Need a new battery

[Jeff Weston]

Well, after 5 years and 11 months, my Red Top Optima is finally giving up the ghost. Doing a search on this board, it appears I should consider replacing it with an Odyssey. Is this still the latest and greatest? If so, anybody have a p/n and an approximate price I should pay for it so I don't get ripped if I locate one locally.

My other thought was to replace it with a deep cycle marine Optima with the posts and threaded posts so that I could easily detach the winch and hook up the Readywelder.

Thanks!

[William]

I have a catapillar battery in the jeep. Seems to work just fine.

[Robert J. Yates]

Yes William you do as does Sergey and you know what, they both still leak acid. Pass.

Jeff, get the Oddesey. I have the PC1200 and it slid right in. The posts are somewhat different than the Optima though - they are threaded so that you can connect accessory cables to the tops of them - there is no second set of posts.

[William]

Originally posted by Robert J. Yates
Yes William you do as does Sergey and you know what, they both still leak acid. Pass.

When has mine leaked acid? Where? It was out twice on Rubicon, used for welder duty, and back in. Didn't leak acid.
Of course, Ander's stock battery did the same thing to, so I guess that's not much of a comparison.

[Robert J. Yates]

Do me a favor and follow Seths technique in looking for loose change and then report back to me

Price for 1200 MJT-----------------145.00
Shipping----------------------------- 22.50
Tax------------------------------------ 0
http://www.batteryweb.com/odyssey.cfm

It's not a big deal but the posts on this battery are opposit to stock.

[Jeff Weston]

Thanks for the link Garry. Any idea how long it takes to see this thing to your door? I may have to steal one of my dad's Yellow Tops out of his Jeep to get me by 'til then.

Thanks!!!

[Scott Evans]

Originally posted by ghall
Price for 1200 MJT-----------------145.00
Shipping----------------------------- 22.50
Tax------------------------------------ 0
http://www.batteryweb.com/odyssey.cfm

It's not a big deal but the posts on this battery are opposit to stock.

That is cheaper than the one I got a 4WPH. Mine was a tick over $200.00 with taxes.

size: L 7 7/8 D 6 11/16 H 7 1/2 Weight 38 lbs.

The posts have a helicoil insert so dual posts are not needed. Accessory bolt not included with battery.

Scott E.

[William]

Originally posted by Robert J. Yates
Do me a favor and follow Seths technique in looking for loose change and then report back to me

No thanks!!!

I'd prefer not to. Perhaps we can get seth to borrow the battery and.. you know..

[William]

Originally posted by Jeff Weston
Thanks for the link Garry. Any idea how long it takes to see this thing to your door? I may have to steal one of my dad's Yellow Tops out of his Jeep to get me by 'til then.

Thanks!!!

Jeff, I have a stock TJ battery that is still good you can have. I'm going to be at Shalom's house on Sunday, so you can pick that up then. Doesn't do you much good now, but it's there if you need it.

[Jeff Weston]

Thanks for the hookup!!!

I just got off the phone with batteryweb.com (wanted to make sure it'd ship in a timely manner). The guy was perhaps the most friendly, helpful phone salesman I've ever spoken with. It should ship out today or tomorrow at the latest.

William, thanks for the offer, but since my dad has two Yellow Tops in his Jeep, I don't think he'll mind me borrowing one.

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by William


When has mine leaked acid? Where? It was out twice on Rubicon, used for welder duty, and back in. Didn't leak acid.
Of course, Ander's stock battery did the same thing to, so I guess that's not much of a comparison.

William, pay attention here. See where they are shipping the Odyssey to Jeff. They can only do that with non spillable batteries.

We can test your theory though. Let's take your battery and my Odyssey and lay them both on their sides. Elevate them somewhat so we have room to toss some valuables underneath the acid drippage.

Now, under which battery would you be willing to lay some of your fine cutlery collection?

[TObject]

William, it's a trap! Do not bring your cutlery collection; bring cheap stainless steel knock offs.

[Stu Olson]

Two years ago this summer, I pulled the OEM battery from my TJ when the XJ needed a battery (Optima went into the TJ).

Some time after that, the OEM battery died (it had made it through 3 Phoenix summers completely....NOT BAD AT ALL!) and was replaced with a 72 month something or the other from PEPBoys.

Today, I get home and Donna asks me to check the XJ. Battery just barely turned it over enough to start.....I think that one made it about 15 months.

Guess she will be driving the TJ until I get my $8 battery from PepBoys again.

Did I mention that the Optima is still working fine?

[TJRON]

Stu,
Maybe you should do a write up on how to add water to batteries?
Just kidding. Our batteries don't fare to well here either. I remeber one year I replaced two boat batterys and two car batteries in a two week period. It seems like it's when the heat (or is it the cold) hits.
Ron

[Paradiddle]

I'll also throw my hat in the ring for the Oddesey - it is a fine battery and looks sexy and impressive under the hood.

Oh - sorry - I thought this was JU for a minute...

In all seriousness - I think the Oddesey is the best out there.



Jeff

[Stu Olson]

Ron....you are not too far off. I almost missed checking the XJ's battery water level the last time I did the oil change. I don't have to on the TJ so it is an extra step that is too easy to miss on the XJ. Although all the cells were full, it wouldn't have surprised me to see an empty one when I pulled the tops last night.

[William]

Originally posted by TObject
William, it's a trap! Do not bring your cutlery collection; bring cheap stainless steel knock offs.

The sad thing is, I sold a number of pieces to pay for stuff on my jeep. In reality, I have only about 4 pieces of value left. Sniff. Sad days indeed.

[Robert J. Yates]

So why don't you bring those 4 pieces you have left and we can play some battery tricks at Shaloms on Sunday

[William]

Originally posted by Robert J. Yates
So why don't you bring those 4 pieces you have left and we can play some battery tricks at Shaloms on Sunday

Sure, as long as it's on your hood !

[Robert J. Yates]

Originally posted by William


Sure, as long as it's on your hood !

The paint on the hood on my Jeep is already trashed - the clearcoat cracked a couple of years ago at least......thhhpppppp........

[Jerry Bransford]

At just over 3.5 years old, I think my Optima Yellow Top is getting near its last legs. It was dead this morning after only leaving the dome light on overnight.

I checked out the "Super-HD Deep Cycle" marine version of the Oddesey this morning, the one with the extra posts on top that would be good to connect the winch to. The 4WPH salesdroid (he almost looked like a glue sniffer heheh) offered it to me for $130, about $25 off what he said was MSRP. Looks good, and the amperage (CCA, CA, etc.) specs look better than Optima's... I'm thinking it's going to be under my hood pretty soon. I can even get rid of those extra jumper cables so the winch could be connected to the Optima's side posts.

[Scott Evans]

Jerry what is the PN on the battery you looked at? Is it the PC1200 or the PC 1700? Just curious.

Scott E.

[Robert J. Yates]

Given the price he quoted, most likely its the 1200 Scott. FWIW, not sure about YJ's but the 1700 will not drop right in without some fabrication on the base plate in a TJ.

[Stu Olson]

Jerry,

I would not judge the remaining life of a Yellow Top based on the fact that it went dead after leaving a light on all night.

Contrary to what some folks believe....the Yellow Top does not have awesome storage capacity. It is somewhat marginal in that area, in my opinion. Its ability to recover from abusive discharges, time after time, is what makes it stand out from traditional batteries (and the fact it has no liquid in it).

Now....if you tried to charge it and it did not take a charge or barely cranked your engine over after sitting on the charger for a significan period of time, then yes, it may very well be on its last leg. However, that is not what you said so I've no idea if that is what happened or not.

More info?

p.s. I've had batteries go dead with the dome light on myself. I can't remember if I did that to my Optima or not....but I know I've done it to my TJ.

[Scott Evans]

Originally posted by Robert J. Yates
Given the price he quoted, most likely its the 1200 Scott. FWIW, not sure about YJ's but the 1700 will not drop right in without some fabrication on the base plate in a TJ.

That was my guess to (the 1200) but I remember it being around $185.00. I don't think the 1700 would drop into a YJ with out some fabrication. The 1200 is the perfect size as far as fitment.

Scott E.

[Jerry Bransford]

Stu, you're right on the dome light thing not being a big thing but it's over 3.5 years old and I just keep thinking it's gonna crap out on me. I just don't want to be 50 miles from nowhere and have it die. I will hold off a little bit but before I do my next 2-3 day trip, I'm probably going to replace it.

[Stu Olson]

Jerry,

Do you have anywhere you could do a good load test?

The guy that talked me into my first Optima has been regularly getting 6 years of life out of the Yellows in his CJ-7 and then he pulls it and puts it in the family car. However, he does spend a couple of the hot Arizona months in the Colorado mountains so he is not cooking them like I would be.

[Jerry Bransford]

Originally posted by Stu Olson
Jerry,

Do you have anywhere you could do a good load test?

That's a good idea Stu, I'll do that. I know right where to take it for a free test. Thanks.

[mrblaine]

I am a little confused. I am a big fan of the Odyssey battery and the reasons for it's existence. However, I read this whole thing and am trying to figure out why anyone would switch from a battery that lasted almost 4 years in one situation, almost 6 in another, and an equivalent term of lengthy service for Stu.

In all reality, the stock battery has only one drawback for most of our needs. It is a spillable battery and has a tendency to drip or pour acid.

We rarely abuse the stock one badly enough to require replacement and when I was too abusive to one, the dealer was more than happy to replace it under warranty.

I run a 1700 Odyssey only as an exercise in creativity. It is in the stock battery location and was not that hard to get in there.

It has only impressed me one time. When I re-did my suspension, the jeep sat with the key on for lengthy periods of time. Under dash lights were on and off, brake lights were left on with the maladjusted pin switch, not huge loads, but several months of it. I fully expected to have to jumpstart or charge it to drive it out of the garage. Not so, turned the key and it fired right up. I was fairly impressed.