v on a multimeter. For S&G I put the multimeter on my tongue, 0.030v.. I figured the battery was a gonner but tried to charge it anyhow. No automotive chargers even recognized it, so a charge wasn't applied. In the back of my dads shop I found an old 50a marine charger and hooked it up, it too more that 24 hours but took a charge.

I used that battery in the 4runner until 2005 whe I moved it to a 92 Toyota pickup, where I also had plenty of engine off stereo use. When I had the rig parked for 10 months in 06-07 it drained to 11.xx but again came back. I sold that truck with that yellowtop in 07 and the battery was used for at least 2 more years, maybe longer.

In short optima used to make a great battery, but from what I read that is no longer the case. Now my truck has sears platinums (rebadged Odyssey) and the camper has lifeline.

[pnichols]

FWIW, this is a direct quote from the Optima website:

"The wound cell technology of OPTIMA® Batteries was first used in 1969 for the US space programme to power the Lunar Rover. In 1972 this technology was bought by Gates Rubber, and in 1983 the firm began to develop it for automotive applications. The Gylling Group of Scandinavia bought OPTIMA® in 1994, opening a factory a year later in Colorado. In 2000 OPTIMA® was acquired by Johnson Controls. In 2007 JCI laid the foundation stone for a new production site in Monterrey, Mexico, enabling it to keep pace with global demand."

My 90AH Yellow Top Optima battery was made in Aurora, Colorado, when the Gylling Group of Scandinavia owned Optima. This particular Optima battery was only available on the retail market a few months before the U.S. military bought up all production of it. Note that you cannot find a 90AH Yellow Top in the stores. I was maybe "lucky" to find it in an auto parts store, but (dumbly) paid too high a price for it - over $250 - back when $250 wasn't yet just inflated paper.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

I believe one post above is referring to the Sonnenshein battery which IMO was the finest GEL battery ever made. It was a product of German technology and manufacture. It was made so well it resisted some of the vulnerabilities that plague gel batteries in general.

Every last Optima battery is built in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico these days.

Call Johnson Controls, Oxide, and other battery manufacturers and ask them "Are any of your batteries made in Mexico?" I believe East Penn Deka, is the lone holdout because they have their own lead smelter and a virtual lock on the virgin lead in the Eastern USA. Never did ask them if they share lead with Rolls & Surrette. Virgin lead is at a premium these days. The Chinese are eating lead supplies like there's no tomorrow.

[noteven]

Thanks for the info so far - and the video link

Starting/deep cycle AGM is not my choice for rv batteries. They are great in rough service vehicles etc. but 6v 230AH golf car batteries do fine for how we use our rv's.

I wheeled it in the garage on a gurney and hooked up the old school 10 amp charger I have - charged it for 8 hours at 14.3 volts - it was not drawing much amperage - 1.5 to 2. I checked for a cell that was warmer than the others but all the same.

Then I have access to someone who will load test it on a fancy pants load tester.

I'll report back after I have let it rest for a few hours, in case someone finds this info useful in future.

[wa8yxm]

Short answer is "Try it and see"

the genaral result will be: Starting batteries.. Low chance of recovery
Marine/Deep cycle: Medium low chance
True Deep Cycle: Much better chance

Some folks claim AGM are superior (Optima is AGM) to wet cells in this but I've seen no evidence of that.

But try it and see is always the rule.. If it works, You just saved yourself the cost of a new battery (in round figures a C-note)
and you spent, perhaps a dime doing it. That's a thousand to one return on the bet, So risk the dime and see.

[pnichols]

I have a 12-14 year old Group 31 (90 amp hour) yellow top Optima model for our boat that is no longer available and is still going strong. It holds voltages in the high-12.XX volts/low-13.XX volts range when sitting in storage.

However, I've never let it sit discharged in the 10.XX/11.XX volts range. I think that the newer yellow top Optimas may not be built to the quality level of the older ones. Didn't Optima batteries used to be made in Europe way back when ... I seem to recall that they originated in a Scandinavian country?

To the OP: Considering what they cost .... I'd patiently try several different things to recover it. Since Optima batteries are AGM "dry" batteries, they may be more responsive to recovery techniques than regular wet lead acid batteries.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

D. O. A.

Save your breath and kWh.

[Learjet]

I've been through 2 yellow tops on two different vehicles. Never got more than 2 years out of them. Not impressed at all.

[time2roll]

Hit it with 15 volts for a couple hours. Otherwise let it go.