Optima vs. Odyssey and what model?

HongerVenture

Adventurer
Okay, so my truck's battery has finally given up the ghost… and she's stranded in the garage (which is the best place for this to occur).

I've held off on dual-batteries until this point because I wanted to use identical batteries and I couldn't bring myself to change over while the current battery was still in good shape… seemed wasteful.

First decision to make… Optima or Odyssey.

People seem to be switching over to Odyssey around here because of dissatisfaction with Optima. Can some of you folks share some stories of your Optima woes (or your satisfaction if that be the case)? Also, is there anyone here who has long-term experience with Odyssey? I've noticed lots of folks switching, but haven't seen any “I've had my Odyssey for 7-years, through 500 full-discharges, and it still powers my Engel 45 for a month!” type of stories. Okay, so I exaggerate, but I'm looking for success stories.

I'm leaning Odyssey, so that brings up my second choice…
PC1200 series… or PC1500 series? I've noticed several people here using the 1200 as their starter battery. Heck, FlyingWil is using an additional 1200 for his auxiliary as well. The only thing the PC1200 model lacks in comparison to the Red Top Optima is CCA. Any input from ya'll in this department?

Any suggestions or food for thought is appreciate…

If I go Odyssey batteries I'm going to have to do the whole dual-battery system in stages… these batteries come with a hefty price tag.
 

BigAl

Expedition Leader
My Optima yellow top performs as advertised. Long winch pulls and my assorted electronic gadgets don't seem to bother it.
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
I have a Optima Red Top that is at least 6 years old now. It might be getting weak, but it's been used several times to drive the truck with the starter over the years and it's been fine. I'm planning on replacing it with another Red Top, although I think a Yellow Top might be a better fit for me. I dunno what people are doing to kill Optimas, but I use it as a light duty deep cycle running the radio all night or a small campsite light as it is my only battery and it's gone this long (it will be 7 years in October). Maybe winching doesn't make it happy?
 

bigreen505

Expedition Leader
Dave my recollection is that the combination of hard use in high heat environments is what does it. I think most of the complaints came from the Arizona/Baja contingent. My experience is that temperature extremes are tough on batteries. According to my mechanic, they get as many people coming in with dead batteries when the temps rise above 95 as they do when it drops below zero, both are significantly higher than average and increase exponentially day by day with sustained heat/cold periods.
 

Bergger

Explorer
Not sure about the hot weather problems but I've got friends that swear by Optimas. I just replaced my battery a few months ago and decided to give this a try. It's a spiral cell like an Optima. Made by Exide. I found some good articals on it so I got one and have been happy so far. Just another option to think about.

PcImg_ProCompBatteries.gif


http://www.exideworld.com/News/pressrelease/general/20021021_4_wheel_parts.html
 

p1michaud

Expedition Leader
Optima and Exide

Can't offer any advice on the Odyssey, however I have installed and used an Optima Red Top in my 1999 Tacoma for 3 years with no issues. I've also recently installed a new Exide Orbital Xtreme Cycle Duty Battery (34XCD) as my aux. battery used to power a winch, off road lights, CB radio and full time power outlets. Can't comment on longevity since it's about 2 months old, but so far so good.

Cheers,
P
 

dieselcruiserhead

16 Years on ExPo. Whoa!!
I ran the Exides last time and they were great, that is what I plan doing again probably.. I killed two optimas when not being used regularly... The Exides and especially the Optimas are very much mass produced, not sure what the overall quality control is. The Odysseys are also factory made (of course) but are generally considered much higher quality and are made in smaller numbers. Also hence the price difference. Does it really make a difference? Not sure...
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
dieselcruiserhead said:
I ran the Exides last time and they were great, that is what I plan doing again probably.. I killed two optimas when not being used regularly... The Exides and especially the Optimas are very much mass produced, not sure what the overall quality control is. The Odysseys are also factory made (of course) but are generally considered much higher quality and are made in smaller numbers. Also hence the price difference. Does it really make a difference? Not sure...
I've been to the Optima factory (it's where I got mine, mine is technically a factory second blemish). I dunno, seemed like any other manufacturer and I sort of doubt Odyssey is much different. Odyssey is smaller, although that also means that they are more likely to fluctuate in ability to handle surges in demand without quality issues. I'm also not completely sure that Odyssey doesn't farm out some production, too. I don't have any particular reason to know that, just been enough job interviews with contract manufacturing places and you see a lot of stuff being built in places you wouldn't expect. Shrug.
 
My Optima yellow top puked out after 26 months so I replaced it with a Odyssey PC1200 which lasted me 3 good years until a 50yard uphill dry winch pull (no motor due to power steering box explosion) took it out. It lasted the rest of the day but would no longer hold a charge. I'm now running dual PC1200 Odyssey batteries in my Jeep and wouldn't have it any other way. IMO, Odyssey's are made better, have a better warranty and deliver their advertised power more consistently
 

offroad_nomad

Adventurer
I'm running an Optima Blue Top D34M for about a year and its worked well in the 4Runner. The D34M is both a starting and deep cycle battery. A nice feature are the extra pair of threaded posts with wing nuts to power accessories.
 

spressomon

Expedition Leader
I have had two Orbital Deep Cycle batteries within the past 22-months; first one was under non-prorate warranty and the second, last month, was not. Both batteries failed after having my rig down for mods for 3-5 weeks. For whatever reason the voltage could not be increased beyond about 7-volts both times. These were used in my second dual battery circuit.

Both times they deamed them bad batteries. But I also have a 23-month old Orbital (non deep cycle) that has performed perfectly...this one serves as the primary battery in my dual battery system.
 

HongerVenture

Adventurer
robert j. yates said:
My Optima yellow top puked out after 26 months so I replaced it with a Odyssey PC1200 which lasted me 3 good years until a 50yard uphill dry winch pull (no motor due to power steering box explosion) took it out. It lasted the rest of the day but would no longer hold a charge. I'm now running dual PC1200 Odyssey batteries in my Jeep and wouldn't have it any other way. IMO, Odyssey's are made better, have a better warranty and deliver their advertised power more consistently

This is good to hear since I've got a PC1200 on its way from Sierra Expeditions (Thanks Wil!).

I'll be adding another PC1200 or a PC1700 for my second battery. There's a couple other things I'd like to do with the cash before I go dual battery.

Keep the feedback coming, thanks for all the info here guys.
 

calamaridog

Expedition Leader
The PC1200 should be great as a primary battery. If you were only going to have 1 battery, I would go with something larger like the PC1700.

Since the Odyssey combines the qualities of both a starting battery and a deep cycle battery, they don't have quite as many amp hours as a true deep cycle battery.

For this reason, I may not use one as my second battery and go with a true deep cycle battery instead for more amp hours.

If I was only going to have one battery, it would definitely be an Odyssey PC1700 or larger.
 

Nullifier

Expedition Leader
Well I have been runing optima batterys for a long time . Why I don't know. Got sucker written on my forhead probably. Never had one go more then 3 years. Never had optima stand behind one either. Most of my hotrods had been set up to run batteries on the side and they were the only available option for awhile. I just blew a yellow in my toyota and replaced it with the red out of my ranger since the tranny just crapped out. Stupid tranny I mean I only got 247,000 miles out of it. Damn POS tranny LOL!
Anyway I'm going to be replaceing my battery selection with something else.
Probably the Deka Intimidator. Mike just startedwitht hese soo I will probably give them a go. Can't be any worse that's for sure!
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,527
Messages
2,875,533
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top