Optima Batteries
 

My batteries are getting tired and I was thinking of replacing them with blue optima marine batteries. Anyone have experience with these? I have a 47 with triples.

I don't have optimas in my Fountain but did have them in my last boat and loved them with the big stereo and for cranking my engine. If you have a big stereo, it seems that the Odyssey and Stinger batteries are better for the stereo but not as good as cranking as optimas are. Maybe do Optimas for cranking and Odyssey for stereo, or just do Optimas all the way around. Hope that helps.

Blue top for 'house/stereo', red top for starting.

In my last boat I just had blue top optimas and it worked great as a dual purpose battery.

Blue top optima would be my first choice.. It is what I run

Optimas really aren't the best I have seen. You can buy a real good battery, either deep cycle or starting, with more A/hr or CCA for about half the price. I spent the money for 2 blue tops and a red top last year and I haven't been very happy. If you raft up much and run your stereo they just don't seem to perform like others, IMHO.

Here is my personal experience, But nice deep cycle batteries like "Stoaway". and replace them every other year. It ends up costing less than the optimas, for the same amount of time. and you basically have new battery all the time.

I will also note if your stereo will run down three batteries, between runs, GET A GENERATOR, and god love you for it.:ernaehrung004:

Consumer Report did a comparison on batteries during the summer, cannot find that issue. Their findings were that other batteries did as good a job with less price than the Optima. If I find the issue will try to post results. Dont know about real world usage.

Optimas are indeed very pricey. Problem for me is I changed all my battery boxes out for ones cut specifically for Optima's, so now I'm kinda stuck.

I love the blue top optima's
 

I have two blue top marine Optima's in my lightning and they are great.

My experience with a blue top Optima in my flat bottom is beyond excellent. I purchased that battery in 1998 and the boat sits in my garage all winter long, when it is time to use it and I put the charger on it, it always shows a full charge. I can't believe that it is still good after 10 years, but that certainly justifies the added cost. That boat has a 12.5:1 compression Big Block Chevy, so it isn't easy to start.

I think in this case you do get what you pay for.

Not had good luck
 

Im not going to be continuing with them.

Ive had them all- the yellows reds and blues and never got more than 2 seasons out of them. I think I one one yellow top go three once.

I still have them in my little boat, but moved to Odyssey 2150 AGM type batteries in my bigger boat.




Uncle Dave

Laveycraft 2750 Ilmor 710
Laveycraft 20.8 Sebring 406 SB

I used to have two blue tops in mine, for awhile I thought they were both bad because they would barely turn the motor over. That's when I bought the red top for its higher cranking amps, same thing. Then I changed the battery cabling out from 2 awg to 1/0 (or maybe 2/0, I can't remember for sure) and that made a huge difference. Motor turns right over and fires right up now, great improvement.

Keep in mind there are two types of blue tops, one a dual-purpose and one a strictly deep cycle that iirc they said not to use for starting on optima's website. But it has been awhile since I looked so that may have changed.

DUDE, you got the freak of nature battery, just out of curosity, do you have amps and a bbig stereo. I am a believer that the big stereos kill batteries, thus why I replace every two years, rathe rthey need it or not. Just like impellers, I replace those every two also. :ernaehrung004:

Just bought Optimas this summer...happy so far!

I think the reason to buy Optimas is because they stand up to the violence of high speed boating better than standard lead plate batteries. If you are sitting in a lab, like consumer reports, you should not see an advantage. If you slam around at high speed in an offshore boat, I think you will see a difference: they have certainly lasted much, much better for me. YMMV.

The Fountain does have a big amp, but I rarely turn on the stereo.
The Flat Bottom music comes from the 700hp engine.

two 4300 watt amps,1 1800 watt. 2 12 inch subs 4 10 inch subs and about 10 5 in speakers.. And i just use one of the batteries most of the time ....Optima Blue.

it was in my other boat for a couple years too!

I changed from an Optima blue top to a smaller Odyessy 1200.
My boat trims, and starts faster from a smaller battery. My last Odyessy in my street car lasted 8 years. I also saw a few optima failures in race boats this summer.

What kind a race boats? Mine has a magneto.

Offshore Still need a battery to start it

Those odyssey batteries look nice, but which one would you need for a 525?

Optima batteries are $315.00 and have a 4 year warranty. I think I am gonna run the optima. I have 2 batteries in case one ever fails.

Just don't buy a interstate. I had those just all out stop in a parking lot one day when I went to the bank.. No warning .. It just stopped and I could'nt get my truck to start with a jump either.. Had to go to the parts store right then and buy a new battery..

I've had the optima batteries for 4 yrs. I think ? And not one problem, when they get bad, I will replace them with the same batteries.

I bought my blue Marine Optima's from Costco, can't remember the exact price, but it was about $150-175 each.

I think Interstate makes Optima now.

I have 4 Blue tops in my boat, and so far I am having issues. Boat is going back to stereo shop to get at least 2 replaced under warranty. I have had them in the past and they have been fine.

If you want unstoppable batteries that you can play your 3000 watt radio on for an hour and still crank the engines Google these things!

KINETIK HC2000

They are the single best investment I have ever made on my boat - the things are just damn awesome!

Exactly. Otherwise, CCA and amp hours are numbers that don't lie. If they are the same, the batteries will perform the same.

Batteries die from bad charging/discharging habits. If you take care of a battery, it will last years, way more than 2.

Charge your batteries correctly, with a quality charger that has good output characteristics and charging strategies. Never drain a battery below 40%. Try to keep even above that. Add more batteries if necessary, I guarantee with proper charging and discharging they will last 4-5 years. This goes for any battery.

What happened to your battery was either two plates collided, or one of the internal connections broke. Optimas would prevent that. I used autozone's duralast batteries, they get good reviews and have a 2 year warranty. I don't see it worth spending the money on optimas. I never had luck with them.

This is exactly correct. Further, one of the most common reasons people have bad experiences with Optima speciffically is simply due to charging. They do not like to be blasted with amperage after a long continious drain such as a stereo. It also takes them longer to bounce back if charging with an alternator vs. a trickle low amp multi-stage. If you're gonna use them for both, stereo and starting, then fire up the engines several times through out your day and charge them for a short while. That's another way to help keep them above the killer low levels like mentioned above.

If you're at the sandbar all day long running a loud stereo and you only fire up the engine once for 5 minutes, they won't last long at all even though you were still able to crank over.

Absorbed Gas Mat technology just works better-
 

SD FEVER is 100% correct- and he states the EXACT reason I prefer (I have em both) AGM type batteries to the optimas.

They are far more tolerant of high charge amperage AND high drain amperage they can tolerate charging up to 90% within 30 minutes of a 90% discharge without damage this- is the type of capability they have.

Any AGM Odyssey is one of the better ones but there are others-

I chose 2 of the massive 2150's I have all of the above (big stereo, lots of navigation gear +4KW radar on a 28 ft boat! 22 LED lights etc.)

PLUS a new tech solid state AC unit.

You can see it in the Laveycraft forum.




"Uncle Dave"

Laveycraft 2750 Ilmor 710
Laveycraft 20.8 Sebring 406 SB