d4nk

iTrader: (2)

well im the market for a new battery now and was wondering what everyone thought of the gel cell bataries vrs. the regular ones. Ive seen some of them of upwards of $175 and in local stores if found the cheapest to be $140. If anyone might know where i could find one cheaper i would appreciate it.

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

Just don't leave your lights on by accident. I killed an Optima Red-top. I left my interior light on Satutday night in my truck. Monday it reads 4.7 volts and won't take a charge. It hits my charger HARD for 30 seconds, then kicks the circuit breaker of the charger. It is being replaced with zero pro-rating though. Full 2-yr replacement warranty.

Lon

BORLAZ06

I like the optima batteries. Goin on the third year...Killed my red top once already. Got a jump from a friend and the battery charged right back up. Great batteries IMO.

84TAProject

I personally just run basic water lead-acid batteries in my car because I'm cheap. I do however run a small bass boat and I know a lot about batteries through this. I run a gel cel on my trolling motor and a normal battery for everything else. the gel cel doesnt seem to be as powerful to begin with, but after 3 hours of draining it to the max with the trolling motor it is much stronger than the lead acid. I can fish almost 12 hours on the gel battery if it isnt real windy, i can only fish like 8-10 on the normal one. I got the battery for free because I know someone who knows someone in the telephone company. The battery i use is an old telephone battery on the poles for power outages.

tyty49

I have the red top and I really like it. I belive that summit has them for $139. Just do a search.

Mark A Shields

My Everstart Maxx from Wal-Mart for $60 1000CCA works just fine for me.

CraZ-28

I've got one and love it. I killed 1 already my self and it was replaced for free. Go to pepboys. The red-top's are selling for $125 and the smaller ones for our cars are $119. Both have a 2 year warranty.

Oh yeah, these are the prices in AZ but I don't think the prices are going to change from store to store though. Have fun.

chacane67

Interstate batterys also carries the Optima, relabeled with the Interstate name. I think they are around $85-95 for the red top.

For those of you running a large stereo or other high draw devices, you might want to try a yellow top. Yes it is a deep cycle, but I have had one in my race car and my truck for going on four years now and they work (.)(.)

91RS5speed

Ive got a red top in mine. ONly had it for 6 months but no problems or leaks.

JMatlock88

I killed mine... Called up the company where I bought it from, and they're ordering me a new one no questions asked. Now, I'm glad I bought the $150 battery.

mike graycar

iTrader: (2)

I HAVE THE OPTIMA/INTERSTATE RED TOP. FIRST ONE DIED AFTER A YEAR BUT THEY REPLACED IT. THE 2ND ONE LASTED A YEAR AND THEN SAT FOR A FEW MONTHS. IT WAS DEAD AND WOULDN'T TAKE A CHARGE SO I BOUGHT IT BACK AGAIN. THIS TIME THEY TOOK IT FOR FEW DAYS AND GAVE IT BACK AFTER THEY SLOW CHARGED IT OVER NIGHT. MY CHARGER WOULDN'T DO ANY THING FOR IT. THEY WORK REAL WELL WHEN THEY AREN'T ALLOWED TO SIT FOR SIX MONTHS OR RUN DOWN TO NOTHING. I BOUGHT THIS TO SPIN THE STARTER FOR THE 11:1 406 IN MY S-10. IT DOES THIS EASILY. ALSO I HAVE HAD GOOD LUCK WITH DELCO AND DIE HARDS. INTERSTATE ARE ALWAYS A HEADACHE, THE ONLY REASON I BOUGHT THIS ONE WAS YOU CAN SEE THE OPTIMA LOGO UNDER THE INTERSTATE LABEL. HOPE THIS HELPS !!

1982chevycamaroz28

at pepboys we have the red top optima batteries for 109.99 and the better red top (dunno how its better , maybe more cca) for 119.99. i think im goin to get the 119.99 and relocate mine to the spare tire well if it fits there in a battery box.

tpirocz

ive got a red top in my car. i like it. its the second ive had. my first died, and they replaced it, took like 2 days.

flyboydave

I used to always buy the Optimas for my rarely driven Z28 because of the 2 year replacement guarantee. Autozone now offers 3 year replacement guarantees on some of their batteries, and they're about 1/2 the price of the Optima batteries.

zupmanZ28

i've had my yellow top for going on 3 years now, no problems ever with it, and ive left stuff on overnight several times, and i've let the car sit in the garage during winter for a couple months. Its always started the car right up, never had a problem yet. When it does die, another one is goin right in it's place...

Eric

flyboydave

I agree, they're very good batteries. But for the same $$$, I can buy 2 autozone batteries with 6 years worth of free replacement warranties. It's the damn Texas summers that kill batteries down here.

1982chevycamaroz28

hey 91rs5speed does that battery box fit in the spare tire area? becuz im lookin to get the red top battery and gettin the relocation kit and a box to pu itin and puttin it in my spare tire well becuz i have a sub box and amps in the back and the spare tire well is the only place left enless i take out my subs and everything (which would be a big waste, sepnd 700 bucks on a system and take it out a few months later for a stupid battery)

91RS5speed

Im not sure ill take a tape mesure to it and get back to ya.

chevymad

We've got a redtop at work that we've used for the last 7 years. We jump start rigs with it, or run the tranny flush machine. Use it till its dead then recharge it. Still going strong. I've seen this thing put out over 1100 amps trying to jump a rig with a bad starter. It's actually burned the side posts out now. And we had to put battery cable ends on the posts because the jumper cables have almost cut the posts off.

The biggest + i think is the fact that they dont leak acid. So they won't eat your fender out! Also as I understand it these arent gel cells. Gel cells actually use a jellied acid. Optima uses liquid acid but its absorbed into fiberglass matting. Theres only supposed to be a teaspoon of acid in each cell.

soulbounder

I bought the larger red top for $103 and have no complaints.

91RS5speed

sorry 1982chevycamaroz28 the boat battery holder is to fat to fit in there. If you force it, it will be tight

d4nk

iTrader: (2)

Did anyone have to fabricate a battery holder to get their optima to fit into our 3rd gens?

formul8!!

I have had my Optima red top for about 4 years now. Left it hooked up all last winter in storage. No problems.

Mine is a little loose in the battery tray because that nugget that holds a regular Delco battery doesn't have a big enough lip to hold down the shallow lip of the Optima.