[Phil]

My vehicle was laid up for about four weeks while I dealt with my spider gear issue- which was a nightmare in and of itself and a story for another day. I would like to take this opportunity, however, to thank Mike Serpe and Harald for their courtesy and assistance with that problem. Any way, after being idle for a number of weeks, the battery needed a charge to fire up the vehicle; it was completely dead. I have an Optima Red Top that is no more than 12 to 18 months old. I know this issue was discussed at some length regarding a similar problem Dutch was having. I could not remember how it was left. Are these batteries greatly overrated or is mine a fluke? I do have an after market alarm, but it was never engaged during the down time, and I’m not sure how much, if any, draw it causes when not engaged. If it is the alarm should I have a yellow top? I went with the red because I need the cc amps for winter mornings in New England.

Dutch, I took a look at that thread and saw that you sent an e-mail to Optima and were waiting for a reply. What was their response? Did you go back to an Interstate battery (Grey or Green top)?

Thanks.

 

[AlanMcR]

You didn't specify exactly how long your G was laid up. But, assuming 6 weeks, pretty much any battery battery would be completely dead with a draw of as little as 50mA or 1/20th of an ampere. Check for current draw. If there is one, start pulling fuses. The alarm would be a good place to start.

 

[Phil]

AlanMcR - 2/17/2005 2:19 PM

You didn't specify exactly how long your G was laid up. But, assuming 6 weeks, .

Pls see first line of post- three to four weeks.

 

[DUTCH]

Phil - 2/17/2005 2:21 PM

AlanMcR - 2/17/2005 2:19 PM

You didn't specify exactly how long your G was laid up. But, assuming 6 weeks, .

Pls see first line of post- three to four weeks.

The 460 series G's have no current draw, except for the quartz clock, when the iginition is off. There's no ECU, burglar alarm or engine door lock module that're powered - unless there's after market stuff on the truck. Did you leave the interior light on by any chance?

To answer your earlier question, I never heard a peep from Optima; but I found that there was enough current draw with everything shut off on the G500 to run the battery down in a few weeks, so I never pursued it further.

 

[Dai]

Current draw is probably the cause of the dead battery. An Optima Red Top has a very low rate of self discharge and can go much longer than 4 weeks idle maintaining a charge that will start a diesel tractor. A Yellow Top is better equiped to deal with deep discharge cycles than the Red Top but does not have the starting power. Bring the battery back up with about a 10 amp charge over 8 to 9 hours. They do not respond well to huge hot chargers. When a vehicle is going to sit for a long while I disconnect the ground wire to the battery. A tiny light bulb will over time remove a charge from a battery. It doesn't take much of a draw over 4 weeks to use up the reserve. I have a lot of these in service and I think they are great.

-Dai

 

[ewalberg]

dutch, if your getting a draw on you battery, consider looking into (disconnecting) your CD changer. Before i took delivery, mine was pulled out because it was drawing on the battery.

Another place i think i've found you can get a draw is on the seat lumbar switch. Mine is feeling sorta broken though it works fine, but as if the spring tension in the switch is not perfect... the result being it's a little tricky to get it set right so it's not trying to add air, or trying to let out the air. If the switch is to the side of adding air, it's obvious and noisy, but on the side of letting the air out, it's silent and hard to notice... but likely still pulling current.

I wonder how the gas tank lock works, because presumably the car may be stored in either the locked or unlocked positions. I can't remember if there are devices that can rest in either position without requiring power.