Recharging Optima Red: Fishy Smell

[No_Skillz]

While I was refreshing my head over the winter, I let my Optima Red battery sit for about 6-7 months and now it won't hold a charge for more than a day or two. I've had it on a 2am trickle charge for the past day, and now I've noticed a slight fishy smell. I don't see any leaks, battery is slightly warm to the touch.

Is this battery still safe to use?

 

[dsmtun3r98gst]

was there any smell before you charged it??
why dnt you just take it to autozone to get it tested?

 

[No_Skillz]

Autozone just hooks it up to a tester. Will say "bad battery" to any deep cycle battery that is drained.

 

[dsmcurse]

dude opima batterys SUCK. ill tell you why. first off ill tell you that when i was younger and didnt know any better i bought a red top optima. i seriously bought this cause it matched my red valve cover. i thought it looked nice. (how girlie i know) well that optima took a dump on me. i took it back and got warrentyed out for a new one. well winter came and one mornig went out to start car in morning for work and the thing was dead. made me late for work. it was shot, guy at sears in the mall gave me another one. making my third optima. im not kiddin you that thing didnt last more than 6 months and same BS. so next i got a diehard truck/SUV battery. 750 cold cranking amps. this thing is reliable and has never left me stranded even when im a dumby and forget to turn my head lights off. the reason opima suck is that there a sealed design. they use a sponge type center that uses a gel instead of traditional battery fluid. this sead design over heats. the battery can over heat! its terrible in cold weather situations. there is ZERO cold cranking value to these things. the only reason i could ever justify using a optima is if for some crazy reason i had to mount my battery upside down. or if i drove in a demolition derby and didnt want to risk acid spilling out. THATS IT! they suck. trust me ditch that thing. some people might post after me that i maybe had my car set up wrong is my i kept eatin batterys. UH NO. i went outa my way and got the canadian speck altanator. its higher out put than the U.S. one. i also had a "ground wire kit" yeah i eat optimas like crazy. got a die hard and no problems since. some people might say " oh you left it sittin on the ground and thats why its ruined" dude the truth to puttin a battery on the ground and it gettin ruined is a old ass myth. very old cars, like 1920 and 1930 cars had old ass batterys that were constructed in a wood box. ever seen a woody? bet not. all batterys made in the modern day are built in a plastic casing. when the very old wood batterys were set on the floor, SOMETIMES the lime in the concret would soak through the wood and nuetralize the battery acid inside. thats where that myth comes from. you can sit a battery on the shop floor as long as you want and it will have no effect. a battery sittin around with super dirty post can ruin itself though. have you noticed that only the SHOW cars use optima batterys? cause they look nice. any real fast high performing car will use a regular 'ol fuild filled battery. the fastest cars out there do not use optima. this is not coincidence. there is no perfomance to those at all. save your self from being stranded some where cause of a failed battery, ditch the optima and get a normal one.

 

[toxicity883]

I killed three yellow tops with my 2000 rms old fosgate amp

 

[gt35rx]

Iv'e gone through the same issue you have. Can't keep a red top longer then 8 months. I still like they way they look but im starting to get a headace.

 

[gsxofftheline]

Thats wierd, I've never had problems with my red top. My friend had his sitting for 5 months and he sold that to our other friend and hes had it on his car for a year now. I don't know thats just me.

 

[dsmtun3r98gst]

well what they do at autozone first they put them on a slow charge(unless the person that helps u out dnt know about batteries and decides to throw it in a fast charge... now that would definetly kill your battery )then they test it after its fully charge and thats when you know for sure that ## battery is done for. i work at autozone so i have very good knowledge of them batteries ......... n i guess to those that their batteries dnt last much its cus most of them dnt take good care of them and dnt know how. ive had a red to for a lil bit more than 2 years and havent had any problems with it at all......

 

[sadc]

Try it. Hold a volt meter to it. It should never go under 12v. If it does then no good. My yellow top does that from time to time. So I just put it on a charger. But when my red top died. It was really no good. Got hot really fast, even on a slow charge. Not everything knows this. But if you have a yellow top, you can flip the battery upside down and it'll slowly charge itself.

 

[toxicity883]

if its a dual terminal you can switch to the side post, there set up a completely different set of cells than the top post

 

[qnz]

the red ones arent meant to be completely discharged and then recharged again. How long ago did you buy it? you can try to exchange it if its less than a year old.

 

[bomper04]

that fishy smell/ rotten egg smell is the sulferic acid from the battery. often times a sign of overcharging of the battery.

 

[dsmtun3r98gst]

the red ones arent meant to be completely discharged and then recharged again. How long ago did you buy it? you can try to exchange it if its less than a year old.

This actually aplies to all batteries not just red top optimas

 

[No_Skillz]

My warranty is expired. I just took it off the trickle charge, as been on there for about 48 hours. I guess I'll figure out real quick if it's still good.

 

[dsmtun3r98gst]

wow thats way too long to leave a bettery charging. but yeah that sux that your warranty expired... just for future reference when you buy a battery do not let it drain all the way EVER. or put it in another car other than the one that its not intended to be for. trust me man it works. (and another thing, sumtimes even if you take really good care of a battery it still goes bad pretty soon, but thats why you have warranty my friend) it goes the same for other things as well am i right or not? just because sumthing is high quality and expensive doesnt exactly mean it doesnt have a chance of breaking down and going bad

 

[Project2G]

This may answer some of your questions.
Charging Batteries

 

[clarson_75]

you realize that an optima battery is an agm battery, not a lead/acid battery like most and you need a special charger for it. if an optima is not going to be in anything you also are required to put it on a maintainer or it will die like yours every time.