Battery choice, Optima vs. Napa Orbital Options

[Bartlett 914]

I have an Orbital battery in my car. This was supplied by NAPA auto. It is a little over 2 years old and now it won't hold a charge. The car was stored inside and it was kept from freezing. The battery was very low when I went to start up the car this Spring. It did crank so the battery was not fully discharged. I charged it up and the car started. Next morning dead again. I had an Optima in my van for several years without any problems. Has anyone here had problems with the Orbital battery? It is in pro rated warranty period now. NAPA wants 120 to replace it. I paid 120 for it. A new battery is 140. Some warranty.

[Matt Meyer]

Yea- I know I have something wrong with my car. It does not even have a clock or a radio.

It came with the quick disconnect negitive terminal screw. I unscrew that pretty much anytime the engine is off, as was the PO.

I am not sure where to start to trouble shoot that one and haven't tried in almost 5 years.

How that relates though; If I get home and expect to go right back out or forget to unscrew the terminal the battery is completely dead in a couple of days, (will usually start if sitting overnight). So I have drained the battery dead at least 4 times in the last almost 5 years. That should kill a red-top and be very hard on any lead-acid battery.

My red-top is still going strong (knock on wood). I can only assume that the Craftsman battery charger is adjusting the voltage properly while charging, prolonging the life of the battery.

For the record, usually the "fully charged" light comes on within half a minute or so when I turn on the charger and the battery has been disconnected. I sometimes leave it on overnight anyway on the automatic setting. The manual cautions not to leave it on for extended periods, but when the battery is fully charged it goes into a maintenance mode.

[Bartlett 914]

Yea- I know I have something wrong with my car. It does not even have a clock or a radio.

It came with the quick disconnect negitive terminal screw. I unscrew that pretty much anytime the engine is off, as was the PO.

I am not sure where to start to trouble shoot that one and haven't tried in almost 5 years.

Get an amp meter or use the 2000ma mode in your multimeter. Pull all the wires off the positive post. Put the meter from the positive post to each one of the red wires. If you get a reading on one, then this is the current drain source. Now you must find out what this circuit feeds and go from there. The large red wire is for the starter only. If this is draining current then you have a ground in the starter or solenoid.