replace 12V battery or get a jump?

...just accidently flattened my 3-month old Optima, front door ajar for the weekend. Seemed to bounce back nicely after jump.

 

NO Richard, it's clean and soft, free and no minerals. Seems perfect to me. Oh it was also aerated. :cheer2: and aged. I thought H2O is always the same, unless it is Heavy Water. Any extra air should bubble off by itself, otherwise it is not H2O. Two parts Hydrogen and one part Oxygen.

 

No, Andy, rainwater is not nearly as clean as you think it is. Spend a dollar on a gallon of distilled water for your batteries and avoid pointless grief.

 

Rainwater?

Most folks who have sampled rainwater will tell you it's full of aluminium, barium, and other pollutants? I know a guy who claims to have gotten sick from rainwater.

Look up "Chemtrails" on the internet or youtube.

Use an umbrella!!!!

 

Yes, the AGM technology makes for a much much better battery. My Optima Yellow-top is turning 3 years old right now (geez, where does the time go?) and I flattened it by leaving the map light on at the airport during a business trip. It seems to have bounced back just fine too. I put a BatteryMinder on it overnight and it's fully charged and not showing signs that it is sulphated.

 

Re: Rainwater?

Then all the animals, insects and vegetation thruout the entire world should be getting sick and dying, for the last 100,000,000 years! ( or more )


:cheer2:

 

I own a 2005 Prius and have started having trouble with the replacement Optima Yellow top battery I bought 2 years ago. I changed over the cables to work with the larger posts at that time. I still have the old battery as a spare, but I don't trust it enough to put it back in.

Has anyone else had trouble with an Optima after only a few years in this service?

It's been fine up until a few weeks ago when I left the car in the garage for a full day without using it. The battery voltage was down around 10 volts and the system wouldn't boot up. After 3 days idle last week, the battery was so low that I had trouble getting the charger to work on it. I had to connect the old battery to the jump start connection with the charger before I could get it working again. I'm using a microprocessor controlled smart charger from Vector. It's a bit picky about low voltage.

As recently as August, we left the car for a week at the airport when we were out of town. No problem when we got back.

 

...do not know but one thing in Optima instructions, they suggest turning off SKS smart key system for extended sitting periods to reduce drain. There is switch under the steering wheel. You can try this (if applies to your car) to improve charge until you figure out problem.

 

Re: Rainwater?

Life is surprisingly resilient, surviving in the face of adversity. Contaminated rain water is tolerated by some species, but not so well by others. Acid rain and fish are a classic example of animal life being killed by contaminated rain.

It is foolish to consider rain as being clear, fresh, soft, and uncontaminated. It generally isn't.

Distilled water also contains ions. Many people think of it as deionized, but it's not. It's better than plain tap water or filtered water, but it is not deionized. You need a special filter stack for that. I use one for my electronics business.

Tom

 

I think I could have the battery problem as I found out one morning when I plug in my car key and the car never start, transmission flashed all possible codes, gas gauge keep flashing despite being full. Ironically, I have went to Toyota dealership to check on the aux. battery and they said it is fine. I also ran the diag. test on it before and the voltage read fine. I have a similar problem before and fixed it after opening the fuse box to jump the battery.
Anyone know what is the problem?

 

You'd be the first to report it here.

Are you leaving the charger on for several hours, or just long enough to get the car started? Whether it is the stock or the Optima, if a battery is at 10V, the car would need to be on a charger or in Ready for several hours continuously to restore it to an acceptable state of charge.

It is also possible that you have something draining current at a high rate when the car is off.

 

No need to respond to googrx (post #30), as we kept telling him before, his 12 volt needs to be replaced. He confirmed a 4.9 volt reading on it at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...1767-problem-w-my-05-prius-2.html#post1443069.

 

It is possibly you bought an imitated Optima that have been floating around in the market. Noted Optima only made in certain countries like the U.S.A., U.K., Ireland, Israel, or Korea.
It is possible you have purchased a facsimile from Japan, Taiwan, or China.

Please compare the specs and noted the huge differences between Prius & Optima.

 

Re: Rainwater?

Tom's right. You should see what fresh rain water looks like in a rain barrel 2 days later. Yuk.

 

Does NAPA sell imitation Optima batteries? I suppose it could have been in the back room for longer than is reasonable. How's the shelf life of these batteries?

I've left the charger on until it came up to their 'full' mark. That is, the current dropped and the float voltage is just over 14 volts. I still need to disconnect the negative lead and insert a meter to see what the idle current is.

I haven't made any changes to the electrical load since the car was new 6 years ago.

I can say that the battery doesn't seem to be holding a charge now, more than about a day.

 

Thanks for the information. I just went to try and buy one here in my small town, and was told there is a serious freezing issue w/the optima. I am at 7000' and it goes to 20 below, have a carport, not a garage to put her into.. Any advice as to whether to spend the $ for the Optima vs the toyota battery? I guess I could put a lite in the back compartment every nite, but might forget, then according to the auto store, the battery is toast. Any suggestions?

 

From "Optima Jim" one of Optima's support people

"When fully-charged, our YellowTops are protected from freezing down to -30F and our RedTops are protected down to -50F. However, “fully-charged” is the key to that statement. When any battery is partially discharged, it is more susceptible to extreme conditions and can freeze at warmer temperatures than those listed. When the RedTops in my Excursion were shipped to my house, they were not fully-charged, it was -20F and they were left outside for several days while I was out of town. Not surprisingly, they didn't work when I installed them in my truck, but after taking them in my house overnight, they worked fine the next morning and have worked fine ever since. If you think your battery has frozen, you should allow it to thaw out before attempting to charge it."

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
Optima Batteries - Automobiles and Parts - Milwaukee, WI | Facebook

JeffD

 

Contact Optima Jim

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
Optima Batteries - Automobiles and Parts - Milwaukee, WI | Facebook

And see if he can help you out.

JeffD

 

Hi Jim,

I just got back from the a 12 days trip and attempted to start my Prius which has been sitting in an unheated garage. When I tried to start it, there was no response, so I used jumper cables to start it which worked right away. I ran in the house to get something, and when I came back out, the tail lights were dim and the car would not start again. Once again, I used another car to jump start it, and the same thing happened - about 4 minutes later, even after taking it up and down the street, it died after sitting idle again.

The Prius is a 2010, but already has 42,000 miles on it. I leave it on a lot, and sit idle because of my work. Before I left for my trip, I noticed the power was lacking slightly - but enough to notice.

Is it possible the 12V batter is dying? Thanks, Aaron

 

Double post. Please don't do this as it lards up the forums. Pick the best spot and post once, or if really necessary, post a link back to the other thread.

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...dead-battery-jump-not-jump-6.html#post1459143

Tom