Optima red top van battery isn't holding a charge.

[Basement Yeti]

I have a dual battery system in my van. An Optima red top battery that was given to me by Mr. Beast that is about 3 or 4 years old, and a secondary blue top Optima battery in the back that is brand new. They are connected together with a solenoid isolator to the top posts of each other through this solenoid isolator.

When the secondary battery system was hooked up the power drawing crap was hooked up to the red top van battery through the always on post on my main electrical control panel and parasitic energy draw caused this unassumingly already dying Optima to die not once, but twice.

Now, even though I unhooked my house loads from the main electrical control box/red top battery the red top is not holding a charge and will die in 1-2 days without the van being run.

My question is, what should I do? Should I replace the red top, or just buy a trickle battery charger since there I can go for days without starting my van, or should I do both?

 

[dwh]

You say it will die in 1 or 2 days. The first question is: Is it getting fully charged and THEN dying in a day or two, or is it just getting a couple of amps from running the engine for a few minutes?

If it's fully and properly charged, and then still dies in a day or two, then it's gone bad.

Red Tops are starting batteries - thin plates for fast amp dump - and like any starting battery they can't handle being fully drained. Run a starting battery completely dead a few times and it's usually toast.

First thing I would do is take it out of the truck and do a no BS full charge on it, then let it sit a day and check the voltage. Check it again the next day. If it has dropped, then the battery is the problem. If it hasn't dropped two days after a full charge, then there may be a load in the truck that is running it down.

http://www.optimabatteries.com/product_support/faqs.php#charging

 

[Basement Yeti]

Yes, this is after the battery is fully charged, I.E. the van running for 4+ hours on the road.

Is there anywhere I can rent the battery charging/metering equipment without buying them? The meter/battery charger I used was my mom's boyfriend's and that is back in Connecticut.

But, I think the battery is toast. It has been completely discharged twice.

 

[Rozzi]

Same problem with red top a few years back. The battery was toast. Agree with previous post (once these batteries drain completely...tough if not impossible to bring them back). I have an optima and odyssey sitting in garage - both gone!

 

[dwh]

Yes, this is after the battery is fully charged, I.E. the van running for 4+ hours on the road.

Probably not fully charged. A vehicle charging system is a constant voltage type setup. It can take a couple of days of all day driving to bring a dead battery back to a full charge.

Is there anywhere I can rent the battery charging/metering equipment without buying them? The meter/battery charger I used was my mom's boyfriend's and that is back in Connecticut.

I dunno. AutoZone will charge batteries for free and I think it doesn't even have to be an AutoZone battery. Leave it there at least 24 hours.

Just don't let them hook up their "battery tester". That load tester will stick a 100 amp or more load on the battery and I've seen it push marginal but otherwise usable batteries over the edge into complete failure.

But, I think the battery is toast. It has been completely discharged twice.

Maybe. Optimas have an issue about being drained all the way. They have a very low internal resistance, and so they'll drain farther than regular batteries. When they are that far down, some chargers won't charge them and have to be tricked into charging them - usually by hooking up a second battery.

You said your solenoid is being powered off the main battery. Do you have a switch set to tie the batteries all the time? That solenoid draws probably around an amp, so if it's energized all the time, it could draw the battery down, especially if the battery was only partially charged from a few hours driving.

 

[Utah KJ]

Optima Batteries aren't what they once were and they tend to implode without warning. My 06 Jeep came with an Optima Red from the factory and it died in 08. I replaced the red with a yellow. At the end of 2010 I was out in the wilderness until 2AM on a Sunday; six hours later, the Jeep would not start, jump or take a charge. You can go into many enthusiast sites on the web and you can read similar stories. My opinion is the current owners of the Optima brand do not manufacture the batts to the same vibration-resistant standards the original manufacturer was known for and the serious enthusiast will take it beyond it's limits. I currently have an Odessy made for Sears batt but it's too soon to tell how it will stand up.

 

[TRegasaurus]

dwh is correct, the best method for recharging a deeply discharged AGM battery is to purchase a charger that has AGM-specific settings to recover deeply discharged AGM battery.
In many cases, OPTIMA batteries that are assumed to be bad may actually be perfectly fine, just deeply discharged.

 

[Basement Yeti]

Ok, I have discovered that there is no vampire power sapping the battery.

If I bought a battery charger with AGM settings could I could couple it with a small solar panel to help maintain both batteries?

I need a battery charger/tender anyway, but I want to eventually buy a little thermoelectric cooler and was hoping a solar panel might offset some of the power draw.

Right now I start my van every AM and let it run for 30 minutes and that keeps the Optima from dying

I figure I should invest in a little multimeter, battery charger/tender so I am going to do that.

 

[wrcsixeight]

Thermo electric coolers are energy hogs and you will be lucky to see 40 degrees below ambient temps. 95 degrees in the Van and your perishables are at 55 degrees and growing bacteria. SUB 40 degrees for food storage.

Idling the engine to charge the battery is a waste of gas.

Get a smart charger capable of 15+ amps. A battery tender/ maintainer is for a vehicle that sits with the only thing drawing power is the stereo and computer memory.

Harbor freight sells a multimeter for 5$ and it is fine for checking voltage. But checking voltage on a battery under load, or being charged is a very inaccurate way to determine state of charge, but it is better than nothing, and you can begin to notice trends and tendencies of discharge cycles and know when it is time to start the Van.

If you did not wire the extra batteries with thick gauge cable, the alternator amps making it to the second battery can be absolutely and overwhelmingly pathetic and your half hour of Idling might return only 10% back into the battery.

 

[Basement Yeti]

Ok, I am due for a trip to Harbor Freight so I will get a multimeter there.

The problem is I have neither the money for a compressor run fridge nor the space for one (the smallest I have seen is still 2x too big for my needs) I just want a little fridge for some fruit, veggies, soymilk, etc.

Idling the engine has worked for me for the past two weeks...so....

Ok, so I need a smart charger with AGM charging capabilities. Any suggestions on brand/model? Is there a folding solar panel I could use to charge the batteries with this smart charger?

The secondary battery is wired with 1 gauge cable.

 

[TRegasaurus]

Most modern AGM chargers should have a trickel charge feature to maintain the battery.
I agree the thermoelectric coolers are not wise money spent.
Better to bite the bullet and get a fridge/freezer I paid about 500 for my Dometic CF-35 at Camping World. Not as efficient (or cool) as an Engle but very efficient and cools/freezes fast.

 

[Basement Yeti]

Perhaps I should hold off on a fridge for now then.

Do you guys know of any solar battery charges out there? Most of what I am finding are tendering chargers.

The problem is I am rarely anywhere where I could plug in.

Maybe I should get charger like this and try and match it to a suitable solar panel?
http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tende...XCQU/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1310492193&sr=8-6

 

[Lichen]

dwh is correct, the best method for recharging a deeply discharged AGM battery is to purchase a charger that has AGM-specific settings to recover deeply discharged AGM battery.
In many cases, OPTIMA batteries that are assumed to be bad may actually be perfectly fine, just deeply discharged.

So true. A lot of yellow tops that are returned just haven't been charged properly. The local distributer checks them and the good ones have a sticker applied and sold cheap. Got mine for $50 and it's like brand new.

 

[dwh]

Almost all AGMs take the same charge voltage as a regular flooded battery, so you don't need a charger with special settings for it. Gel batteries do take a slightly different (lower) voltage.

I know a bit about battery charging, and the unit I'm personally planning to buy for my camper is the Samlex SEC-1215a. I've seen them on the net as low as 90 bucks + shipping.

Iota is good too.

As for solar - it's just another charging system. You can connect multiple different charging systems to one battery or bank without issues - they won't bump heads. Each system will know when the battery is charged and will back down on its own.

When you say small solar panel - how small? Anything less than 50w I would consider to be basically a trickle charger.

 

[dwh]

Perhaps I should hold off on a fridge for now then.

Do you guys know of any solar battery charges out there? Most of what I am finding are tendering chargers.

The problem is I am rarely anywhere where I could plug in.

Maybe I should get charger like this and try and match it to a suitable solar panel?
http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tende...XCQU/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1310492193&sr=8-6

Two different systems. The one is powered by 120v from the electrical grid or a generator or whatnot, the other is a solar panel feeding into a solar "charge controller" which feeds the battery.

Depending on the size of the solar panel, you can get a 10a Morningstar charge controller pretty cheap and Morningstar is good stuff.