optima red top battery AGM?

[clooney]

is the red top optima an AGM battery? if not whats the different between a red top and an AGM battery.

going to fit this starter to my 10;1 CR 2332 and looking for a suitable battery
http://www.cbperformance.com/product-p/2140.htm

[tattooed_pariah]

they are AGM batteries.. be wary..

I'm using a red top in my beetle that was purchased in 2008, has been run down to about 3 volts and recharged numerous times, and fires up first try, every time with out issue..

I've heard in recent years they are garbage.

I purchased a red top for my 2001 escape about 3 years ago, and it's been warranty replaced twice and is currently dead because it holds volts just fine, but has less than .01 amps..

I'm looking at other options myself..
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-pariah
'72 Volksrod

[Dale M.]

Some time ago OPTIMA move production to Mexico.... Rumors have it quality is not what it used to be....

Run a BIG Odyssey battery in my JEEP because of its amperage capacity and I do some winching at times with electric winch and battery has not ever failed me, BUT there is a "expense" ($) involved...

http://www.odysseybattery.com/

Only battery I have seen the comes with "owners manual"....

Dale
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“Fear The Government That Wants To Take Your Guns"
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All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ...

[nextgen]

Living in NY were we get major storms in the winter I came up with a way that if the power goes out I can still run my Natural Gas hot water base board furnace.
Gasoline Generators are dangerous, need to keep gallons and hard to get during a storm.

The furnace only uses 110vac 1 amp to run the water pump. With a power inverter I bought a Marine Battery DEEP Charge, monster, made to run Sound systems for hours on party boats.

Worked great seeing the heating systems only runs a few mins several times a hour. I can go a week, with out a charge.

Bad idea of using it in my bug during the summer. It fit but when I put the rear seat in one of the springs hit the battery and the 50 year old horse hair burst into flames. To make it worse the car was in my garage attached to the house. Lucky I keep a Fire Extinguisher in the car, not the powder type. Thank GOD!!

Running a stock bug battery and the Marine is always on the trickle charger.

Sweat thinking about it.
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[Emeraldlion]

I second odyssey agm. Bought one for my 280z/v8 hybrid and it was great. Compact and provided just the right power

[Clatter]

I had a few of the old Optimas; both Reds and yellows.

Kept them for years, when cars were on or off of the road for long builds, loaned to friends, lasted for years and years.
Even stored outside in the rain on wet concrete all winter..

A couple of them finally, and deservedly, came due for replacement like 10-15 years later.
ALL of the replacements lasted for jack shit.
Like 2, 2/12 years or less..
Same cars, same charging systems.


Supposedly, all of those AGMs are made in the same factory, regardless of what label gets put on the outside.
And they suck now..


My last couple of batteries are just regular lead/acid now, albeit sealed.
They have been fine so far.


Chalk up another good product that got whored off and now sucks...
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Bus Motor Build

I have excellent news for the world...
There is no such thing as patina.
It does not exist!

[Clatter]

Scratch that..

My latest lead acid battery won't charge up past 9 volts,
And it has a build date of just over three years ago..

Anyone have a battery they like these days?

Certainly there's a USA or EU made one that we can pay a little more for..
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Bus Motor Build

I have excellent news for the world...
There is no such thing as patina.
It does not exist!

[King_vw61]

[sjbartnik]

I am using an Optima red-top with an 8/15 date sticker on it and it's still going strong.
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1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[modok]

The optima gel cells sometimes have problems at LOW temps. We don't know why.
IMO, look at what is offered from Deka. Haven't hear do deka? Now you have, check em out!

[jpaull]

Lithium is looking pretty good lately. 600cca's with 40ah's of capacity and 30lbs of weight savings for about $300. I see people drilling holes and doing some pretty weird sh!t to save only 5lbs. Saving 30lbs with a battery swap is on my list.

Anyone using lithium?

[modok]

What ends up happening to me is..... the VW gets whatever battery is left over from everything else. Right now I have a AGM miata battery. It was tortured by trying to start a V8, now it's retired...into my vw. And it is very tired. It barely started this morning at 15F
But, for the sake of mother earth gaia... I gotta wait for it to properly die.
If it can't start a VW...it's dead.

[Bashr52]

When Optima changed their manufacturing process (I think it was around the time they moved production to Mexico), they stopped using virgin lead, and started using recycled stuff. That is when the quality went to shit.

[[email protected]]

I get 3-5 years PAST the warranty on Deka 642MF’s when they sleep on a Tender over the Winter. If you have to have something you can mount in an odd way like the Optima, then yeah, get a Odyssey/Braille. For as much of a pain in the ass I’ve had with modern cars with constant drains killing AGM batteries, I’d never buy one for a daily.

[raygreenwood]

[oprn]

Up here in the frozen north we used to buy and install battery blankets (plugged into your house outlet) for cold weather starting. They did just as much good as an engine block heater for cold starts. The difference is amazing and if you had both you were golden! I haven't seen one in use for a number of years now for some reason. Perhaps there is no room for them in the modern car's battery box?