Leaking Optima red top battery X2

[WP29P4A]

I had to replace the battery in the Charger, 10 years old and started to have issues holding a charge. Figured I would get a quality (expensive) battery. Got a new red top optima battery, put it in the freshly restored engine compartment, and it leaked, about a 1/4 cup. All over the new powder coated battery tray, sprayed on the new radiator and the new engine compartment paint, then dripped on the garage carpet and started melting it, could hear the carpet bubbling.

I had to scramble to get the car out of the garage, douse the area with baking soda, cut out the acid soaked carpet, rinse everything down, dry everything, get the car back in the garage, then return the battery to the store (Autozone) for replacement. Got a new replacement, got it in the car, everything seemed to be fine, and then suddenly.

I just noticed a small amount of leakage on top, no sizable puddles like the last one. These things are supposed to be leak proof to the point where you are supposed to be able to mount them on their side without leaking. I charged it up fully on a new charger with the AGM mode before putting it in the car, no issues, I moved the car out of the garage and warmed it up for less than 5 min, barely lifted the temp gauge, then pulled it back into the garage a couple hours later, still fine.

Just went out to finish up a couple projects and noticed the wet on top of the battery. This is Nevada, if it was water it would evaporate in less than 30 min. Anyone have any experience like this?

 

[BlueMule]

Hey WP, it's not leaking, if the battery is getting overheated it will cause what you are seeing. It's evaporation, and a lot of it. So here are some things to check.
First check and see what your charging voltage is, if it is too high it will cause what you see. Also make sure the battery is not deep cycling, in other words, discharging overnight and then having to be recharged. It does not have to completely discharge, just low, and after repeated charging it can also cause what you are seeing here.

Even though AGM's don't have liquid like a lead battery the plates are wrapped with material that is wet with electrolyte. But the electrolyte has water as one of it's components, so if you get it hot it will evaporate and obviously come out the vent.

So check your charging system, and make sure there are not any unusual draws on the battery and electrical system while running or while turned off

Blue Mule

 

[WP29P4A]

Hey WP, it's not leaking, if the battery is getting overheated it will cause what you are seeing. It's evaporation, and a lot of it. So here are some things to check.
First check and see what your charging voltage is, if it is too high it will cause what you see. Also make sure the battery is not deep cycling, in other words, discharging overnight and then having to be recharged. It does not have to completely discharge, just low, and after repeated charging it can also cause what you are seeing here.

Even though AGM's don't have liquid like a lead battery the plates are wrapped with material that is wet with electrolyte. But the electrolyte has water as one of it's components, so if you get it hot it will evaporate and obviously come out the vent.

So check your charging system, and make sure there are not any unusual draws on the battery and electrical system while running or while turned off

Blue Mule

Great ideas, thank you. I don't store it with the battery connected, but I did check it and there is no load with battery connected, everything off. I checked my alternator and its putting out 16.4 volts, which seems high. What is normal charging voltage? What is the max, before it starts causing issues?

 

[70SBUDGET]

I had used optima for years. Ran into a bad batch for my 70 camaro. Don’t think I’ll go back. Good luck on the fix!!!

 

[RecklessWOT]

Did you say you have carpet in your garage? lol nothing wrong with that but man you must have A) an extremely clean garage, and B) some very clean cars. I'd be worried about the carpet holding moisture and rotting my cars. Hah that's not important at all though, just commenting.

Anyway, unfortunately it seems Optima batteries are not what they used to be. 10-20 years ago they THE battery, I could never afford one so I never had one, but a bunch of my friends had them in their fast cars or big trucks. Finally in my adult life I found myself in need of a replacement battery for the fastest, nicest car in my fleet (a 15 year old Japanese car, but that's besides the point lol), now that I could afford to have a house with a garage and a stupidly fast car with too much money dumped into the engine I figured I might as well finally get that red top I always wanted. Well it was stone dead in a matter of 3-4 months or normal daily use, wouldn't stay charged, wouldn't even hold a charge more than a couple hours after shutting the car off (no crazy stereo or any weird aftermarket wiring for that matter). Figured I had bad luck and just got a bum battery so I replaced it under warranty. Same thing happened again maybe 6 months after that. Started thinking it was something wrong with my car so I just threw a random battery I had laying around in there and it was fine for over a year. I stopped driving the car after maybe 6 months or so as it is currently in need of some serious engine work, so it sat for probably 6 months. Still started no problem whenever I needed to move it around the driveway. Without so much as charging it I pulled that battery out and threw it in my new daily beater and it still works fine to this day. I finally got around to taking that red top back and had it replaced under warranty again (still only a year, year and a half old max). The car is not currently being driven so it mostly sits except when I start it once a month or so just to try to scare the critters away from it and move it out of whatever it happens to be blocking. I'm already noticing it feeling weaker than it should. Sure it sits a lot, but it can't be a parasitic draw issue because the normal battery I took out of it for the daily was fine sitting in that car for months and didn't have an issue. It seems as though the optima batteries just don't last. Idk if it's blown cells or what, they take a normal charge but have almost no cranking amps when put under load. Can't imagine what the hell is going on, but I think they're just very low quality batteries nowadays unfortunately. Yeah they're "spill proof" so you can mount upside down for whatever reason you might want to do that, they look neat, and they have a nice name slapped on them, but in the end I really with I just got a good quality normal battery now because I wouldn't be having these problems. Wish I could get my money back, but I'm stuck with it so I guess I'll just jeep feeding her red tops every few months.

 

[RecklessWOT]

Great ideas, thank you. I don't store it with the battery connected, but I did check it and there is no load with battery connected, everything off. I checked my alternator and its putting out 16.4 volts, which seems high. What is normal charging voltage? What is the max, before it starts causing issues?

Made my last post before I real this one.

Normal should be 13.5-14v for pretty much any 12v vehicle, anything more than that is generally an issue. 16.4 is definitely excessive, overcharging will boil a normal battery and cause it not to actually charge (meaning despite putting out all that power, it would be as if you weren't even charging it at all), not sure what it does to the gel in an optima but my guess would be something similar even if it's not full-on boiling. Sounds like you potentially have a bad voltage regulator. That can also cause other systems in the car to get all wonky. Battery aside, too much voltage is no good for pretty much anything, you should look into that before you fry other stuff

 

[WP29P4A]

Made my last post before I real this one.

Normal should be 13.5-14v for pretty much any 12v vehicle, anything more than that is generally an issue. 16.4 is definitely excessive, overcharging will boil a normal battery and cause it not to actually charge (meaning despite putting out all that power, it would be as if you weren't even charging it at all), not sure what it does to the gel in an optima but my guess would be something similar even if it's not full-on boiling. Sounds like you potentially have a bad voltage regulator. That can also cause other systems in the car to get all wonky. Battery aside, too much voltage is no good for pretty much anything, you should look into that before you fry other stuff

Oh believe me it is at the top of the to do list, a spewing battery and a restored and highly detailed engine compartment do not pare well together. I did read that 15 volts is pretty much the max charging voltage, so agree 16.4 is excessive and 3 batteries have confirmed that. I will try the spare voltage regulator and measure again.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[fast 99]

In my opinion they are junk. Had used them for at least 10 years. Up until last year they usually lasted 8-9 years. Last fall one went bad while being stored. This spring another one went bad. Both were just over 3 years old. Their warranty is only good for 3 years. No adjustment afterwards.

For the $250+ they cost not worth it. Contacted their customer support, that was a waste of time.

I will never buy those batteries again.
Too bad I bought another one, just before the 2 failed.

 

[WP29P4A]

In my opinion they are junk. Had used them for at least 10 years. Up until last year they usually lasted 8-9 years. Last fall one went bad while being stored. This spring another one went bad. Both were just over 3 years old. Their warranty is only good for 3 years. No adjustment afterwards.

For the $250+ they cost not worth it. Contacted their customer support, that was a waste of time.

I will never buy those batteries again.
Too bad I bought another one, just before the 2 failed.

Okay, so now I'm rethinking the whole Optima battery adventure and leaning towards returning it and figuring out a plan B while I figure out my excessive charging voltage issue. I was rationalizing that my car has a charging issue and if I correct that issue everything will be normal. Got three solid opinions that make me think that might not be the case.

What battery do you like?

 

[fast 99]

Selection is limited. Have a couple collector vehicles do not want a wet battery. Actually, not sure what is a good battery now that Optima is out. Just bought an FVP AGM 24C from Rockauto to replace the Optima. They are made in S Korea. Really try to avoid China anything if possible. Wanted a 34/78 or 78DT AGM couldn't find one anywhere. Johnson Controls and Exide are decent manufacturers. They used to make batteries under several brands.

Didn't elaborate too much on the Optima experience. The batteries were always disconnected when the vehicle was not being driven, [don't trust old vehicles, fire hazard] maintained properly with correct charger in moderate temperatures. They couldn't have been taken care of better and still failed. One was down to 4 volts without being connected to anything. Had to have an internal open circuit or short.

 

[Frankenchevy]

Optimas are made by Johnson Controls. I’m less than thrilled with my Optima, too.

 

[Doppleganger]

My wife's car had an Optima in it 15 yrs ago. $150 new (when regular Exides were still in the $40-50 range). Had a 7 yr warranty to go with. She sold that car and got another about 5 yrs ago ($200)....and that one had variable charging issues...would go dead with no draw, or sweat like the OP's.

I bought an Interstate at Costco's....and that one developed a bad cell 4 months later. Replaced it....bad cell 6 months later. I'm out of ideas on what is a decent battery anymore....hard to find a 48 month warranty even.

 

[Snoots]

I had an ACDelco top of the line battery with a 7 year warranty that went 2 months beyond before it lost its UMPH. Bought the same replacement. Both were around $125 each.
I've had 2 Optimas (yellow top) in other vehicles that didn't last half that long.

 

[fast 99]

Optimas are made by Johnson Controls. I’m less than thrilled with my Optima, too.

Not today, Clarios. The older ones were made by Johnson Controls. I was happy with the JC batteries.

 

[Frankenchevy]

Not today, Clarios. The older ones were made by Johnson Controls. I was happy with the JC batteries.

Interesting, mine has Johnson Controls on the sticker, but was purchased 2-3 years ago. I'm not convinced it's much better than the interstate batteries I've purchased for other vehicles at half the price. Maybe it's just a crap shoot.