Batteries?

[chpthril]

Optima_Jim,

its always nice to have industry insiders, professionals and manufactures reps contribute. Just note, my experiences are drawn from experience with a number of scenarios over a number of years. Example.

Client had just picked up his 3rd D31M in 2 seasons, prior to bringing me the boat for stereo upgrades. He was told that he needed the Optima charger, as his 20A 2-bank marine on-board charger with an AGM setting, was not going to properly service the Optima. Due to the scope of the clients audio build and desired use, we moved away from a single D31M to four 6V golf carts. Going on 3 years now, and they are running perfect on the same 20A charger that the original D31M did not like.

While I also like to under promise over deliver, I have an issue with contradicting manufactures stated specs. Even if I can see they are under reporting, I have an issue trying to sell a better number then manufacture advertises. One manufactures group 31 AGM advertises an Ah of 30% higher and at a much better price. Sorry man, thats tough to get past! "we advertise our boat at 21ft but it rides like a 25" ???? ?Our 350 HP engine really delivers 400 HP" See the dilemma?

As to "finicky" I encourage anyone to read through the Optima FAQs. There are a handful of reference to otpima charging and other chargers may not get the job done.

Jim, I dont think you offer a bad battery, but I feel the Optima is not the best bang for the buck, especially for a house bank. My experience has shown me that a standard alternator may leave an Optima wanting. Some marine on-board charges are not servicing the optima, yet other AGM do fine.

[sandm]

I knew optimas were spensive but never shopped them. that d31m shows a retail north of 3 bills. 2 deep cycle and a starting battery will end up running north of $1100 with uncle sam's share.
not sure I really understand the appeal.

[OptimaJim]

duffymahoney, the better care people take with their batteries, the luckier they get, regardless of brand. Placing batteries on concrete hasn't been a problem since battery cases were made from wood and cells were made from glass jars. Stored batteries do best in cool, dry locations, connected to a quality battery maintenance device.

If you don't want to leave stored batteries on a quality charger, then the next-best option is to completely disconnect the fully-charged battery from the vehicle when it goes into storage and then fully-charge it again, before bringing it out. I realize that adds unwanted steps, but all of our chargers also come with quick disconnect pigtails to make it easier to keep batteries properly-maintained while not in use. Ken Lingenfelter could afford to buy a new battery every day for all the cars in his collection, but he keeps them all on maintainers, until he wants to use them, because he knows it just makes the most sense in the long run.

I know some battery brands and manufacturers do require their customers to use specific chargers or risk having their warranty voided. We don't do that with our warranty, but if you're dealing with a company who does, crossing your fingers isn't enough- you'll need to jump through all the warranty hoops they put in front of you.

Chpthril, relative to a single Optima D31M being replaced by four 6V golf cart batteries, I don't know how your client was using or maintaining their Optima previously or what those 6V batteries are rated at in terms of reserve capacity or how those four 6V batteries are configured into a 12-volt system, but I would presume it would be series/parallel, which doubles voltage and Ah.

A typical 6V golf cart battery is physically larger than our D31M and has far more reserve capacity (~200Ah vs 75Ah). So if you're client replaced a single ~60 pound, 75Ah battery with four batteries weighing ~250 pounds and delivering 400Ah, they've increased their available Ah by more than five times. The shallower the discharge cycle, the more cycles a system of batteries will provide, regardless of the brand. Again, not knowing how the D31M was cycled in that application, if it was being discharged down to a 10% state of charge and the bank of 6-volt batteries are only being discharged down to 83% state of charge, they could see 100 cycles on the D31M versus 800 or more on the the bank of 6V batteries.

So was this client plugging in a 20-amp charger for an hour before using the boat and expecting a full state of charge or letting a deeply-discharged battery sit and sulfate for an extended period of time before recharging it? Only they know the answer to that question and I often find people don't have the best memory when it comes to how they maintain their batteries. I'm not at all surprised to hear that someone with a big stereo system is happier with four batteries that offer 5x the reserve capacity of the single battery they replaced. I'm also not sure I understand your second analogy relating to ratings.

I would encourage anyone to read through the Optima FAQs on charging. Keep in mind, the purpose of that page is to help people charge Optima batteries. The reality of the situation is that people have many of the same problems charging other batteries and many of those issues can be sourced back to the voltage of their battery and the charger they are using.

Many chargers, including some of the most-commonly found chargers on the market today, will not recognize or charge batteries that have been discharged below a minimum voltage level, often as high as 10.5 volts. We lobbied these manufacturers for years to change their algorithms, but most didn't see the value in it, even though many tournament anglers routinely come off the water on windy/high-current days with batteries discharged into the single-digits. That's how we ended up with our own chargers and maintainers, that can recover batteries that have been discharged as low as 1.25 volts. That's also why some other brands will void your warranty, if you don't use one of the chargers on their “approved” list.

I understand not everyone sees the value in purchasing one of our batteries (or many other premium brands). People make purchase decisions for a lot of different reasons and we don't always check everyone's boxes- we're not the lightest, we're not the cheapest, we're not the right size, etc... I understand individual experiences can vary, but our experience as a manufacturer, who works closely with the OEs and aftermarket alternator and charger manufacturers is that the low internal resistance of our batteries allows them to accept current and charge faster than a typical flooded or AGM battery.

sandm, I talk to tournament anglers all the time, who aren't very good about keeping their batteries charged and just buy a new set of $600 Wal-Mart batteries at the start of every season. I also talk to anglers who are willing to pay $2700 for the lightest lithium batteries on the market (plus another $300 for a required lithium charger). We're not a cheap date, but we have a lot of folks who like our products, because they do get exceptional performance from them.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries