Customer Reviews

Optima Batteries 8052-161 D31M BlueTop Dual Purpose Battery

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The Optima batteries carry a price premium because of their design, however their long life and ability to work in any orientation and in rough environments is what you are buying. Additionally, you do not need to worry about acid spilling out like you would with traidtional deep cycle marine batteries. Cost, however, is substantially higher.

I ordered mine through amazon and it was shipped ground from their fullfulment center in Sacramento nearest to me in the bay area which meant it arrived overnight. I was a little disappointed at first getting ground service as a prime member, but overnight beats 2 days and their fullfillment centers are across the usa so chances are you will get yours in 1-2 days by ground ups.

I have used Optima batteries since I killed my first battery in my H1 humvee offroad in Alaska doing 60 MPH over rock roads from the Yukon territories to Alaska. Ordinary car batteries just don't do well to the vibrations the H1 hummer can produce. Additionally when offroading, the H1 may tip up to 40 degrees on sideslope which will spill the acid out of a normal car battery while the optima does not loose any acid or liquid at all.

You *MUST* match the color code of the optima battery with YOUR intended purpose as follows:

BLUE (this one) - DEEP CYCLE applications - RV's, inverters, UPS systems basically applications where you plan to drain the battery dry every time then recharge it pretty soon afterwards.

YELLOW (what I use in the H1 Hummer engine) - Has both deep cycle ability and engine starting ability. If you drain a NORMAL engine starting battery dead you take between 5-10 percent of its life away right there. The Yellow Optima batteries can take deep discarge running lights and accessories with the engine off and still start the engine then recharge from the alternator provided they are not totally dead. NOTE: if you use the side post for engine starting, ALWAYS connect a winch to the top post. Look closely and you will see that there is a slim bar that makes the side terminal FROM the top post, which is the main terminal. Because a winch will draw 200+ amps for minutes at a time, the top post is advised by optima for this and any heavy, long running loads. Engine starting is brief (4 seconds) so the thin strip inside the battery is fine.

RED - these are just simple replacements for engine statring ONLY - they are NOT meant to be deep discharged and will suffer a shorter lifespan if you do drain them. They still have all the benefits of the Optima design of being sealed, vibration proof, and spill proof.

Hence for cars, I always choose Yellow tops, and for boats or RV's & UPS systems I use blue tops. Honestly I've never bought a Red top because I normally want a battery that can run accessories on a vehicle with the engine off for a long time.

This battery is rated 75AH and I realize you can buy alot more AH in a deep cycle marine cell with liquid acid for less money. I have no concerns anchoring this battery down inside my vehicle because I know it will not spill acid if I accellerate or corner sharply or go off road. I know that the wet cell deep cycle marine battery will spill acid under many conditions - even just climate changes or charging rapidly.

You get what you pay for in the Optima batteries. Considering Amazon does not charge to ship a 69 lb battery to you and does not hit you with a core charge it's not a bad deal to get it on your doorstep overnight or 2 days. All together it proved to be an excellent piece of my inverter system (see Xantrex Technologies Prosine 1,000 to 1,500-Watt Power Inverter #1000 for the inverter I used)

The optima battery can deliver high enough currents for the Xantrex true sinewave inverter to start an air compressor which is a difficult load to deal with. Other batteries I tried refused to provide the inrush current to start the compressor. The reason is simple - inside the "6 pack" of cans are rolled up lead calcium gelled acid sheets with LOTS of surface area, which translates into higher currents possible.

Finally, there is a pamphlet stuck to your new battery on how to care for your Optima cell for charging currents on the D31M model. One of the cons of the Optima design is that they do not take equalization charges like wet cells do so it is best to maintain a constant voltage of about 13.6 VDC on the battery when you are able to to prolong its life. I keep mine on the CTEK Multi US 7002 12V Battery Charger which charges at 6-7 amps and can also supply 6amps for items running off the battery when ac is available.

This is professional gear and will deliver excellent results when used properly.

Optima batteries are one of the best on the market. I am very impressed by their longevity and high power delivery. I have had a yellow top Optima in my 4wd truck for 9 years now and it is as strong as the day I installed it. Other great features of Optima batteries are the facts that you never have to add water, they can be mounted in most any position and the terminals never corrode.

This purchase was a second blue top D31M. I use two of these batteries in parallel to power a 2000 watt inverter. I tested it by placing a 1500 watt load on the inverter which drew 137.5 amps from the two batteries in parallel. They were able to sustain this load for 27 minutes. That is like cranking a 6 cylinder engine for half an hour. I previously used marine deep-cycle flooded-cell batteries for my inverter but they would only last about two years and I constantly had to check and add water as well as clean corrosion from the terminals. The bottom line is even though you pay more initially to buy an Optima battery the long life and power delivery quality actually make it cheaper than other batteries when you divide the cost by the number of years of service.

I really wonder if some reviewers here actually read Optima's FAQ.

Optima clearly states that a deeply discharged battery may appear (even to "techs") as defective and explains how to charge such battery.

Also, ANY lead acid battery is subject to sulfation if stored at low charge. Desulfating chargers work and don't cost that much.

Over the past 5 years I have purchased 3 Optima batteries. The first one lasted just past it's warranty date and then failed. It was a red top. The last two were very expensive blue top marine deep cycle/starting batteries purchased at the same time and put in the same boat. The batteries operated through a Perko switch set on ALL. They charged together and discharged together. They are just now 37 months old. One has failed completly and the other still works. The warranty is 18 month free replacement and 18 month prorated. So here again no warranty help.

Most battries that you purchase for $200+ have a 48 or 60 month warranty. Optima does not. The company would go out of business if it had to honor warranties that other battery manufactures offer. Optima is just a lot of hype. I have learned my lesson and will never purchase another Optima battery.

Optima is owned by Johnson Controls and moved their manufacturing plant to Mexico. In Mexico they are not held to strict enviornmental laws and employ cheap labor. They now offer only a 24 month warranty, period. I guess they know how long their battery is good for.

I have used optmas in my cars since the 90s.I have used them in my 87 Buick GN and multiple corvettes. They were the best. However the last copule of years something has changed. I use to let my vettes sit for weeks and they would start without a problem. Now they cant sit for more than two weeks without going dead. Once they are dead forget about charging them. 6 months ago I changed the optima n my 90 Callaway vette to an interstate and can go a month with out a charge. i also examined the electrical system the only draw is the clock and factory security light. Tonight the same problem in my GN. The car sat for three weeks (red top Battery is 3 months old) and the battery is dead and wont take a charge. I never had a problem with the yellow tops or red tops in the 90s, and now I have the same problems with both. I think something was changed in theses batteries and I am now done.

I've purchased about 6 total Optima batteries over the last ten or so years for various vehicles. I have had to replace THREE (not concurrently) at right about 1 year of use *under warranty* due to the battery not holding a charge.

Actually, last night, my 2005 car wouldn't start. Dead battery. I parked the car for about 2 hours, no lights on, etc. to come back to a dead battery. The thing is - I replaced this battery a year ago for the same issue. Alternator checked out, etc. on the car, and putting the OE battery back in (yes, I've kept it) worked like a champ.

I took mine back to my local Optima dealer (where I purchased it), and they tested it as "internally faulted" (the same as the old one), so it is not due to a broken charging system, etc.

The other units I've taken back (both red and yellow tops) failed around 1 year as well, in different vehicles... Granted - the replacements for them seemed to last until I sold the vehicles...

Again, I've never abused the Optimas - and don't have any mods to my vehicles... This CAN'T be coincidence, especially since the OE batteries in the aforementioned vehicles were in perfect shape when replaced - and all lasted over a year, and are still running great in one of the vehicles...

I'm personally going to look into the Exide Orbital in the future... Maybe they have perfected the technology.

Although this IS a great battery, it ONLY has an 18 month free replacement warranty with an additional 18 month "pro-rated" warranty period that drops off quite dramatically. (I.E. after 27 months I ONLY got $50 credit towards a new battery!!) For a battery with this kind of premium price, I would expect it to have a longer replacement warranty.
Also I had a hard time finding a dealer to replace it. All (including optima customer service) told me to take it back to the selling dealer. I had to get the area rep involed. A lot of hassel!

Although both batteries were ordered at the same time in the same way, one performs good to excellent and the other one performs below specification (one batterie is older and was discharged when received). Only with a sophisticated computer-controlled recharging I was able to equalize the status of both batteries purchased at new. Your supplier/the batterie manufacturer should test and float batteries before shipping. Manufacturer did not supply any specification.

I've bought nothing but Optima batteries for my boats since 2002 and used to love them. No servicing was required and they used to last more than five years, on average, vs. one or two years for conventional batteries. Lately, I've had very bad luck with my AC Battery Charger on my boat (replaced it in Oct 09 and again in Feb 10). Once these batteries were discharged they never came back up.

Update 12/3/09, comment from my review:

Amazon, what is the purpose of customer feedback if you DO NOTHING ABOUT IT! I also posted on your customer service site pictures of the damage and the packaging. Now Mr. Dickson has the SAME problem (see below). Did I waste my time to help YOU improve your processes? Many companies will use customer feedback improve, sadly that is not the case with Amazon. And you spend IT money to put these feedback tools in place but don't take action. Amazon was a good company years ago but now I question its processes.

"V. Dickson
just received my d31 optima and it's damaged, packaged only in a box that just fits the battery with no foam packaging. Vey disappointed since I needed it this weekend for a bass tournament."

Original review:
Beware of Amazon shipping. Battery shipped from CA to NY and battery case was damaged; leaking fluid. Called Amazon, explained that packing was poor (Single walled cardboard box, no packing material. Item weights 60 #). Amazon sent another battery SAME packing method. Same thing happened, case was cracked and leaking fluid. Amazon needs to do some work to communicate customer feedback regarding packing. Packing method was not what I would have expected from Amazon and then they do the same thing again! Two batteries cracked and worthless because care was not taken to correctly pack the batteries. Sad considering these batteries cost over $200 each.