New Optima 12v Yellow Top D51 battery with Pencil Posts

Actually, I have owned the Optima Red Top and had nothing but problems. Wouldn't hold a charge after a year of ownership. Unfortunately, I purchased it online, recieved thru the mail, and no way to return. Lesson leaned.

 

I have 3.5 years on my Prius II, and don't drive that much. I had the dealer check the 12V battery last week, and he said it was fine. He said the cost for a replacement battery was $200 installed.

 

A simple instruction showing how to remove the strap would have been great. As a first Optima customer, I wasn't aware of that feature.

 

Or even a mention that it was removable. I know that my problem is that I did not know that the handle was a problem until everything was back into the tight quarters that the battery is crammed into - I was not going to take it all back out. I wonder what % of these are sold directly to consumers by Optina and what % go to resellers and auto care businesses.

 

This is my first post here, but not the first time that I have turned to the forums for help, so thanks to all of you who make this such a great resource!

I need a new 12v for my 2006 Prius and am ready to buy the new optima (DS46B24R). I had been reading all of the info on installing the older version with the modification kit from elearnaid but now that there is a direct fit I wanted to ask folks who have installed:
a) what tools are necessary, b) if this is something that a person with no mechanical experience can handle (with the possible help of a slightly mechanical boyfriend) and c) does the battery come with instructions specific to the Prius. The boyfriend knows how to change a regular battery but I was concerned because in the old version of the optima it sounded like there was a lot more stuff to do than a typical battery switch.

Sadly, I've missed the September 15% off from Optima but I just wanted to be sure that I could get it installed. (Dealerships throughout LA, by the way, are charging $200+ for the OEM and $328-$350 installed! I'm not DIY by nature but motivated by this incredible price difference.)

Thanks for the help!

 

a) You need a wrench with a 10mm socket and 6" extension for reach.

b) Your bf should be able to do it especially with a helping hand from you. The battery is clamped down in the same fashion as other cars. It is harder to remove the + terminal cover since it is made of hard plastic held by 3 clips. One extra step is to remove the HV battery vent which involves removing two bolts.

c) No instructions but I figured it out. From weighting them, taking pics, trying multiple ways to install it took over an hour. I could probably do another one in 15-20 mins now.

 

johnmaci, I'm sorry to hear about the problems you've been having with your battery. What were the circumstances surrounding your issues and did you purchase it directly from us or from one of our authorized online retailers?

Usbseawolf2000 & stevemcelroy, I asked my niece to help me make a video, which explains how to remove the carrying strap on our batteries- How to Uninstall and Install a Carrying Strap on an OPTIMA Battery - YouTube

Since I didn't have a Prius replacement battery handy, I decided the first Prius owner to post a video showing them removing their battery strap on our Facebook page will receive some free Optima gear.


Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

 

I'm excited to see Optima stepped up and created a battery for these cars. I've had my D51 yellow top for a few years now and even with severe abuse from my high wattage stereo system it still holds a solid charge (12.6 v). We've always used the Optima batteries in our high end stereo installs as well as our race cars and with very few exceptions they have performed well. Thanks to Optima and Jim for fielding questions and concerns.

 

Dennis you wuss. I did the install using the adapter kit from elearnaid and it only took me like 30 min. : p

 

Since my battery is in the car already, I can't make the video now. Your niece sure made it look so easy.

 

It was Saturday and the weather was great. My wife and two doggies stopped by and checked me out wearing a leather golf glove replacing the battery.

Come to think of it, that time included replacing the license plate LED bulbs and swapping out the courtesy door lights. Two of them finally died after 100k miles, about 4 years.

 

What's the deal?

I got my November 2011 Consumer Reports today and there is a comparo of "Car Batteries." But not a single Optima was tested. I understand tht they can't test every brand but I think most people replacing a battery would consider Optima, especially in cold climates. What gives?

 

The Yellowtop is not for situations where you run a starter motor. That includes most cars.

 

Actually the Yellow top Optima -can- be used for starting purposes. Go to their web site. It's just "optimized" (pun intended) for deep cycle use.

Consumer Reports probably thinks the Optima batteries are too expensive. You CAN get them at Walmart in Canada (but not the D51 and no yellow tops ). They go for about $200 +or- depending on size.

Waiting anxiously for Canadian shipping info. I'll really need one in a year or two after refilling my stock one with distilled water. It's still working well two months after refilling it. But I'd rather have an Optima.

 

M8s, I don't know why our batteries were not included in Consumer Report's testing. I took a look myself and couldn't find them either, although one of our RedTops was shown in their testing video. Frankly, it probably saves me some headaches, as now I get a year off from dealing with Jeep Wrangler & FJ Cruiser owners, who cite Consumer Reports test results like legal precedent when buying a battery, but ignore the same publication's review of their own vehicle. I'm sure Toyota is glad you all are not abandoning your vehicles because of Consumer Reports' favorable test results of the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf.

Jimbo, an appropriately-sized YellowTop can be used in any applications suitable for any other comparble flooded lead-acid battery, although they are also capable of handling deep-cycle applications too. David, I will put you on my list of people to contact when the Prius battery is available in Canada.


Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries

 

Q1. In general, how many months and/or miles are folks getting from their original equipment Prius Gen III batteries?
I'm approaching 2 years/40,000 mi without any problem, and would hope for more, but I see a number of folks are saying they are getting new batteries.

Q2. What's been the experience with Gen II, and can it be extrapolated to Gen III (e.g., same OE battery with similar demands)?

Q3. What do you mean "deep discharge" vs. "starting" batteries?

 

Typically users are getting about four years on the stock battery. More if they don't accidentally fully discharge it, less if they do so repeatedly. What limits its' life if not fully discharged is loss of water. It's a vented battery and there is no easy way to refill it. The GIII and GII batteries and use of batteries are pretty much identical.

All lead-acid batteries will suffer -some- "damage" if fully discharged. They will suffer much more if left in a fully discharged state for more than a few days.
"Deep discharge" batteries will resist the damage, some better than others. You may see a capacity reduction of 1-2% per deep discharge event.
As with anything in engineering, there are trade-offs. Making the battery deep-discharge resistant also reduces its' ability to deliver very large current draws without some effect (think starting a cold engine).
A "starting battery" is designed to deliver very high currents for minutes, if required, without noticeable effect. Generally they will suffer badly if deep discharged, however. I've seen capacity loss of the order of 10-20% for each deep discharge event.

Optima claim they have struck a balance between these two very different requirements with both the "marine" and "deep discharge" lines (blue and yellow top batteries - their red top batteries are "starting" batteries.

I suspect the spiral structure (good plate support) and sealed nature help here. Good cell interconnects also help. Optimajim may want to elucidate on this if engineering can help him (you're sales, right Jim?). Or perhaps it's a trade secret they would like to keep that way.

 

David, I am not involved in sales at all, but serve in more of a pro-active customer service capacity on message boards and as a content generator for our social media outlets. I should also mention as a minor point of clarification, that our 34M BlueTop with a dark gray case is the marine equivalent of our Group 34 RedTop starting battery and is not designed or warrantied for deep-cycle applications, like trolling motors.

The key to long battery life (regardless of brand) is proper voltage maintenance. As David indicated, whenever batteries are discharged below 12.4 volts and allowed to sit in that state, sulfation begins to diminish both capacity and lifespan. That makes a quality battery maintainer or tender an excellent investment for any vehicle that doesn't see regular use. Even on vehicles that do see regular use, plugging in every once in a while is a good idea, if most of the daily trips are short distances.

On the structural end of our batteries, Optima’s grid alloy is one of the most corrosion-resistant alloys in production. The high purity of the alloy and its simple binary composition also minimizes gas generation. Typical wet or flat-plate AGM batteries use grid alloys that contain three or four elements, which results in lower overall purity and gassing characteristics that are not as good as Optima's binary lead alloy. As a result, Optima batteries will have less corrosion at elevated temperatures and less water loss when compared to conventional wet or flat-plate AGM products. Oxygen gas recombination in AGM designs, in general, limits water loss, which is a feature that is lacking in wet products. Vehicles that have a good temperature-compensated charging curve with appropriate voltages, that do not overcharge the battery, will help limit water loss.

The internal resistance of Optima's Spiralcell design is very low and this gives the design the ability to quickly withdraw high power on discharge, and, subsequently, to quickly return the power on charge. The internal resistance of the design is low because it uses very thin separators between the plates which themselves are very thin along with many "wraps" of the plates to make the spiral construction. These design aspects give the battery very high cranking power, especially at low temperatures.

I don't think I would get in trouble by saying Optima also uses a continuous cast strap to join adjacent cells and there are no welds to add resistance or corrosion points between the cells. A cast strap is unique to Optima, proprietary, more expensive, and more difficult to manufacture, but it is a process that gives superior performance. A larger and/or better-designed, manufactured or connected strap will allow better high current flow due to lower internal resistance, which can be reflected in the CCA rating. This also allows the Optima design to use taller internal components called elements (or cells) and thus, in general, to have higher electrical performance characteristics because there is more active material present. That is probably more than most folks would ever care to know about our batteries, but if anyone has any other questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]www.facebook.com/optimabatteries [/FONT]

 

How does Optima battery get more capacity Ah with lower weight (compared to the OEM)?

 

All the design features that reduce internal resistance as Jim described also serve to improve battery efficiency and thus also improves capacity.