Optima batteries?

[Hammer H]

Any one had experience with optima batteries for the p38? I'm considering the yellow top.

Any other battery preference/experiences would be appreciated as well.

cheers

[Slunnie]

Awesome batteries. I use the bluetop in my D2. They are a very long lived battery.

[daf11e]

I also use the blue top marine dual purpose......awesome battery, been in 2. Years so far.

[Hammer H]

Hey, any particular reason for the blue over the red and yellow?

[rrturboD]

Hammer H,
Yellow top and blue top optimas share the same internals - both are dual purpose batteries. Blue is targeted at marine users. The yellow top has standard battery posts, while the blue top has posts plus a pair of bolts.
Depending on your existing battery connection devices (clamps etc) you may be better with yellow or a blue top.
Traxide kits are setup for yellow top. Only issue ever had with blue top was the positions of the bolts put battery connections very close to metal battery clamp, which meant clamp needed to be modified to allow clearance from connections.
Have a look on the Marine Batteries | AGM Battery | Optima Batteries (http://www.optimabatteries.com.au) site and you will see the differences.
I sell both the yellow top and blue for $275 ... delivered.

[spudboy]

RRTurboD - I am after 4 x Blue Top D31M's.

Are these available for $275 delivered to Adelaide?

Thanks
David

[daf11e]

RrturboD, I know where I'll be getting my next one from, I paid $410 for mine...a optima blue marine dual purpose 12v 800cca 66amp.

[rc42]

I have the yellow top as my primary battery, the starting crank speed is noticeably faster than the old wet cell battery that I had, also, the ability to accept a much higher charge current is ideal after using the winch.

I had to swap batteries when the P38 was left for 2 weeks at a fabricator's having work done and the battery fully discharged and died, along with the new battery I fitted a 40W flexible solar panel onto the bonnet with a small solar charger so that won't happen again.

The only downside of these is the limited reserve capacity but I fitted a 130Ahr deep cycle in the back to cover the power needs without the engine on and I recently upgraded the dual battery charger from a crappy 'SuperCheap' special to a 40A DC-DC Redarc which works much better.

[TheTree]

Al lot of people have good reports of the SuperCharge All Rounder, I ran one in my 99 and there is an MRV70 (http://www.supercharge.com.au/allrounder-mrv70) in my 96 now, excellent fully sealed batteries

Steve

[Hoges]

Al lot of people have good reports of the SuperCharge All Rounder, I ran one in my 99 and there is an MRV70 (http://www.supercharge.com.au/allrounder-mrv70) in my 96 now, excellent fully sealed batteries

Steve

x2 mine are 4yrs old now. One is the main battery for the P38 and the other (105AH) serves multiple tasks including powering a cable-converted 12V cordless drill to fix screws into a wooden deck /uninterruptible power supply for a computer /52L car fridge.... and an Aldi winch which has never seen action on the P38 but is very handy for lifting stuff up 2 storeys to my deck:eek:;)
The secret is to treat them early with a dose of Innox, don't let them fall much below half charge, and keep them topped up with a proper multi-stage charger.

supercharge at one stage also gave a sizeable AULRO discount...

PS speaking of batteries... my bro showed me a battery last weekend which he carries in his "pilot" case. It's about the size of a Samsung Galaxy 5 phone but twice as thick... it can withstand a drag of 200 AMPS (400 in an "emergency") ...two of them in series and he can jump start his C-172 (24Volt system) if it has been idle for a few weeks. It easily started a 4cyl Camry with a dead battery... It has a couple of sockets in the casing to charge mobile phones/computers etc. IIRC it's called a Hi-Tec Multi-function mini jump starter ...

[benji]

The optimas are an a battery aren't they?
If so, would the standard alternator put out the high volts required to charge it?

They are impressive though!

Sent from my GT-I9305T using AULRO mobile app

[Slunnie]

I got mine here. $360 at your door for the D31M Bluetop. Some places quoted me almost double.
http://www.optima-batteries.com.au/optima-blue-top-d31m.html

Why the Bluetop for me? Originally the battery chemicals were designed as Red for Starting, Yellow for Deep cycling and Blue would do deep cycle with startup current. Now they say blue and yellow are the same - but why would they market the same as a blue and a yellow.... Anyway I run the blue because it has another set of accessory bolts on it when other installed bits and pieces draw their power from such as ARB air compressor, Traxide lighting loom, rear battery etc. I do have the winch connect to these terminals also, but I really don't think they were meant for winching currents.

[Hammer H]

Hammer H,
Yellow top and blue top optimas share the same internals - both are dual purpose batteries. Blue is targeted at marine users. The yellow top has standard battery posts, while the blue top has posts plus a pair of bolts.
Depending on your existing battery connection devices (clamps etc) you may be better with yellow or a blue top.
Traxide kits are setup for yellow top. Only issue ever had with blue top was the positions of the bolts put battery connections very close to metal battery clamp, which meant clamp needed to be modified to allow clearance from connections.
Have a look on the Marine Batteries | AGM Battery | Optima Batteries (http://www.optimabatteries.com.au) site and you will see the differences.
I sell both the yellow top and blue for $275 ... delivered.


Hi Michael, thank you, what cca do you think is sufficient? The commercial yellow tops look good at 900cca how much would the be?

Hammer H

[rrturboD]

cold cranking capacity ... anything over 700 will start almost anything (2xD34 easily start a CatD6 24v) ... so the the D31M @ 900cca may be overkill. It is quite a big battery at 326L x 165W x 242H and 27kg. Optima D31A, D31T or D31M $340 delivered
Consider D27 batteries , size same as N70ZZ and 830cca @ $319 ....

[Traco]

I put a red top Optima in my V8 DIsco and it died within 3 months. Must have been faulty from the factory (Mexico).

Replaced it under warranty with a D34 yellow top which has worked fine for over 2 years now. Also have the smaller D51 yellow tops in two other classic cars. The yellow tops are good for cars that are not driven for long periods of time, and they charge up much quicker than normal batteries.

[d2dave]

Hammer H,
The yellow top has standard battery posts, while the blue top has posts plus a pair of bolts.
connections.


My yellow top, which I purchased from you, does not have standard battery posts. I got the option of threaded studs.

[Keithy P38]

X 3 for the Supercharge All-rounders...

I run a pair of them in my P38. One is two years old, the other is three years old, plus I have one in the Dmax as well. Great batteries. Love to run accessories. I get 2 1/2 days off one of them (I isolate the two batteries when I reach camp) running my 78L ARB fridge at -4 before the fridge goes into battery save mode.

Cheers
Keithy

[DeanoH]

I purchased a pair of blue top D27's for the OKA in 2010. One as a dedicated start battery and the other as the 'rest of vehicle' battery (this is how the OKA is factory configured). House batterys are separate. In 2012 I replaced these with SuperCharge marine batterys (N70 size) and used the Optimas as house batterys.

The Optimas have now done 5 years of hard outback holiday travel (approx. 2 to 3 months per year) and normal day to day use the rest of the time. I have never previously had a battery, any battery, last more than two years under harsh conditions.

These Optima batterys are very robust and have survived the Canning Stock Route, Simpson Desert, Gibb River Road (twice), Kalumburu Rd, Mitchell Falls (twice), Gunbarrel Hwy, Old Gunbarrell Hwy, Anne Beadell Hwy (twice) and off road across the Great Sandy Desert plus a further complete lap of the country on highway and off road. They are very, very robust.

Even though they (D27 which is N70 equivalent) have a comparatively small rating of 66 AH compared to a around 100 AH for the N70 they make an excellent house battery as they can fully charge from half flat in around an hour. This is very useful when doing short hops between camps as the battery is kept fully charged from the vehicle alternator without having to worry about an external charging source. They might be an expensive outlay but cheap in the long run and worth every penny. :)

As they charge very quickly it is, IMO, necessary to have a charging system able to supply this 'load', especially when charging multiple Optimas. Also I don't let them remain in a flat state which is death to any battery. Currently they are left 'floating' at 14.1 volts on the OKA solar.

On the other hand the marine SuperCharge batterys have also been very reliable. They have now both done nearly 3 years of hard labour and are still in good condition.

Deano :)

[FANTOM P38]

I fitted the Yellow top a few months back and so far so good. Runs fridge all weekend when im away ( which hasnt been much lately ) 900cca so easily starts 4.6L car has been sitting for few weeks now & holding voltage well even with some added extras which run continuously.

[Hammer H]

Hi Fantom,

Does the battery (d31) fit no problems with the original clamp and cables?

Cheers

hammer H

[Eevo]

ive got a d31 in my disco 2.
had a cut a cable tie to fit it, but no big deal at all.

[Fluids]

D31 dropped straight into my D2a. Cables fitted without modification.

Have a D34 as an aux battery .... Both 3yrs old and going strong.

Sent from my iPad using Braille

[FANTOM P38]

Hi Fantom,

Does the battery (d31) fit no problems with the original clamp and cables?

Cheers

hammer H

Hi Hammer
Fitted easily still have original clamp & battery cover!

[drivesafe]

Hi Hammer H, in 2005, I bought an Optima D34 Yellowtop as the auxiliary battery in my D3.

It was moved to my D4, then sat around my workshop for about 12 months.

Then when my death trap Range Rover suffered an alternator failure, which caused the steering lock to come on and stay on while my wife was driving the death trap, I fitted the Yellowtop into the RR to act as emergency power should the alternator go again ( which is a common reoccurrence in the RR ).

Because of the emergency power needed in the RR, and with the original Yellowtop being close to 7 years old, I decided to get a new Yellowtop from Michael T and replaced the old one.

The original Yellowtop then sat around in the workshop for months, till my wife’s Toyota Seca’s cranking battery failed, so I decided to fit the Yellowtop and use it till it died.

That was just over two years ago and, with the battery now over 9 years old, and it’s still working perfectly.

[Hammer H]

Then when my death trap Range Rover suffered an alternator failure, which caused the steering lock to come on and stay on while my wife was driving the death trap, I fitted the Yellowtop into the RR to act as emergency power should the alternator go again ( which is a common reoccurrence in the RR ).

Because of the emergency power needed in the RR, and with the original Yellowtop being close to 7 years old, I decided to get a new Yellowtop from Michael T and replaced the old one..
[/QUOTE]

Thank you Drivesafe,

err no steering, that's a concern, which model was that?
So if the battery is in better condition and the alternator fails then the battery will supply enough power to stop the steering lock activating?

Hammer H

[drivesafe]

Hi again Hammer and it’s a long story which I won’t go into here but my 07 TDV8 RR Vogue’s alternator failed and the RR stopped in the middle of a busy country road, and thats where it sat for two and a half hours, while two RACQ road side crews tried to work out how to get the death trap out of the middle of the road.

It wasn’t far from home so when my wife rang me and told me what was going on, I grabbed the OLD Optima D34 Yellowtop and when I got there, the crew was trying to get enough power, using a jump pack, to get the steering lock off and to get the RR into neutral.

Their jump pack didn’t have enough grunt but my Optima did.

[d2dave]

Michael, who sells them on here, told me when I purchased mine he had one that lasted 13 years.

[rrturboD]

The '13 year old' battery is a Optima 34 red top starting battery and has been sitting in my Bristol since 1998.
Optima recently rejected my warranty claim as their records showed it was outside the normal warranty period!
Given that the battery is still performing AOK, all be it for an acid leak around the positive terminal ... traced to faulty regulator I think, as after a trip you could hear the battery venting (bubbling sound). For now, I just turn on the 2x35w headlights and volts seem to sit below 14. I really should fix the regulator!
The key to any battery survival really is not storing it flat. I use the Bristol irregularly now days, and often put a charger on the battery after the car has been used to ensure the battery is fully charged ... but then in the past it has sat unassisted for 8 months, and still started the car.

[d2dave]

Michael. Get a maintenance charger. I have a motor bike which sits idle for about 6 months a year.

When parked the charger goes on, even during the other six months. I purchased the bike new in 2008 and the original battery is still good after 6 years.

[rrturboD]

Re maintenance charger ... Optima boast of a 12 month shelf life for a charged battery ... so once I know the battery is charged, I can leave it unattended. The most I can say I have ever left the Red Top, is about 8 months.
I have a Yellow Top sitting in a Land Rover S2, on a bush block, that was not visited for 18 months, and battery still did the starting and running about duties without protest.

[Hammer H]

Re maintenance charger ... Optima boast of a 12 month shelf life for a charged battery ... so once I know the battery is charged, I can leave it unattended. The most I can say I have ever left the Red Top, is about 8 months.
I have a Yellow Top sitting in a Land Rover S2, on a bush block, that was not visited for 18 months, and battery still did the starting and running about duties without protest.

Thanks Michael the Bluetop D31M arrived in yesterday, that was quick.

All installed and very happy. Fits standard brackets, leads and battery cover, no mods required.

Cheers Paul

[rrturboD]

Looks like you should have polished (well at least cleaned!) the rest of the surfaces around the battery ... it looks a little out of place in a working vehicle.
Well done, and pleased it all came together.

[Hammer H]

Looks like you should have polished (well at least cleaned!) the rest of the surfaces around the battery ... it looks a little out of place in a working vehicle.
Well done, and pleased it all came together.

Haven't washed or cleaned it for years, foot wells full of beach sand from all over the State, it doesn't get any special treatment, more scratches the better.

[97p38]

Just fitted a yellow top so will see how it goes. Car has been chewing calcium batteries every two years.
Have been running a red top in another vehicle for 10 years so far.
Jason

[5H00TA]

How much to supply and ship a yellow top to Perth? and how soon would it arrive?

[Bushie]

I had 2 yellow tops in my defender, bought in 2002 one died on our cape trip in 2010 and was replaced in Cairns for some exorbitant price, the second was replaced (in case) for our desert trip in 2011 from RRturboD, both are going strong. The one I replaced (in case) sat on the garage floor until a few weeks ago when it went into my sons Puma as a second battery.

So 9-10 years in a defender 1+ year on the garage floor and now still starts a puma OK suggests they are a pretty good battery.


Martyn