eaglevo

iTrader: (1)

battery starting to die today. OEM battery ,06 evo 9 mr ,5yrs. old. Thinking about a miata battery replacement,but only has 330 CCA.OEM is550. Would this be sufficiant on a DD,autox,hillclimb? I like the smaller size bat. for maybe future uicp . any advice?

OptimaJim

Hello, I noticed your conversation regarding our batteries and wanted to offer some assistance. Although many retailers are able to track down purchases in their system, MaLo EvoVIII does give good advice about holding onto your receipt. It just expedites everything in the event warranty service is neeeded. If something does happen to the receipt, other forms of proof of purchase are also acceptable.

Even though our batteries and many others (both AGM & flooded) are considered “sealed” batteries, all lead-acid automotive batteries can vent gas in extreme situations. For that reason, we always recommend that any battery installed in an enclosed location be properly-vented to the outside. Our group 27, 51, 34C, 78 and 31 batteries all have ports for connecting a vent hose. Although people do it anyway, we would never recommend installing an unvented battery in any enclosed space, because there's a legitimate, albeit unlikely, safety risk involved.

For example, IF there is a voltage regulator failure, and IF the battery is severely overcharged, and IF this goes unnoticed, and IF the battery vents because the internal pressure exceeds the release pressure of the vents, the gasses are both flammable and toxic. This may sound like a lot of “ifs,” but attorneys and engineers get paid to plan for every worst-case scenario.

dastallion951 is correct about many of the “bad” batteries returned to us under warranty from retailers actually being good. I don't know whether it can be pinpointed to alternator issues alone, but I know many of these batteries are just deeply-discharged and work fine, when properly recharged. My wife's truck runs on a “dead” YellowTop that was discharged to 7 volts and returned under warranty. Many battery chargers will not recognize or charge any battery that has been discharged below a specific voltage level (usually around 10.5 volts). In those situations, this parallel charging technique can be used to recover those batteries- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIoaL3DWWEg

boostedmkiii, our batteries are considered to be “dry cell” batteries, versus a typical flooded lead-acid battery and they do last up to twice as long as traditional flooded batteries. As I previously mentioned, they also have vents to release pressure in extreme overcharging situations. While pro-rated warranties are popular with some retailers, because they lock consumers into repeat purchases, we prefer to simply offer a straight three-year, free replacement warranty. The truth is, if any battery fails from a manufacturing defect, it is likely to do so well within the first year of use, if not the first month.

barneyb, in reading your comments about your battery dying after your car sits for a few days, I'm wondering if you have measured the parasitic draw in your vehicle? GaBe511, I was concerned to read that you had “trimmed the positive terminal” on your battery. I don't know how much you trimmed, but our battery posts have an inner and outer portion. During the manufacturing process, these two parts are joined. By cutting either post, you may also cut off where the posts are joined. It also voids the warranty. If anyone has any questions about our batteries, I'll do my best to answer them.

My previous attempt to post this information was either lost or deleted. If a moderator or administrator objects to the information I am posting, please PM me and let me know if there is something I can do that will allow me to share important safety information, without violating the rules of this board.


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

CBRE

iTrader: (77)

If you want the BEST battery just get a lithium. I was gone on vacation for a week came back and checked my voltage it was 13.2, before I left it was 13.36, now that's out of a 4.5# battery, car starts stonger than when it had the stock battery. Couple of other pluses besides one extra volt over all the other mini batteries is a lithium charges three times faster so your alternator won't have to work so hard and they are good for ten years, pretty serious battery.

MaLo EvoVIII

iTrader: (2)

Take a look at the Honda batteries. They are the 51 series. I like to call these the skinny batteries. And if you want it to be sealed or have AGM/Spiral tech Optima makes a deep cycle version of this battery with about 450-500 CCA.

Jkuti13

what about the optima yellowtop?

Jonno99

Slightly off subject, when I bought my Evo I didn't realize it but the battery had been leaking and split acid down onto the tray and then the tray was leaking it down onto the gear box and along the chasis into the wheel arch, probably been going on for years, the battery had this cardboard type box around it so you couldn't see the acid dribble. So I chucked it and looked for a new battery, gel batteries were like up to 500 bucks so I bought another lead acid. this time I took the tray off and cleaned up all the old acid spill and brushed fish oil everywhere then I drilled a hole in the bottom of the tray and glued a little funnel under it with a small hose connected to it and ran the hose down and out under the car. I sealed the tray so that any spilt acid would only run down the hose. Now I can just have a quick look under the car to check the hose to see if I have any battery overflow, but so far the new battery has been good.

profit_child

Optima never failed have had an optima red for 5 years