Well it's been just over a year now since I built my rig and my Optima yellowtop will NOT hold a charge. I have not been driving my rig very often and I know it has a small draw from the immobilzer but I used to leave it parked for 60 day deployments with a cheap battery before I built it and it would always start when I got home so I don't think that's a factor. Think I killed it from not keeping it charged all the time by driving it? I know deep cells need more input than a regular battery. I never let it sit for more than 3 weeks. I know my alternator is good because I just sent it off and had it rebuilt and rewrapped to put out 90A at idle recently. The battery has steadily been getting worse. The last time I drove it I drove 40 miles to another town and back and it would not start right after I shut it off.

As much as I hate to I am going to get another one only a red top this time. Any ideas on what I could do different besides getting another type of battery so this doesn't happen again? I hate disconnecting it because my stereo takes me 15 minutes to reprogram and it's a pain with the winch and everything.

 

Is one of those solar constant chargers a possibility to get it topped off?

If it has to sit for 60 days then start for you, a "Battery Minder" stores enough for one start.

Overall I think you are expecting a lot of any battery to sit that long with no charge source, better to just keep it on a trickle charge with smart minder.

Or remove and take with to a better location.

just my 2 cents. Thanks for your service.

 

I've heard a lot of similar complaints about those Optima batts... I think they had a recall a while back for some problem of other... Figure the radio mem. and immobilizer are going to pull at least 5W total a day maybe more that ads up fast... cold nights with lots of dew causing shorts across the top will kill it fast too...
try making sure you have a good dielectric grease "dam" around the posts with good clean connections this might help...
I used a 5W solar cell when I was having alt. troubles [alt not putting out full effort] while I was parked and it always seemed to keep the batt. topped up enough to start...
I use a big 1000CCA deep cycle tow truck batt. and except for having a bad cell once they have never failed me...

 

Take it back and get another under warranty thats what I did. They have a three year warranty.

 

id take it back also..

@bluegrassen, you got it mixed up, yellow top is better for winching and stereo's.

the red is better for starting, just an fyi.

 

my turck ate 3 redtops over the course of about 3 years... i finally gave up and when with a DieHard Platinum. The sales tech at the time said that he's seen SEVERAL optima's come back on toyotas. the diehad has been the best battery i've ever had. it sat in the rig for over 2 years with out a charge and still was putting out 6V. I've heard the diehard platinum's are re-badged odysseys. IMHO i think Optima's were all marketing and no product.

 

+1 on the solar trickle charger. I have 2 deep cells on my travel trailer and it often sits for 6-8 months at a time. The cheap little harbor freight charger keeps them up just fine.

I hard-wired mine into the system but it comes with a cig lighter plug. For about $20 its worth a shot.

Also, using the grease dam is a great suggestion. Also, make sure your battery top is CLEAN!! dirt and grime collect moisture and cause minor draws. This is reason behind the myth of concrete draining batteries. It aint the concrete; its the dust, dirt, and crap that settles on the battery that kills it eventually.

 

Ive had an Optima Red in my truck now for about 6 months. She hasn't quit on me yet KNOCK ON WOOD. But I do concur that the Red in a better battery for normal use while the Yellow is a better battery for performance uses such as a radio,winch etc.

 

The Redtop is also designed to take shock more so then the yellow, which in an offroad vehicle is more favorable. We don't exactly drive caddies.

And mine failed, but only because it flew into my P/S pulley. Still did pretty good for a while considering one cell was exposed. It did finally crap out.