i bought an optima red top in july of last year when i had my nissan. that died in september, so it sat in the garage until a few weeks ago when i got my xB. well, i went to el toro yesterday, and after the trip home, i noticed my car smelled like fart. when i popped my hood, the damn battery was venting! my neighbor, as well as the guys at autozone, told me it's due to the alternator overcharging the battery. my neighbor told me that sitting it in the garage for such a long time on the concrete probably killed the battery. WTF? it's an optima! the website says that it shouldn't affect it. ohwell.... i ended up having to get a new one, and after a little hassle, i have a brand new red to again.

so my question is, does anyone else have any problems with the red tops, or did i just have a funky one? i tested the alternator and it was pumping at 14V, which is perfect, and the battery tested at 12.9V. i just don't want to have to keep cleaning battery acid from the battery spewing in my engine compartment.

 

If it was on concrete, thats not good for any battery. Optima or not. You might need to get a new one.