Lightsaber

I bought an Optima Yellow Top from Crappy Tire in January, 2018 to replace the 2014 Panasonic. They had only one in stock, covered in dust with the side label (which has date stamp) missing. It metered over 1,000 cold cranking amps (CCA), so I didn't care at the time.

Since November, the Evo began struggling to start, especially in cold. This Wednesday I went to night school and street-parked the Evo in -20°C (-4°F) with wind chill for 4 hours. (Darn. Girls were wearing miniskirts and sandals that night. What are they? Norwegians?!) The Evo struggled to start for the last time. Rapid clicking sound for 2 seconds followed by slow cranking.

(A distracting occurrence is that the alarm and remote starter's tilt sensor has been randomly triggering since last November too, usually when the car is hit by high wind. No parasitic current was detected from this system though.)

The next day the battery died. Rapid clicking sound only, no starting. On Friday, a good neighbour jump-started for me to visit Mitsu dealer. Master tech there found the starter is good; alternator is good (14.5 volts); and no parasitic current (less than 50 milliamps), but the Optima Yellow Top supplied only ~300 CCA. Therefore I went back to Crappy Tire and they gave me a new Optima Yellow Top under warranty (pictured above).

So I hope the Machine God permits this one to last a bit longer. I don't have a good thesis why this happened. Nowadays Yellow Tops typically last 8 years in warm or 4 years through winter. Maybe the first Yellow Top was stale and bad anyway, so it gave up accepting charge in cold.

MinusPrevious

iTrader: (3)

Yeah, the cold really zaps batteries. Keep on a tender over night if you can?

I once had a yellow top & thought it would be a super robust battery. Lasted barely 4 years which surprised me. Being a deep cycle, i just thought it would have lasted longer

Now, i just have a PC680 on the tender 24/7

Lightsaber

Man, you are right, and Optima's quality going down has a role in it. Apparently there is :



Tenders are not an option for me right now, but maybe one day I will, with a real garage, heated and everything.

How long this one lasts depends on the Machine God's blessing, but my wits have increased and I no longer have blind confidence in (especially Optima) AGM batteries. If I hear it struggling to start again, I will take action this time. Crappy Tire said they will warranty it for another two year, but I'm inclined to trying another manufacturer.

jteran5

Any time someone asks what battery to use, almost everyone and their mother chimes in with Optima. either red or yellow. Honestly, not sure why. Quality control went down many years ago when they moved their manufacturing plant and there are stronger batteries out there with higher CA/CCA.

My stock battery died in Feb 2018 and I did TONS of research on brands (store brands and name brands) and their CA/CCA. I did not want those smaller/lightweight batteries. I wanted a big boy battery that would start and be able to start after not being in use for days/weeks at a time if need be. I would recommend the ones below that make the Optima batteries look like remote control batteries. These are all deep-cycle, AGM batteries.

1) X2Power 24F / Northstar 24F - 840 CCA / 1000 CA / 76 Ah / 160min RC - 56.9 LBS- Currently what I have in my car. It is a much larger battery but fits in the back. The only thing you need are taller J-hooks for the battery tie down. In New Jersey, we hit single digits in Jan 2019 but felt like the negatives. The car sat for 3 days prior, and when I started the car, it was 5 degrees (fahrenheit) outside. Car started like normal. No struggle, no nothing

https://www.batteriesplus.com/produc...ls/sli24fagmdp

2) X2Power 34 / Northstar 34 - 880 CCA / 1050 CA / 65 Ah / 134min RC - 49 LBS - another strong battery with more cranking amps that the 24F but less reserve capacity. Doesnt have reverse polarity so you have turn the battery around. Still able to be installed tho, cables will reach.

https://www.batteriesplus.com/productdetails/sli34agmdp

3) XS POWER D3400R - 850(?) CCA / 1000 CA / 65 Ah / 135min RC - 49.4 LBS - CCA is not published anywhere but after contacting a rep, was told to deduct 15% from the CA, so it's calculated at 850. Only thing with these batteries, is that you have to buy the terminal posts separately, which is not much but they offer two kinds. Be sure to get the taller ones. The "R" denotes reversed polarity so the terminals will be right in front of you, instead on the backside. Side note: the battery tie down bar will NOT fit on this. It is just a hair too tight to fit over the top. I used a tie bar from an Infiniti G35 and it was perfect right over the battery and you can still use your OEM j-hooks. I speak from experience as I had this battery for a month but returned it to go with the larger 24F battery.

https://4xspower.com/shop/12v-agm/d-series/d3400r/

4) Odyssey 34R-PC1500T - 850 CCA / 68 Ah / 135 RC - 49.5 LBS - CA not published - Another robust battery. Also has reverse polarity. Similar specs to everything else so it will be just about brand preference

https://shop.odysseybattery.com/p/34r-pc1500t


Northstar and X2Power are the same battery. Batteries Plus just rebrands it and extends the warranty by one year. They offer EXCELLENT battery replacement warranties. None of that prorated stuff. For the 24F, Northstar offers a 4-year warranty and X2Power offers a 5-year warranty. If the battery needs to be replaced, just show the receipt and they will exchange it with no additional cost if it is done within the warranty period.

For comparison to the Optima batteries:

Optima Redtop group 34R - 800 CCA / 1000 CA / 50 Ah / 100min RC - 37.9 LBS - https://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us/redtop-starting-battery/34r
Optima Yellowtop group 34 - 750 CCA / 870 CA / 55 Ah / 120min RC - 42.9 LBS - https://www.optimabatteries.com/en-u...le-battery/d34

jteran5

Went back and added weights. These batteries are not light by any means. My 24F weighs in at 57lbs. I just wanted to the strongest battery that could fit in there, regardless of the weight. I guess that would be the only trade-off by going with one of these instead of the Optima's.

I only compared group 34 batteries and didnt bother with the group 35's as the 34's are stronger (albeit larger) than any 35.

Lightsaber

Man, I agree. Even the new Optima Yellow Top measured only about 400 cold cranking amps (CCA) at -10 °C (14°F). This is quite a bit lower than Johnson Control's claimed 620 CCA, and is even lower than some Walmart batteries in the winter temperature. Factoring in -100 CCA annual degradation, the Optima failing after one year is not surprising. After chatting with a technician, my best guess is that the subpar quality of this Mexico-made AGM battery causes it to partially freeze, which explains why it has difficulty accepting charges in the cold, and why charging it in the cold with stronger voltage appears to increase its CCA exponentially.

Thanks to your suggestion. I should be trying a bigger size-34 battery from a better company next time. Even the Autozone AGMs have better CCA (35-AGM: 680 CCA; 34-AGM: 740 CCA), and of course X2Power is well respected (SLI35AGMDP: 740 CCA; SLI34AGMDP: 880 CCA). Not sure if a battery with this much power is going to blow up the starter in the summer, lol.

jteran5

Well, I used this battery all summer here (temps 95+ sometimes) and havent had any issues, and I'm running the 24F. These things are BEASTS.

Also, if you plan to buy in store, order online for store pick-up. The site always has 10% and occasionally 20% if you browse the site long enough.My battery came out to like $260 or so. Just a little more than the POS optima's.

ctfpevoVIII

iTrader: (4)

seqenretao

ever since they stated making the optima's in Mexico the quality control went down is what the biggest problem with those batteries

NFSEvolutionGSR

I have a Duracell AGM in my car (from Batteries Plus), and it shows no signs of slowing down after 3 years. I load tested it not too long ago, and it did fine. I can't remember the numbers.

Now, I can tell you that individual stores (at least around here) have the choice to order from either Exide or East Penn/Deka. The X2 batteries all come from Ascent, which is their corporate supplier. However, the Duracell batteries do not, and the East Penn batteries FAR surpass some of the stuff that comes from corporate (probably just newer, check the date code before buying anything as some of those X2 batteries sit for MONTHS). Exide is another story. Avoid those batteries. The manager of any store will be able to tell you where their orders come from. Batteries Plus also has the capability to order the OEM Panasonic battery, but not every store will be willing to do this. They usually have a medical battery supplier that can order almost any Panasonic battery. I have done this before, but the Duracell ended up being $100 cheaper.

I can tell you that I would absolutely not put an Optima battery in anything that I own. AFAIK, they moved production to Mexico, and everything went to crap. I believe that they also were purchased by Interstate Batteries, which didn't help anything, either. I would sooner use an Odyssey battery, and I hate those with a passion. I used to send one or two of those back every month, because they fail at an alarming rate.

NFSEvolutionGSR

Consider yourself lucky. Those can and will fail at will. The tender is a good idea, but put it one a timer if you intend to use it for months on end. Some don't shut off properly and end up killing the battery. I used to have mine on a timer to charge for only a couple hours every day. That seemed to work.

An alternative to the PC680 are the X2 AGM motorcycle batteries that Batteries Plus sells. I used to use an X2-20L in my Ralliart. It is about the same size, and I believe that the power is comparable. The weight is nearly the same.

Awhiddon81

Do you happen to know what the model number is for the Duracell battery you have?

NFSEvolutionGSR

https://www.batteriesplus.com/batter...ca/sli35_85agm

I cannot remember if it is reverse terminal, or not. You will need to verify that the terminal layout matches your car (just compare pictures).

Awhiddon81

Thank you I'll check and make sure. My 14 isn't cranking as easily as it used to and feel it's only a matter of time before it needs replacing.

ProTreeCRX

I'm from Ontario Canada as well and my OEM battery is about to go out. The only battery that Canadian Tire offers aside from their own generic batteries is Optima. Just wanted to ask if you Evo X came with a Rockford Fosgate subwoofer from the factory. I'm guessing that could be draining the battery as well? Also what is the model number of your Optima Yellow Top battery? The Optima website doesn't show an available battery for the Evo X