Looking To Get An Optima Battery, Need Some Suggestions.

[MoogLe]

So I've been having some battery problems lately and i'm assuming it was brought on by my 2 new amps, subwoofers and all my new speakers....

So my problem is basically that my battery doesnt seem to be charging fast enough and/or provide enough juice to crank up my car after a short drive.

I got my battery and my alternator tested and was told that my alternator is sending just over enough current to the battery to get it charged at full load (a/c on, lights, music playing etc.) and the battery was also tested to be working(although i doubt that it's doing too well)

So my conclusion was that the battery just isnt holding up to the task and was looking at getting an optima yellowtop or maybe even a redtop if someone recommends that.

After looking at the optima website i realized that there are different sizes and they make a huge difference in weight and obviously have different power specifications.

I was looking at one of the smaller ones, the D51. Would this be sufficient for my needs? I'm not looking to run a HUGE stereo system for hours on end with the engine off. I just want to be able to drive along with my music on and not worry about wether or not the car will start the next time i try it.

Sorry for the long post, but i'd really appreciate the help.

This is what my current sound system consists of btw:

2 x JL audio 12" subs

JL 500/1 Mono amp

JL 300/4 amp

Alpine Type R 6.5" components

Alpine Type R 6x9's

[W0rp3D]

I have a red top, could not be happier, only problem was that i had to trim off the little yabs at the bottom so it fitted in the factory location in my 33.

[MoogLe]

will a red top be enough to handle my stereo equipment?

[W0rp3D]

i believe mine is 1000cca, and turns it over dam fast so im assuming it will be more than enough, but the first thing you should be looking into is your alternator, when the car is running it is running off the alternator, should not be running off the battery at all, if the battery is going dead whilst you are driving you need to get a bigger alternator first.

[MoogLe]

i did get it checked and they told me that it's working fine, that its charging more than i'm using

[W0rp3D]

maybe its your starter motor, it is not out of the question that it is rooted and sucking way too much current and the battery cant keep up.

[MoogLe]

how would i check that?

but i kinda doubt it, since most of the time when it happens the car can barely turn over for 3-5 seconds.... so it'd have to be taking up a HELL of a lotta current if the battery wasnt the problem

[shanusr33]

i have a yellow top and had to custom fit it into the existing location. i'm very happy with its performance until recently after not driving it for a week it died on me again. I decided that I'd install a kill switch between the battery and the fuse holder for all my amps so that when I know i wont be driving it for long periods i can take the switch out easily. Also this means people who have my car eg mechanic etc can't see what my system can handle as it wont work for them Since installing the switch I've never had a problem again with the battery or any of the above posts mentioned problems. There's more on the optima stuff here: http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Au....html&st=40 page 3 near the bottom includes a pic of my battery install job.

cheers, shane

[MoogLe]

you know,

that kill switch doesnt sound like a bad idea!

lemme check out your setup

[shanusr33]

I'm running 4 gauge cable from the battery through a kill swith that i picked up from Jaycar for about $15bucks or so, then to a fuse box holder that holds four massive glass 60amp fuses. from the fuse box 3 cables run to each of my 3 amps and 1 cable off to the computer. no kill switch in, no nothing! and battery hasn't had a problem since. i even left the car for 3 weeks without clicking it over but it still turned no problems. dude...do it!

[MoogLe]

which red tops are you guys running?

i'm looking at these 2

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Optima-Batt...sspagenameZWD1V

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Optima-9002...sspagenameZWDVW

and shanus, that sounds pretty cool, i might look into it.

so basically when do you hit the switch? when you park the car for a long time? wouldnt it be easyer to put a kill switch at the - wire for the battery?

Edited July 16, 2008 by MoogLe

[shanusr33]

huh? at the wire for the battery? not sure i follow

I have a number of massive cables coming direct off my yellow top optima battery.

1 of them goes to the original skyline stuff and fuse boxes and whatever,

1 I added on goes to my power converters for my screens,

and 1 I added also goes to this fuse box i was trying to explain. so yes, the kill switch is right near the battery in the boot.

Whenever I leave my car in the garage or at my parents for a long period of time I pull the switch out and leave it. I haven't needed to yet, but if i was ever going to drop my car off with someone i could so the same. otherwise it's cleaverly consealed behind one of my monitors in the boot that you reach around the back of to pull out push in, easy.

hope this helps. are you in melb? any cruises coming up soon i'd be happy to catch up...

cheers, Shane

[W0rp3D]

which red tops are you guys running?

i'm looking at these 2

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Optima-Batt...sspagenameZWD1V

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Optima-9002...sspagenameZWDVW

I believe mine is the second one but it does not have the tabs on each end that i had to cut off.

so basically when do you hit the switch? when you park the car for a long time? wouldnt it be easyer to put a kill switch at the - wire for the battery?

huh? at the wire for the battery? not sure i follow

I think he means just disconnect the battery all together, the problem with that is that you will have to reprogram your head unit and clock every time you start it again.

[MoogLe]

yes, that's what i meant, putting the kill switch at the negative cable, thus disconnecting the battery

reason i say that is because i wouldn't think that the amp would be the only thing that would possibly pull current from the battery over a long period....

one thing i wanted to ask... i have both my amps negative cables running directly to the battery. is that a big problem? could that be contributing to the issue?

And shanus, i'm about a 20 hour flight away from melbourne lol, dont think we'll be bumping into each other any time soon

Edited July 16, 2008 by MoogLe

[shanusr33]

lol fair enough

umm it's probably best to get a multimeter across your equipment to see whats going on and whats draining it the most. I haven't run the negative cables back to the battery directly from my amps as i've installed an earth block and all my negatives run back to this grounding unit which goes to the battery or chassis i can't remember which one. usually it's recommended to do what you have done, so i can't see how it's a problem, as long as you use the same gauge wire for positive and negative.

here's a shocking photo of some of the crap going on with my boot before i cleaned it all up. i now have office style condue keeping everything in line and power away from other wires etc it's really quite a neat job now You may notice how I've had to customise the battery tray and use the angle grinder to take off the original lips on the side, then just used a wider plastic base under the optima battery - geez it's tight! The three fuse boxes are all run back to the battery seperately, the one i mentioned in previous posts is the one in the middle, which has the kill switch now installed. and finally, just underneath this is where all my negative cables are.

If you can't find a solution by installing a kill switch, perhaps test it all and use some ideas from people on here. have you got two seperate positive cables to each amp, or do they go through a fuse box similar to mine? perhaps that's another idea you can steal if you have no luck...

sorry bout the long post, shanus

[MoogLe]

ive got seperate pos cables to each amp.

yea i would love to find out what may or may not be pulling electricity all the time but i dont have a multimeter.

i'm pretty damn sure it's my battery acting up though, biggest reason is because a couple of months ago my car was garaged for like 2 months because i had to work on my turbo manifold and i didnt disconnect the battery.

when i went to start it up, it was COMPLETELY dead, couldnt even turn on the brake lights.

After that, there was another time my car stood for 2-3 days after which the battery was dead once again....

and i noticed that it seemed to be going down hill from there...

the wierd thing is that Napa tested the battery and said that it's fine.... i'm thinking that maybe it's still producing the right amount of current but just wont charge beyond a certain level. Is that possible? Or is what i'm thinking flawed?

[shanusr33]

nah its not flawed, i was thinking on the same path when i decided to get a new battery. i didn't know why it just kept getting worse and worse, to a point where i brought a brand new battery and again, it died! i stuffed around a little and my mechanic told me it was my interior aftermarket light drawing current constantly so i got rid of it but it kept happening. rather than stuffing around anymore i just went that little bit further to get an optima battery.

'they say' whoever 'they' are, that unlike acid batteries that once flattened will half their life, then flattened again another limb gone etc etc until they're screwed, optima batteries are built to last a flattening. in fact, they strive off that stuff, as long as they get a full charge again when flat! IMO go the optima, you wont regret it!

[MoogLe]

cool,

im still deciding wether to get the optima or just do a split setup

did you find out what was pulling current? if you did, how'd you di it?

[shanusr33]

never officially found out, but i'm 100% sure it were my amps and equipment as I've never had a problem since installing the switch so it can't be anything else!

split systems aren't too bad either, (you mean running 2 batteries?) but then theres housing the other battery and getting it going, and the problem is you still have acid batteries! its up to you man, good luck with the set up and make sure you post pictures when it's all in!!!

[MoogLe]

but didnt you say that you never actually flipped the switch yet?

so how could that have helped if you never actually used it yet?

on a side note, i had to jump start the car AGAIN just a few minutes ago, GOD is this annoying!

cant wait to get my new battery in, gonna order it by this weekend so it'll be here when i get back from my 2 week vacation

Edited July 18, 2008 by MoogLe