Optima battery

[Jerry Roberts]

My 6 volt Optima battery is several years old . Today I made a trip to one of my favorite hiking areas and there is a section of the highway where drivers must turn on their headlights during the day . When i reached my destination I forgot to turn off my headlights and had a hike before remembering my lights were on . My lights were on for an hour before I could get back to my truck so after I switched off the lights I let the truck set for 5 minutes before attempting to start the engine . The engine fired right up as normal . We know that the 6 volt systems turn the engine over more slowly than a 12 volt system and I read that they will also turn the starter much LONGER before draining the battery . Perhaps the same holds true for when you leave your lights on .

[woodie49]

It might just be the Optima battery. I put one in my car when I was having a ton of trouble starting it and it would crank forever at a decent clip. After I use my car for the weekend, I throw a battery tender on it and within less than an hour it is blinking green, and full green within about four. Admittedly it is pretty new, but I have a new (regular) 6 volt in my other baby, and when I use it for a few hours, it takes about a day and a half to go full green. When I work on my car, which can be all day, I run my IPOD through the radio (a neat feature I get when I bought a rebuilt radio) and it never seems to phase it.

These darn batteries are really not attractive though, and expensive, and the disguise case from quail is also not cheap. In my Plymouth, it is out there for the world to see.

[James_Douglas]

If you are using an optima with a standard generator and mechanical regulator, go look up the threads from 5 years back on optima batteries.

Extensive thread and issues to be concerned about.

James