I'm scared to have either now. Mine didn't last too long so my trust has gone down.

 

Tim,
Where and how long ago did you get your Red Top? Optima has exceptional warranty for their batteries. The reds are covered by FREE replacement during the 1st three years and an additional three years of pro-rated replacement. The yellows have 1-year and 1-year respectively.

If you got yours at a major retailer like Sears (where I got mine), you can simply trade them your bad one for a good one. It doesn't get any simpler than that.

 

Optima's are top of the line in my book. The reason yours probably was dead was that even when off, your car was using power. This could be anything from a small short to the little red security LED being on all the time. Before you all flame me, I'm not suggesting the little LED caused his battery to die. But there are things that still draw power even though the car is not on. Security systems could potentially draw quite a bit over a couple week period. And I'm guessing with Tim's car there is some sort of security on it

 

Try putting it on a charger overnight and see what happens. ie.. slow charge, not fast. It might take longer for it to start to take a charge. OR better yet, warranty it

 

BTW, the yellows do not weigh less. A 35 series red top is 33 lb, while the 35 series yellow top is 37 lb.

 

I got mine from a friend who worked for a dealer for ~$100. It was about a year ago. I just got off the phone with him and he is going to take it in for a replacement for me.

It's out of the car now so I put it on a charger overnight. When I came out and took the charger off it went from 12.4 volts down to 6.8 in about 5 seconds... Looks like this one is gone.

It is true I have a lot of things that draw power. I have a Python remote start alarm, big stereo with Eclipse DD, two big JL amps, 15F stinger cap, I also have the EDFC, UTEC, UTEC tuner, EBC, and other stuff. All of those together take a lot of power. I should have disconnected my battery before I left for that long. The red top is not a deep cycle and I can't expect it to come back from a long, slow discharge like that.

I will be putting the new one back in my car when I get it.

 

What I like about the reds is that they have more CA and CCA. Plus they cost less. I don't run my stereo with the car off for long so there is no need for a yellow.

 

so does the 35 redtop fit on our g35 sedan?

 

You have to get the 34R reverse post one. that fits the sedan just fine.

 

+1 on the 34R type. I have that in mine, perfect fit. Even though the battery is kinda overkill with my stock Bose stereo and no audio upgrades, I like having the peace of mind and knowing that I won't get stuck in the middle of a parking lot with a dying battery.