Fare thee well ole' friend: Ode to a 'Battery'

[rigtec]

Chow? like food or do you mean Ciao?

The word "ciao" (/ˈtʃaʊ/; Italian pronunciation: [ˈtʃaːo]) is an informal salutation in the Italian language that is used for both "hello", "hi" and "goodbye".

Thanks for the "Unsolicited O/T" comment... I'll keep that in mind!

 

[Ducmonsta]

Thanks for the "Unsolicited O/T" comment... I'll keep that in mind! CIAO

fixed it for you

 

[Okki]

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheLast13 View Post
Chow? like food or do you mean Ciao?

The word "ciao" (/ˈtʃaʊ/; Italian pronunciation: [ˈtʃaːo]) is an informal salutation in the Italian language that is used for both "hello", "hi" and "goodbye".
Thanks for the "Unsolicited O/T" comment... I'll keep that in mind!

I thought you gave them plenty to chew on information wise..... :smow: :tea: Seems "chow" fitted the situation ound:

Okki

 

[rigtec]

fixed it for you

I can speak for myself but thanks anyway.

 

[Hawaiian4runner]

My last 3 optima red tops all failed within 1-2 years. Each time one of the six cells went bad. I kept getting them replaced under warranty until I got rid of the car. BTW, this was in a regular DD car with no extra loads or etc. I don't know much about their SLA offerings since they do not have a huge market share in the US but Panasonic is the best when it comes to li-ion and I would much rather have a made in Japan SLA product over something slapped together in Mexico.

IMO just stay away from ANYTHING made by Johnson Controls. They have ~80% market share in the US and are behind almost every brand that you will find. Most of these products will only vary by the case and warranty. They have also shifted most of the production to Mexico and the quality control really seems to be lacking.

Whats left in the US is East Penn (Deka, Car Quest, some O'Reily), Enersys (Odyssey, Diehard platinum), and Exide (in BK right now)

Recently purchased a Northstar 27F AGM battery. 930 CCA, 190 min reserve. Pretty impressive for a "smaller" battery. 4 year warranty. Super liberal exchange policy. Major downside, $325 in Hawaii. Dealer also sold Odyssey batteries. Said they are pretty equivalent but that Northstar has the best warranty/swap policy known to man.

 

[alc9020]

did you get to install the new battery?

 

[03_4x4Runner]

I have had 3 different Optima batteries in various vehicles in the past few years and all of them worked fine and lived a long life. I would not hesitate to buy another one but I may look at other options when my 2014 battery needs replaced. If the Panasonic battery in my 2014 last as long as the stock Panasonic in my old 2003 4runner I will not have to replace it for many years. At the first sign of any acid leaking around the terminal it is out of there though and will be replaced with an AGM type battery. The problem I have seen with others complaining about Optima batteries is that they use them in an off road vehicle that gets very little use. They set around without being charged for months and then the owner gets upset when it will not start. When an AGM type battery gets to too low of a voltage it takes a special charger to or has to be connected to another good battery to get it to charge properly.

 

[thebwlife]

I'm going to guess that your experience with Optima was several years ago. Optima has lost a lot of market share since they were picked up by Interstate Batteries back in 2005? I think? Anyway, they started to manufacture them through a different factory (I believe the production went from the US to Mexico). The quality has severely dropped since that change. I remember warranty issues and so many problems when we carried them at High Tech.

Optima is owned by Johnson Controls as is Interstate.

Battery Information | IH8MUD Forum

 

[sandcrawler]

Optima is owned by Johnson Controls as is Interstate.

Battery Information | IH8MUD Forum

that's a great thread for battery info. :nerd: