Saturday Night Racer - dead battery question

W1CK3D R4C1NG LMR Senior Offline Posts: 492 Bakersfield	dead battery question 12/19/10 at 2:29pm does anyone know of a easy way to bring a optima yellow top battery back to life? it wont take a charge... or should i ask if theres some kind of "home remidey" Thanks Rich
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Andrew

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Re: dead battery question
Reply #1 - 12/19/10 at 3:13pm

Hook a good battery to it with a set of jumper cables, then hook a battery charger to it on the 2 amp setting and let it sit for about a day. If it's a good battery, it will taks a long time to charge.

Hooking a good battery to it gives the battery charger something to charge. A charger needs a little voltage to recognize it's been hooked to something.

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W1CK3D R4C1NG LMR Senior Offline Posts: 492 Bakersfield	Re: dead battery question Reply #2 - 12/19/10 at 3:42pm right on... thanks... i actually read somthing like that... so i hooked it up and left it on there for a few hours... it still wouldnt take a charge... but maybe it was becuase i didnt have it on the 2 amp... i'll give it another try the way you said... Thanks... Rich
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Andrew LMR God Offline 2006 SMS M.S. champion... more of a PB these days Posts: 1359 Camarillo	Re: dead battery question Reply #3 - 12/19/10 at 4:14pm Give it plenty of time. If that doesn't work, junk it.
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OLD SCHOOL#6 LMR God Offline CHEVY RUMBLE !! Posts: 2452	Re: dead battery question Reply #4 - 12/19/10 at 4:34pm Hey Rich -- Andrews suggestion is a good one, but a "few" hours is not anything close to long enough. Optimas take a "long" time to charge ( especially a real dead one) -- 12 hours minimum, and sometimes up to 24.
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W1CK3D R4C1NG LMR Senior Offline Posts: 492 Bakersfield	Re: dead battery question Reply #5 - 12/19/10 at 5:10pm hopfully it'll work... would hate to junk a 200 dollar battery just becuase some moron took it out of my fiero and left it sitting on the ground "for months" instead of putting it back when they were done...lol Thanks again Rich
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mw56racing

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Re: dead battery question
Reply #6 - 12/19/10 at 8:30pm

we own a auto parts store we charge and check a whole lot of batteries the optima is a real good battery but if you let one go completly dead they usually wont come back up. even if it is fairly new. dont know why but thats been the case for us. your best chance is too boost it on engine start then when you see the amp gauge move it is taking a charge switch it too low and leave it a long while we use a 2amp charger over night.

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Meneley1

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Re: dead battery question
Reply #7 - 12/20/10 at 11:54am

I have a red top I have been trying to nurse back to life. It was down to 6, so I put it on the 2 amp charge for good long while. It got up to about 8.5 & wouldn't not go up anymore after that. So then I put it on the 40 amp. The battery then started to get hot, so I pulled the charger off. It did get up to 12.5, but when I checked it about an hour later it was already back down to 10. This battery is not even a year & a half old. Losing my faith in these optimas.

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Andrew LMR God Offline 2006 SMS M.S. champion... more of a PB these days Posts: 1359 Camarillo	Re: dead battery question Reply #8 - 12/20/10 at 1:53pm That's kind of the way I thought this story was going to end, but you've got to try. I've seen a couple of batterys come back from the dead before.
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W1CK3D R4C1NG

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Re: dead battery question
Reply #9 - 12/20/10 at 2:25pm

well i put it on the charger yesterday after your first post... i took it off about an hour ago, and its still saying it has 12.7 volts... im gonna let it sit for a little while longer and see were its at... but maybe i'll get lucky and it will hold... if not i'll give it another shot on the charger over night and see what happens...

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Andrew LMR God Offline 2006 SMS M.S. champion... more of a PB these days Posts: 1359 Camarillo	Re: dead battery question Reply #10 - 12/20/10 at 7:41pm IT'S ALIVE... ALIVE!!!
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18racr LMR God Offline We have a Fraud in the White House. Posts: 2848	Re: dead battery question Reply #11 - 01/04/11 at 11:31am SO DID IT WORK??
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W1CK3D R4C1NG LMR Senior Offline Posts: 492 Bakersfield	Re: dead battery question Reply #12 - 01/04/11 at 12:18pm yes and no... i got it were it would take a full charge, but it wont hold a charge... it drops down to 8 volts or so by the next day
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woodracing35

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Re: dead battery question
Reply #13 - 01/04/11 at 12:30pm

i had a red one and used it in my race car for over three years before it started to not work...i remebered that it had a three year warranty from the factory so i took it back and missed my warranty date by two months...so i had to buy another one...lol...i guess what im trying to say is if the warranty hasnt ran out you might want to just take it back and exchange it if thats an option for you

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jp80 LMR God Offline I love YaBB 1G - SP1! Posts: 988	Re: dead battery question Reply #14 - 01/04/11 at 1:37pm I had a red one that lasted 10 years. I've heard the thing that kills them is sitting for any extended period with a low charge. Had another red one that only lasted about a year. I think a low charge over the off season killed it.
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Dietzsch_Racing25 LMR God Offline Posts: 995	Re: dead battery question Reply #15 - 01/04/11 at 1:37pm I bought a red top from Costco. It went dead within 6 mo. I brought it back to Costco, got my money back and bought one of their Costco "specials" for less than half the price. It has been in the car for over 5 years now. Still going strong. CD
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ka_jd7and1 LMR God Offline Posts: 1052 Bakersfield, CA	Re: dead battery question Reply #16 - 01/04/11 at 1:52pm The Optimas (if I remember right) had changed where they are manufactured, and the quality tanked when that happened.
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Wally_Stewart LMR God Offline Hobby Stock 37 Bakersfield Speedway Posts: 765	Re: dead battery question Reply #17 - 01/19/11 at 8:19pm The Red Top Optima is a "starting battery" as stated on top of battery and should be used with an alternator, not designed as a storage battery. The Yellow Top Optima is a storage battery and should do the job if taken care of.
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W1CK3D R4C1NG

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Re: dead battery question
Reply #18 - 01/19/11 at 9:48pm

i've always loved the Optima's... and never had any problumes with them, except for this one... but oh well, i knew it was a slim chance to revieve it after sitting like that... live and learn i guess... maybe since it will take a charge and hold it for a couple hours, i should thro it on craigs list...lol... they'll be long gone before they realize it dont hold a charge for long... j/k that would be messed up, although im sure theres alot of scams like that on there

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imracin68j LMR God Offline Do the impossible Posts: 6228	Re: dead battery question Reply #19 - 01/22/11 at 6:23pm The problem you guys are having is with overcharging. The colored top battery's need to be trickle charged. I went through a lot of expensive batteries until I did some research. I've never had a problem since. Get a decent digital charger that has a 2 amp charge. They go for around 40 bucks.
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Missle Motorsports LMR God Offline Sportsman & Modified #57m Posts: 1339 Racecar Ranch, Calif.Foothills	Re: dead battery question Reply #20 - 01/22/11 at 8:22pm COSTCO used to sell the Optima's at a Good Price, but have now Discontinued Them.... Anyone else have a Good Source for these, without breaking the bank?
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sj_valley_dave LMR God Offline Love the smell of nitro in the air Posts: 1700	Re: dead battery question Reply #21 - 01/24/11 at 4:07pm Sam's Club sells Optima's..not sure on current price though...
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