Free Optima Battery: I want one!
March 21, 2010 by pikesan · 123 Comments
Could there be an easier contest? Just say, “I want one” in a comment below.
For Members only (signup now if you’re not a member), just leave this comment and you’ll be entered to win. I’ll count the comments, pick a random number, then send you a gift card from Optima for your battery. This contest is now CLOSED… as of Sunday March 28th. That’s 1 week! Make your choice:
I want a Yellow Top or a Red Top Optima Battery:
Yellow Tops are best used for starting AND electrical accessories that didn’t come stock on your ride, such as: airbag compressors, high power stereos and winches for you 4×4 guys. The Red Tops are best used for starting everything from your daily driver to the best performance and custom cars in the world!
For more info about how to choose, Red Top or Yellow Top, please read this story. Or you can go to the source: www.OptimaBatteries.com
In case you’re confused about how to enter, read my comment below, then leave yours! Look for more member benefits every month from MyRideisMe.com!
By the way, if this is your first time leaving a comment, I have to approve it. (thank you spammers) So please, one comment is enough!
This contest is now CLOSED… as of Sunday March 28th.
Larry from Cottonwood, AZ won! Members get freebies!
Optima Battery: Red or Yellow Top?
November 17, 2009 by pikesan · 11 Comments
Optima Red or Yellow top? I bet you’ve got it wrong!
If you missed the other stories about SEMA, then you didn’t read how Optima Batteries brought up car and truck enthusiasts for a “round table” of sorts to find out what’s happening with their customers. Great idea, right? MyRideisMe.com, through Grease Girl and me, Pikesan, represented the hot rod and custom car crowd. Also strongly represented was the off-road, diesel towing/performance, drag racing and serious computer-audiofile segments.
Why’d Optima do it? Cause they’re serious about making batteries for enthusiasts. The showed me they care about their existing customers and want to earn more by selling a great product.
On the first day, I learned about the “Optima Paradox.” Red top or yellow top? Ken, my expert technical guide, schooled me on how folks that need a yellow top see that it’s more expensive and buy a red top instead. Understandable, but wrong. Optima’s a premium product and costs more than a run of the mill wet battery. But, experience tells you, or should, that getting the right parts for your ride, even if they’re a little more money, always pays off in the end.
Breaking down what I learned, I expect some genuine disbelief, bordering on hate, in the way of comments from this story. Why? Because I’ve already found that some of my buddies are breaking these simple rules:
Red top is for starting.
- High voltage, short duration “bursts” of power when cranking the motor
- Put another way: Big-time cranking amps with only a little discharge because the motors starts and the alternator quickly takes over
Yellow top is dual purpose.
- Purpose #1: Starting, like the red top
- Purpose #2: Continuous or long periods of high demand, high power usage
- Put another way: Crank it, over power your alternator, drain it, then let your charging system catch up. Repeat. This up-down, repeated cycling is what yellow tops are made for.
That’s the basics, let me add some other general rules (here’s where the wrench throwing starts)
- If you think you need more than one battery, get yellow tops
- If you use a “battery tender” or external charging source to keep your ride ready to roll, you need a yellow top
- There’s no reason to have two red tops
- If you’re not sure which one you need, you can’t go wrong with yellow top
- Mixing red tops and yellow tops is wrong! (unless they’re wired completely separately)
Finally, the most general rule:
If you’re running anything on your ride that needs power, especially when the engine is off, that wasn’t there when it was built, you need a yellow top. For example:
- Air compressors for air bags, air horns or whatever
- Stereos with big amps or multiple “Pimp My Ride” style 20 inch LCD monitors in the trunk
- Winch or off-road lighting (or gasp, underbody neon like my PT Cruiser buddies)
- Games systems, DVD players or some alarms
So was I right? Are you doing it wrong? I’m not the expert here, Optima is! If you disagree, I’ll take your comments directly to them.
