[Tigers] My Opttima Battery

[CoolVT at aol.com]

Roland,
Did you determine that over the years that the  batteries you were buying 
were junk or were all of the problems caused by the  defective voltage 
regulator?
Mark L
 
 
In a message dated 7/23/2010 9:28:59 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
csx2282 at sonic.net writes:

Thought  I'd pass along my battery tale.

Over the years I've purchased numerous  new batteries for my car which 
doesn't
get driven much.  None
of  them lasted more than two or three years so I kept trying different  
brands
and finally purchased a Red
Top Optima at a Pep Boys'  store.   A few weeks after the purchase I turned 
the
key to the  start position, but no
cranking sound; in fact no sound at all.  The  battery connections were all
snug and clean, so I measured
the voltage  across the battery terminals- 1.5V.  Had my multimeter died?   
I
measured the voltage across
the terminals of one of my other cars-  12.6V.  Sigh.

I eventually tracked the problem to a short in a  solid state voltage 
regulator
I had installed a year or
so earlier in  place of the original electro-mechanical unit.  Much to my
surprise, I  found a Borg Warner
electro-mechanical regulator at Pep Boys which, except  for the color of the
cover, looked like the original.
So at least that  problem was taken care of.

I asked around about the likelihood of the  Optima being resurrected.  The
general consensus was that it was
a  total goner.  Figuring I had nothing to lose, I connected an el  cheapo
Midlands trickle charger to it that I
had bought at a Whitefront  store in the '70s.  After several days of 
charging
it was up to about  11V.
Initially I was charging in stages because the charger got really hot  after
half hour or so.  But at this point it
seemed to be  maintaining a reasonable temperature so I left it connected  
full
time.  The good news was that
the charge was holding.   Eventually it reached a high enough voltage that I
felt it was worth a  trying to crank
the engine.  The car started right up and I let the  alternator do the rest 
of
the charging.

That was at least 5 years  ago and the Optima still cranks the starter 
faster
than any other battery  I've ever had in
the car.  I do use a Battery Tender Junior to  maintain the charge between
drives.

I still see Optimas at Pep Boys  stores and also some COSTCO stores.  
Batteries
Plus sell Battery  Tenders,
though they're probably a bit cheaper  on-line.

Roland
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