I have a 04 s. Since I am out of the country a lot and mostly use other cars, the car is not driven much. I top up the battery with a trickle charger about once a month and take it out for a drive. Last month I forgot to charge it my battery died. I am looking for a new battery but want one that if I forgot to charge it occasionally will not go completely dead. I heard the optima yellow agm battery will be good for this. Anyone tried this battery?

 

OEM Honda, 100 month warranty which is prorated. That's what I went with my old Civic Si that I maybe put 1k mi on it over the last 3yrs. I had an aftermarket race battery relocator which I wanted to continue to use so I went with a battery from the Fit since that battery is smaller & it "fit" the relocator. There were times that the car sat for 2-3 months & it started.

Also another solution is that you could just remove the battery terminal so the car does not slow drain the battery when you're away.

 

Automobile starting batteries only get a few super-deep discharges before they're scrap lead and modern automobiles have super-deep discharge build into them with power constantly siphoned by the radio memory and remote lock systems at a minimum. They'll damage discharge a battery faster as the battery weakens over time. All automotive automobile batteries also self-discharge even with no connections anything faster in hot weather than cold. AGMs are a bit better at this but they still self-discharge. Self-discharge is not the problem here, it's the constant seemingly tiny current drain built into the car.

The small charger is still the best solution if you remember to plug it in. (That reminds me I need to hook up my cars later today!)

A switch on the battery will solve the siphoning issue. You'll have to reset the radio code and (perhaps) the ECU will have to learn a few things all over again. Nothing more fancy than this switch is needed:



If you don't want to open the hood all time the Priority Start (and similar) will cut the battery off just before the voltage gets too low to start the car. Getting in the car and flashing the high beams turns it back on so the car will start. Radio is still scrambled in my cars. I've used this device on two of my Fords which do not switch the power outlets with the ignition and I constantly forget to unplug my GPS and microwave/laser receivers.



Only put either of these devices on the Negative pole of the battery.

-- Chuck

 

Optima has gone downhill over the years in my opinion. At least on the red tops, the last two I had were garbage and lasted 2 years tops (OEM battery one of them replaced lasted 10 years for reference! ) .

Best bet really is a battery tender. Even if you have an inline switch, a battery will die over time just sitting.

 

Agree. Battery tender is your best option.

 

Optima batteries best application is in off-road race cars where the car is subjected to violent road conditions that can damage the internal structure of conventional batteries. Or if you're going to air drop the vehicle by parachute some place. Overpriced and overrated for any other application.

-- Chuck

 

Walmart brand battery "Everstart". 3-year replacement warranty and then an extra 2-year pro-rated warranty after. Grab one with a sticker that has the current month/year for the longest warranty.

My parents have a truck that they like to keep around but it hardly ever gets driven (like maybe once or twice a year) and they constantly forget to put it on the tender. I bought them a replacement battery from Wal-Mart and they killed it within two years. Went back and got a new battery with a, then current, month/year sticker. One and a half years later the battery is again completely dead (left connected in vehicle, outside...over winter). Took it in and got a new battery. That was ~two years ago. Their truck won't run now so the battery is just sitting on the tender, lol (I suspect the fuel pump is now all clogged up since it sounds like they have not driven the truck enough to replace 5+ year old gas!).

 

Use a trickle charger.

 

I loved my Braille battery, it is an AGM battery so it didn't need any special attention, my car sat for 1-2 months with no issues. It saved me a bit of weight and still had more CCA than the factory battery.

 

Cheap 'motorcycle battery' from Amazon, kept on a trickle charger. Super cheap to replace if needed.