Mine has been too.

 

Deep cycle batteries are definitely for daily use.
A regular battery, when emptied beyond a certain point, no longer works as good as before, and often has to be replaced.
A deep-cycle battery doesn't mind deep discharges, and also typically lasts more years.

Fed up with replacing the battery every 3~4 years, I got the Yellow Top for daily use because it is deep cycle.
I've been abroad a few times for a week or two, then drove in the city for another week or two before hitting highways -- which means no ideal charging -- and always get instant starts.

Another reason why I chose specifically the Yellow Top, was its relatively small size, which makes it easier to install a side-by-side dual battery setup in the crowded Pentastar engine bay.

 

For a yellow top, you should be saying "when is this thing gonna die"? The one in my CJ has been in for 6yrs so far, it's no DD and does sit off the maintenance charger sometimes when I forget.

 

From what I have read on various other forums they are no longer made in the USA. They moved their production to Mexico few years back and quality control is not what it used to be.

Sent from my super cool Note 3

 

This is how mine have been as well.

 

Yes, production had been moved to Mexico a few years ago, and yes, they had QC problems at the beginning.
Optima solved the initial production issues, and the Yellow Tops are as among the best batteries.
As often happens, such opinions continue floating around for a long time in spite of being no longer relevant.

 

Thanks everyone for your replies. I found my receipt and it was actually purchased in Sept. 09. This puts the battery at a little more than 4 years old. Still, I thought Optimas would last longer. It has never sat for longer than 2 weeks without at least a short trip somewhere around town. My garage is not heated and temps started to dip into low 30s a few weeks ago.
With my multimeter I did a voltage test which gave me 12.3. With the jeep jump started, I checked voltage again with engine running. This was 14.7 so I believe alternator is good. I took the battery to BatteriesPlus and had it load tested. At 12.5v it only had 130 cranking amps, just a little shy of the 750cca its supposed to have (lol), which means the battery is indeed toast. They had no recommendation for me other than buying a new battery. I'm not sure I want to get another Optima. Looking now at Diehard Platinum. It has 850 cold cranking amps and a 4 year warranty. I don't drive the jeep much in the winter months and the guy at Batteries Plus suggested I get a battery maintainer also.

 

A short trip in town isn't enough for a real charge.

Was this test result after charging it?

I wouldn't avoid the Yellow Top because of one bad experience, as this could happen with any battery, especially if it wasn't properly maintained for years.

The battery maintainer is a good idea. Never used one in low temperature, so I'm not sure how effective it would be at around freezing. Someone with the experience may answer this.

 

My little red jeep I sold has a yellow top from 08 still going strong it spent till 2013 in a vehicle in northern Idaho.....cold cold cold...

, like anything sometimes things go bad sooner than later....optimas are good batteries.



I've got a yellow top in mine and a blue top new sitting in the garage (d34m) which is the same as yellow but has to thread style mounts on top as well as top mounts so hooking up a winch directly to its own mount is easy....and it has a blue top no front mounts, still deep cycle, 750 CCA, starting battery.

I hear the die hard platinum is a gold battery as well if you end up options a get a d34m blue, you will have the standard top post and a thread post for the winch direct to battery with no additional wires...cleaner looking.






Tricke chargers are a good thing g the reason my battery was still gold up there was it was my dads in a rig that never really drove but sat on a trickle charger since day one. He has 2 more in other rigs up there with chargers on em as well....they sit in 2-3 feet of snow at times where they are located.

 

X2 on the DieHard Platinum. Made by EnerSys Corp. A very good battery with a good warranty at a good price.