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Did a quick search and did not find anything
Looking for a Battery recommendation. Have been using Optima 6v red top, seems like I get 3 years out of them then nothing. Somebody got a line on something better?
Thanks
W

You're doing something wrong. Deep cycle it now and then, as with any battery, but never let it sit discharged, which fosters sulfation. Use a decent trickle charger like the CTEK UC800 i've used for the past 28 years unchanged. Have gotten nearly a decade from my last two Optima 6-volt Red Tops and know of a '41 Cad that got 14 years.

Too often, people want to blame the battery, motor oil, brake fluid (you should use DOT 5 silicone), etc. rather than make sure everything on their car thoroughly fettled.

Also like Optimas because they're light. But i'm a sport car guy who long ago fell for 1939-47 overdrive Packard 8s and Su8s seeing them as "road cars" while most in this hobby pile on gew gaws using them as vanity barges. "Weight is the enemy" seems lost maxim in the old domestic car crowd.

Also use a 55-amp, bolt-in (no butchering), positive-ground 6-volt alternator for brighter head and tail lights at stop signs, dusk, etc. Jim's Battery Mfg., Youngstown, OH (800) 426-7580. When i find a good product or service, believe in extolling them. Tell Jim and Dolores that a 1947 Super Clipper in Walnut Creek, CA and a '47 Custom Super Clipper in British Columbia sent you.

So far, have gotten rid of over 100 lbs. Higher compression head, otherwise stock beyond taller rear axle ratio in addition to overdrive. Keep it simple. More torque, less pork.

Happy Easter, Passover, Fly-by, Spring Equinox, Ostara to all.

I have a 1927 Ford T with a 12 year old Optima red top. This car has only a cut out, and no voltage regulator.

I do think keeping batteries on "battery tenders" does more damage than good. Over the years, I've tried a couple of different brands, and they all tend to overcharge. One of them had my 12V battery at 17 volts.

I've had better luck with just disconnecting the battery when it's not being used. I get 7-9 years out of them, and these are just regular car batteries. Also, I think this prevents them from being parasitically drained by things like clocks, etc.

I only use those chargers now to top off a battery that's been sitting all winter and has dipped a bit, and I check it every few hours with a volt meter to make sure it's not overcharging. I usually have to disconnect them before they cut off on their own, as once again, they tend to over-charge.

Yes, that's true in some cases but the Optima batteries can't be properly charged on a regular charger. Well, they can be but it apparently limits the Optima's life.

As for battery tenders, the cars in my Oregon shop must be kept on one, especially during the winter as it gets far too cold for a battery. It made a major difference in keeping the electrons flowing! My system uses a solar panel on the roof although I recently upgraded it to a 24v 200w panel that is maintaining two 12v Lithium-Ion batteries in series (the controller can charge 12v from a 24v panel) so have not yet reconnected it to the car batteries until I figure out how to mix the battery technology.

Haven't tried an Optima - yet. The two batteries I have in the two runner/drivers are both resting right now.

I'm of two minds on the whole trickle-charging thing. Something in the back of my head tells me that it's like crack for the battery. They seem to get so they don't hold a charge worth a damn without it/them. This is based on motorcycle batteries, and the Harley Davidson crowd is big on trickling over winter. The battery died in my little bike when it had an electrical issue last year and the shop the factory POS with something else. Whatever it is (I haven't looked yet), it help a charge all winter without being plugged in.

Batteries in general (except for tools, which you get what you pay for there) seem to be less than they once were.

Here is a Clarios stamped lead grid. (Optima is owned by Clarios.) It has a very efficient design. As an engineer I have traveled to many of their plants.

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I would underline that if you are getting only 3 years out of ANY battery, let alone an Optima, (way over ten years in my Pan Americana Packard and just now starting to get a bit sluggish) then something else is wrong. What is your voltage across the terminals with the engine at a high idle? Do you use a trickle charger? Do you disconnect the battery when the car sits for long periods?

I regularly let cars sit for even 5 months without any sort of charge and then just get in and drive them away. Modern cars need trickle charging to deal with computer's drainage. Old cars do not.

The Napa Group 2 in my 1954 Patrician lasted for years until the bitter cold finally got to it. The replacement is still doing well and starts right up whenever I go up to my Oregon shop to move the car outside. Optimas might work well and last long but it my opinion they are ugly (even when covered with a fake top, I’ll know it’s there!) so I would rather the aesthetics of a regular battery. As Ross indicated, there is clearly something wrong with your charging system if they are dying so quickly so diagnose and fix the problem first.

I purchased a 12 volt battery at Costco's in 2013 for one of my collector cars and I'm amazed it is still hanging in there. The only thing I do is disconnect it when the car is not in use. I live in a cold climate and I remove it from the car in the winter, put it in my basement and put it on a charger about once a month for an hour or so.