Doug&Deb Posted June 7, 2019 Report Share Posted June 7, 2019 I’m in need of a new battery. I’m thinking of an optima. I still have a 6 volt system. Anyone have any problems with them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted June 7, 2019 Report Share Posted June 7, 2019 only the initial cost......they amazing batteries for holding their charge even if sitting for years.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bbdakota Posted June 7, 2019 Report Share Posted June 7, 2019 No problem with mine yet. Gotta be about 2 years old now. I put mine in a empty case to look more original. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug&Deb Posted June 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2019 What a great idea! Love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casper50 Posted June 7, 2019 Report Share Posted June 7, 2019 I also have had no problems with mine. Much better than the regular 6 volt that I bought first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug&Deb Posted June 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2019 Good to know. Thanks everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polsonator2 Posted June 9, 2019 Report Share Posted June 9, 2019 (edited) I also love my optima 6 volt battery. Had it for 3 years and starts up car almost instantly and has more cold cranking amps than a regular 6 volt battery too. Being a closed dry cell you never have any maintenance required either. Coupled with a 6 volt alternator I never have issues. Having a one wire alternator allows me to not need a voltage regulator either. My voltage regulator now is just used as a junction block. Mounted my battery inside a plastic marine battery box that fits in the stock location under my seat in my '39 coupe. Edited June 9, 2019 by Polsonator2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
50Dodge Posted June 9, 2019 Report Share Posted June 9, 2019 On 6/7/2019 at 11:48 AM, Bbdakota said: No problem with mine yet. Gotta be about 2 years old now. I put mine in a empty case to look more original. Where did you find this empty case? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bbdakota Posted June 9, 2019 Report Share Posted June 9, 2019 48 minutes ago, 50Dodge said: Where did you find this empty case? Ebay. I just searched but looks like the listing had ended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOHN EDGE Posted June 11, 2019 Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 How about a pair wired parallel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_Douglas Posted June 19, 2019 Report Share Posted June 19, 2019 The threads back to 2003 or so do not seem to show up...I went through an issue with Optima at that time. I love the batteries, but, be advised. This is the condensed version. SOME mechanical voltage regulators interpret the low resistance of the optima battery and "think" it needs charging. If you drive a 6 volt car with a stock voltage regulator you may well burn up your generator and kill the battery. After a year of running this down, Optima taking batteries back and cutting them open, we figured out that is what was happening. We had checked the charging system several times and all was within specifications. A couple of people on this site come to my place in San Francisco and checked my car as well to make sure I was not going mad! What the Optima engineers told me is that their batteries have very low internal resistance. Some mechanical regulators interpret that is meaning the battery needs charging when it does not. The bottom of the battery plates overheat and melt causing a slight short in the battery which causes more charging and the thing gets worse. This can take as long as a month or two. You notice your AMP meter charging a little more and little more each week. Looks as you may, you cannot find anything using the power. It is all in the battery. The big question is why is it not happening to everyone? One theory was that the majority of the people using the Optima batteries are not driving them all the time. The battery bleeds down just a little from sitting. So, one take the car out once a month for a run and it charges up. Then the cycle continues. Since one is not driving it daily and it charging daily the problem never manifests itself. After I figured this out with the help of Optima and others, I switched to a 6 volt positive ground alternator with the built in regulator. Problem went away and has been that way for 15 years. Interestingly, about a year later there was a big write up in one of my Antique Airplane publications. People in old aircraft were having issues when they switched to gel batteries. Generators frying themselves and high current draws. They ran it down as the FAA was starting to notice. Verdict. Some of the old regulators were not compatible over the long term with the new battery technology. Answer to the problem. Digital Regulators. James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Posted June 20, 2019 Report Share Posted June 20, 2019 I’ve been running an Optima 6V battery for two years. Stock regulator, stock generator. Daily use in summer. Zero problems so far. One thing to consider: regulators need to be matched to the generator. The Motors manual lists the correct generator and regulator part numbers for each car. My car is an 8 cylinder 1950 New Yorker and has a 45 amp generator and regulator. They are not the exact original part numbers (per the Motors manual) but are at least matched in amperage. I have no idea what charging amperage the the new regulators sold by the vendors are adjusted for, so I use a vintage NOS Autolite. Also FWIW I have all new original style and gauge wiring. I also tested the regulator per the motors manual and adjusted for the correct voltages where necessary. i have started the car over the winter at 0 F and had plenty of cranking power and duration. Love the Optima so far. Frankly I expected to have problems as you describe, but have had none. The Optima has worked perfectly. I wonder how many cars still have correct original generators and regulators? I’ll bet many have been replaced with anything 6V that would fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_Douglas Posted June 21, 2019 Report Share Posted June 21, 2019 Curt, Like I said SOME regulators have issues. All of mine were NOS and checked. At one point I even drove it to a friends place and we had an oscilloscope on it. Everything was book perfect. A few years ago when I was at Airventure (Oshkosh) one of the companies that makes the digital regulators for antique aircraft had a booth there. The owner and I walked and he confirmed that it took them several years to run down the issue as well. He said that on some cases the regulators (NOS) from the same batch all tested the same, yet some would cause the problems and some would not. Therefore, if one runs an optima, keep and eye on the current draw. At first it is real slight. Barley the width of the needle on the AMP gauge. if it does do it, by the time you really notice the battery is shot. The Optima Engineers confirmed that. James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bison00 Posted June 22, 2019 Report Share Posted June 22, 2019 James, Thanks for elaborating on that. Are you saying the Optima engineers recommend there should be zero charge showing on the ammeter for a fully charged battery ? Mine certainly does show a slight charge at all times when cruising and I thought that was normal. According to Optima’s website, the maximum recommended float (fully charged) current is 1A but they go on to say that if your vehicle charging system maintains a float voltage of 14-14.8V (7-7.4V for a six volt system) you should be fine. That is a pretty broad voltage spec that any correctly adjusted stock charging system should be in compliance with. I did check this a year ago but I think I will hook up a digital volt meter and ammeter again and see what is going on as the car operates. I’m also going to check for any heating at the bottom of the battery. If there is too much float current it should be a simple matter of adjusting the voltage regulation relay to lower the voltage a bit. That in turn will lower the charging current. For sure a digital regulator designed for AGM batteries should be a safe way to go but I enjoy keeping this old technology stuff working, and I see no reason that a mechanical regulator can’t be dialed in to the correct voltage and charging rate for an Optima. In fact, from what you are saying about the digital regulator products sometimes working and sometimes not, I’m inclined to stick with the old adjustable mechanical regulator. There should not be any “sometimes it works, sometimes not” voodoo for a well designed product. My comment about matching the regulator and generator is really a separate issue about getting the full rated charge out of your generator. If we install a 30A regulator with a 45 amp generator, the current regulation relay will prevent the generator from giving its full rated charging current. As these cars have barely enough generator power to run all the lights and accessories, you need every amp you can get. You also don’t want the generator producing more than its rated current, or it will overheat. Thats why I don’t understand the “one size fits all” new replacement regulators sold by the vendors. thanks, Curt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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