351mustang

this is prolly a stupid question..but i bought a new alternator..just a oem stock replacement from autozone..i have a mild 302 and my battery is an optima red top battery.. i know these batterys are really good..but after about 2-3 days i always have to put the battery charger on it to give it some juice..i dont drive my cAR i usually just start it up to tune it and test thing out etc..so my question is..is the stock alternator to week to charge up the battery..or is the batter more than likely run down..i just heard everyone saying these batterys never die

302_Mustang

You might have a parasitic draw somewhere.

351mustang

What is that lol

04goat

something is staying on after the key is shut off. And i ran a red top for ten years. gave it away and that guy is still useing it.

351mustang

That's what I was thinking too..it has a master switch on the rear the is suppose to kill everything.. an I have switches to cut on ignition..fuel pump..fan..etc..but when.the car is runing..an I hit the master kill switch my full pump is still runing until I hit the kill switch for it.in the car..i just thought about that..

rafacalz

I ran a Redtop for 9ish years, it finally died. If its old enough it could just be the battery.

351mustang

There's a sticker on the battery an it says 11/11 I'm assuming that should mean November of 2011.. but maybe I'm wrong..I did a draw test with a multimeter an nothing happened..I un did the negative cable..touched my positive lead to the cable..an the negative lead to the to negative post on the battery..my gauge didn't even move..

OptimaJim

Hi 351mustang, I'm sorry to hear about the problem you've been having and I'd like to help. Fully-charged, your RedTop should measure about 12.6-12.8 volts. If you can fully-charge it and totally disconnect it from your car for two to three days, then reconnect it, the battery should hold plenty of voltage to start your car. If it can hold voltage when disconnected for that timeframe, but loses voltage when connected, there is something in your car discharging it.

Your alternator is designed to maintain a battery that is nearly fully-charged, not recover deeply-discharged batteries. You may also not be giving the alternator a chance to do it's job, if you primarily start the car but don't drive it.

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

351mustang

I'm not for sure what the problem is because I did a parasitic draw test or from th or from the battery but I took it down to the track last wee and had the battery charge and had the battery charged up then I cut it of check tire pressure and stuff like that it started up but it was cranking real slo so I just left it running and put it on the trailer cause I didn't feel like it dying on me

Derf00

oh whoa...we have an optima battery guy on the forums? Cool, welcome!

351mustang, OptimaJim hit on what I suspect more than anything. With just starting and idling, it may not be enough to charge the battery so every time you start the car you drain it a little, idle it, and never really charge the actual battery.

Most regular batteries can be damaged beyond repair even if they die once. I'm not certain on the Optima line in general.

You might want to look into getting a battery minder and just leaving it plugged in whenever you're not tinkering with the car. It will keep the battery fully charged at all times.