mgray
Member
I bought 2 Optima Red Top's 34/78 last month when they were on sale for $130cdn. The date code on them said 10/10, so they were at least "fresh"(I've heard of people getting batteries with dates that are in the future, so that's reeeeaally fresh!).
When I got them home I checked the voltage 12.47 and 12.42. Thought that was a little low so I put them on the 2a slow charge for a couple/few hours each.Took them off and let sit over night. Tested them the next day and got 12.69 and 12.65(this one was the first one charged, so it had been sitting longer than the other). I tested them for the next week or so before I could put them in. They seemed to lose about 0.05v a day, maybe less.
Anyways, I installed them, and the first start was great! They've been in for a week now and I checked them again today after sitting for about 18hrs. 12.14 and 11.97!!! WTF?!?! It started fine, not great like the first time, but no struggle either.
I haven't done a full parasitic draw test, but I did find a relay for a kill switch that was pulling 130-140ma when on. Not sure if that alone can explain such a draw.
But do I have some bad batteries? or excessive parasitic current drain? or both?
Thanks
When I got them home I checked the voltage 12.47 and 12.42. Thought that was a little low so I put them on the 2a slow charge for a couple/few hours each.Took them off and let sit over night. Tested them the next day and got 12.69 and 12.65(this one was the first one charged, so it had been sitting longer than the other). I tested them for the next week or so before I could put them in. They seemed to lose about 0.05v a day, maybe less.
Anyways, I installed them, and the first start was great! They've been in for a week now and I checked them again today after sitting for about 18hrs. 12.14 and 11.97!!! WTF?!?! It started fine, not great like the first time, but no struggle either.
I haven't done a full parasitic draw test, but I did find a relay for a kill switch that was pulling 130-140ma when on. Not sure if that alone can explain such a draw.
But do I have some bad batteries? or excessive parasitic current drain? or both?
Thanks