Jance GTS, if your battery is discharged to the point where it needs to be jump-started, it is a good idea to fully-charge the battery with a battery charger as soon as possible. Most alternators are designed to maintain batteries, not recharge deeply-discharged batteries. Asking an alternator to perform that task can lead to a cycle of dead batteries and jump-starts, until either the battery or alternator fails. At 12.0 volts, most batteries are more than 50% discharged. Our RedTops are fully-charged at about 12.6-12.8 volts and our YellowTops are fully-charged at about 13.0-13.2 volts. Can you get your battery to fully-charge and hold close to it's maximum voltage for 12-24 hours afterwards, if it isn't connected to your vehicle? If it holds voltage when disconnected, it should be fine. If it doesn't, it probably does need to be replaced and from what you've posted, it sounds like it is still under warranty. If it holds voltage when disconnected from your vehicle, but loses voltage when connected, you may have a parasitic draw that is discharging your battery.
Chuck 98 RT/10, Optima sends me out on crazy roadtrips every once in a while, so I usually end up catching George Noory's show somewhere along my journeys. If nothing else, his topics help keep me alert while I'm driving. While I understand some businesses operate in the manner you described, that simply is not JCI's way of doing things, nor Optima's. Something has happened to Optima since we were acquired by JCI- steady improvement in the quality of our products. However, in that same time period, the electrical demands on vehicles also increased significantly, from gps navigation to satellite radio, ipods, DVD players and all sorts of other electrical accessories that were rare in 2000, if they existed at all. Now, some OEMs in Europe are shipping cars to the states with solar chargers, because the electrical system on the car would discharge the batteries during the time it took to cross the Atlantic, when that never used to be a concern.
As for racing, I don't know what particular form you favor, but short of the big NASCAR series, we are involved in some way, shape or form in just about everything else. I know I'm leaving a bunch of stuff off this list, but excluding monster-related sponsorships, like the MTRA, teams like Raminator & Crushstation, numerous off-road racing teams like Demeny Racing, HellFab Racing, Andrea Tomba Scalia, Wild Gator (tough truck), Murphy's Law motorsports (KOTH), Les Figueora (KOTH) and all kinds of marine sponsorships (hydroplane racers, tons of anglers and series, like the Offshore Powerboat Association) and other truck-based series like the National Hot Rod Diesel Association, we sponsor open road racing events, like Sandhills & Silver State, land speed race teams (Big Bad Nitro Daddy), the One Lap of America Camaro, the US Touring Car Championship (we're the official battery of World Challenge), sports car drivers and teams like Shea Holbrook, Willie Phee, Tiger Racing, and even short track or 1/8-mile mom & pop race teams like RF Racing, Russell Morseman, Phil Veldheer (IHRA world record holder) & Scigliuto Family Racing all the way up to Kalitta Motorsports in the NHRA (we're also an NHRA contingency sponsor).
Like I said, that is a very partial list, just going from memory and doesn't include Goodguys, any of the street car events or our Ultimate Street Car Invitational, but It's safe to say we sponsor enough racing, that we have specific people who work just on our sponsorships. We do have a Group 78 RedTop, which is a sidepost-only battery, that we list as an exact-fit replacement for '98 Vipers, but any battery that has top posts cut, removed or modified in similar fashion for fitment is likely to have issues.
coupe, your numbers are right on target and even if someone were to have a draw that was half of what you were experiencing, long periods of infrequent or non-use will have a similar result. For example, even if a Viper had a 70-milliamp load on our Group 78 RedTop (50 amps), it would be discharging that battery at a rate of 1.68 amps (.070 x 24 hours) per day. This means the battery will be dead (0% state of charge) in just under a month (50/1.68) without any charge going to the battery. These calculations assume the battery is fully-charged when it is parked (most are not) and does not take into consideration climate, which can shorten (heat) or lengthen (moderate temps) these timeframes. There are aftermarket car alarms that can draw more current than that by themselves. That makes a quality battery maintainer or tender and excellent investment for any vehicle that doesn't see regular use. Even a quick disconnect on a fully-charged battery is a more viable option than hoping the alternator will be able to keep pace with a vehicle's energy consumption.
Jerry, our new batteries can last 14 years, they just need 14 years to do it. I'm glad to hear your 14-year old RedTop is still working well for you. We're always on the lookout for stories like your's for our Wall of Power display, which tours the country at NHRA and Goodguys events. I would encourage you to
submit your story to us.
Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
