Optima Battery
 

I see that some of you use the Optima Red Top battery. What size do I need (amps)? What will fit in the SVX? What's the difference in the Red Top Interstate and the Original Optima Red Top other than price? Everything electrically I run is all stock (no 10,000 amp stereo in my car!:D )

The Optima battery for your car is the DT34/78. This has both top and side terminals. The DT34 is the same size but has top terminals only. Since these are smaller batteries than stock, they require a height adapter (# 242-0018) which clips onto the bottom of the battery to use the stock battery hold down.

Both batteries have 800CCA and is the one most people use for the SVX without monsterous electrical loads.

The advantages of the Red Top are that it can accept a rapid recharge and it will recover from discharge many more times.
If you drive the car every day, the Red Top would be the correct choice, since the amperage drain will be nominal and the battery would be recharged on a daily basis.

However, if you store the vehicle for a long period of time with the alarm system engaged, you should consider the OPTIMA Yellow Top, since the amperage drain over several weeks would damage a Red Top and reduce its life.

There is no difference in the Optima and Interstate batteries except price. All are made by Optima. (If you peel up the Interstate sticker you will find the embossed Optima logo on the top of the battery)

I have had very poor luck with the red top, and I think I will try the yellow top next time. I bought a brand new red top, and I couldn't even get it to charge. I replaced it, and it went bad within 6 months. The car was driven at least 1 or 2 times per week. :(

Interesting Earl. Did you turn it in on the warranty then? Sounds like you don't drive car #3 enough!:D Mine of course is a daily driver. Are you suggesting that I get the yellow top on a 'daily'?

Ok, here is the whole story. yawn! :)

I bought a red top, and it would not hold a charge after 6 months. I took it back and got it replaced and bought another at the same time. Now, I have two of them. When I got home, I replaced the one that had come out of the car, and It wouldn't start. I tried to charge it, and it would not charge. I put the other one in and it started the car, as well as charged ok. I am in the process of getting it replaced. After 6 more months, that one is shot now.

After reading this thread, I am wondering if I shouldn't get the yellow tops instead. I will talk to the battery distributor. :rolleyes: :confused:

Tell me if this is correct. The Optimum battery does not have the flat plates a traditional battery has. The plates are coiled to form cylinders. The number of cylinders varies depending on the battery. If this is the battery under discussion here, it is disappointing that it's not working out for John. This technology is a few years old and promised to be cheaper, last longer, take more recharges, charge faster, smaller/lighter and more environmentally friendly. I thought it would end up in the hybrid cars some day.

I was hoping I would wheel in someone in the community who runs a red top Optima battery on a daily driver SVX. Anyone here? Earl, Let us know what they tell you. It might just be worth making a phone call to Optima??

Traditional batteries have a stack of thick lead
plates surrounded by acid. OPTIMA batteries have two thin lead plates wound into a tight spiral cell,(there are six of these spiral cells or "cylinders") with an absorbent glass-mat in between to hold the electrolyte solution

Also see FAQs here: http://www.optimabatteries.com/faq.asp

A call is a good idea as well as dealing with my local company rep. :)

I've used a Red Top since 1994 in my SVX. Before that it was in my AUDI, before that it was in my Buick, before that, it was in my Charger.

I bought it in 1989 and replaced it finally last year. I still have the original, it wasn't dead, I just didn't want to put it through another winter in case it decided to die.

I can't believe that Earl has had such problems. He must be buying them off the back of a truck :D (J/K)

I love the absorbed electrolyte design. I can go outside when everyone else's battery is gelled up in the Wisconsin winter, My car turns right over.

Doug

I put the Optima red top 800DT in my pearlie back in May, 2000 when the car had only 129,000 miles.I drove the car every day and never had even a hint of a problem. No matter what the season or temperature, it performed flawlessly. I did the alternator wiring upgrade

I sold the car to Chris (CDG) earlier this year. It now has over 180,000 on it, maybe he can tell you how its doing in Canada.

I'm getting ready to put one in my 96 SVX, even though I have a fairly new Subaru 60 month battery.

As I said in an earlier post, I bought it from an Interstate dealer. When I removed the top sticker, the Optima logo was embossed in the top.

OK all. I'll go get one. Thanks!

red top story
 

i bought my first optima last summer in mesa outside of phoenix for an xt6. it had a bad power drainage that to this day confounds me. i drove it down the highway excessing 100mph (and was passed by a legion of police vehicles doing around 120 ;) )
for some reason i turned off the car. or maybe it died i dunno. it didnt start after that. i fell asleep and woke up a few hours later to someone flashing a light in my window. tried to get a jump from the officer but he said it would damage his ecu. oh well.
about 10 minutes later voila! it starts. the transmission then proceeded to slip and i locked it up and took a cab home. i told the apt. complex manager my car was stuck at their gate and that id get it. a couple days later it got towed and i never saw it again.

the moral is that red tops are very reliable. and to not drive 20 miles out of your way when testing a new alternator and battery.

oh yeah, the one i got in phoenix was $110. up here theyre $170!! :mad: what about everywhere else?:confused:

John - which one are you going to get - the red or yellow? :confused:

Gee, the ones I get out of the back of that pickup trunk just have red spray paint on the top! :D

I'll stick with the red top

As it says in the FAQs:

"In any vehicle or equipment that will use the battery only for Starting, Lighting, & Ignition requirements and has a properly working alternator, the OPTIMA Red Top Starting Battery will perform extremely well...If the vehicle has few or no after-market accessories and uses a stock or upgraded alternator, the OPTIMA Red Top Starting Battery is the appropriate choice."

As for the yellow top:

"However, if the customer stores his SVX's for a long period of time with the alarm system engaged, the OPTIMA Yellow Top is recommended, since the amperage drain over several weeks would damage a Red Top and reduce its life."

Do you leave any of your "herd" unridden for any length of time? If so, why?:confused: