OPTIMA^® Batteries and the Golden State Foods Foundation officially announced a partnership today to support children through an all-new charitable Build-A-Bike program. This charitable element integrated into the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car franchise will work to leave a lasting, positive impact on the communities where key performance automotive and industry events take place. The Golden State Foods Foundation, a non-profit organization established to help children in need, was the ideal partner for the Build-A-Bike charitable program.

Together the two organizations aim to instill the same passion for customization among children across America by providing them with an opportunity to build and customize their own bicycle next to industry insiders and enthusiasts, while giving them a memorable and positive experience.

“As a kid, the first vehicle I can remember taking pride in and customizing was my bike,” said Cam Douglas, Director of Product Development and Marketing for OPTIMA Batteries. “I think a lot of folks in the automotive enthusiast community feel the same way. And they can remember what it was like to add new chrome cranks or pegs, put on decals or install a new seat. It’s where we first started to discover our passion for the industry.”

A series of four total OPTIMA Build-A-Bike events will occur at OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car events where children will assemble bicycles with the help of industry volunteers. These events include:

o   OPTIMA Faceoff at HOT ROD Power Tour

Friday, June 8, 2012

Location: QuikTrip Park (1600 Lonestar Pkwy, Grand Prairie, TX 75050)

o   OPTIMA Faceoff at Road America

Friday, June 22, 2012

Location: Andrew¹s Chevrolet (1500 W. Silver Spring Drive, Milwaukee, WI 53209)

o   Holley LSFest

Friday, September 7, 2012

Location: Beech Bend Raceway Park (798 Beech Bend Road, Bowling Green, KY 42101)

o   2012 SEMA Show

Friday, November 2, 2012

Location: Las Vegas, NV

In order to raise funds for the bicycles and helmets OPTIMA Batteries and the Golden State Foods Foundation have arranged an online auction on eBay. The auction, which runs from July 5, 2012, at 7 p.m. PDT through July 15 at 7 p.m. PDT, is open to all U.S. and Canadian residents. Items in the auction range from high-end automotive parts packages to exclusive VIP experiences to custom made bicycles. Auction Cause, an online cause marketing agency, will manage the auction. For a full list of auction items and additional information about the OPTIMA Build-A-Bike program visit http://www.optimabuildabike.com.

“We are proud to be partners with OPTIMA Batteries,” said Mark Wetterau, Chairman and CEO of Golden States Food. “Through our partnership young people in four communities across America will have an opportunity to build a bike and at the end of the day, ride off with a new sense of purpose and belief in themselves.”

Several industry celebrities and organizations have stepped up in support of OPTIMA’s Build-A-Bike charity initiative. Troy Ladd, of Hollywood HOT RODS, built a bicycle and custom painted guitar in the traditional Hollywood HOT ROD style. Pete Chapouris and Jimmy Shine, the legends behind So-Cal Speed Shop, also built a custom designed bicycle for the Build-A-Bike auction. The attention to detail and overall look from both shops mirrors the fine work that goes into their vehicles.

Other companies and industry figures that have contributed to the auction include: Monster Jam^®, Wilwood Disc Brakes, K&N Filters, MagnaFlow, Former WCW and WWE Wrestler Bill Goldberg, MSD, Vintage Air, Chris Alston’s Chassiswork, the World Challenge SCCA Pro Racing series, Offshore Powerboat Association and drag racing legends Tom McEwen and Don Prudhomme (on behalf of Beckett Media) among others.

“It’s been amazing to see the industry come together to make a difference in the lives of these kids,” said Douglass. “Based on this year’s success we’re hoping to expand the program to give out even more bicycles and reach more markets in the future.”

To find more information on OPTIMA’s Build-A-Bike program including volunteer opportunities and a full list of auction items, please visit http://www.optimabuildabike.com/

About OPTIMA^® Batteries
OPTIMA^® YellowTop^®, RedTop^® and BlueTop^® batteries are available through leading battery distributors globally. When looking for OPTIMA Batteries consumers should look for the unique, colored-top and SIXPACK™ design which OPTIMA is known throughout the world. In 2012, OPTIMA added to its product line with the innovative OPTIMA^® Chargers Digital 1200 Battery Charger for all automotive and marine batteries. To find out more information or purchase OPTIMA products consumers may visit www.optimabatteries.com. Consumers can also call 1-888-8OPTIMA (1-888-867-8462) for additional information.

OPTIMA Batteries are manufactured by Johnson Controls, Inc. Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI – News) is the global leader that brings ingenuity to the places where people live, work and travel. By integrating technologies, products and services, we create smart environments that redefine the relationships between people and their surroundings. Our team of more than 150,000 employees creates a more comfortable, safe and sustainable world through our products and services for more than 200 million vehicles, 12 million homes and one million commercial buildings. Our commitment to sustainability drives our environmental stewardship, good corporate citizenship in our workplaces and communities, and the products and services we provide to customers. For additional information, please visit http://www.johnsoncontrols.com.

About GSF Foundation and Golden State Foods

The Golden State Foods Foundation (GSF Foundation) is a non-profit organization established to help children and families in need. A natural extension of Golden State Foods’ value-based business, the Foundation is designed to improve the lives of individuals in the areas where GSF’s associates live and work through personal involvement and contributions. More than 80 percent of GSF associates participate in the Foundation, leading its 26 local committees throughout the U.S. A key differentiator for the Foundation is 100 percent of all donated monies go directly to its charitable partners or programs. For more information, please visit www.gsffoundation.org. Golden State Foods is a $5 billion diversified supplier to the quick service industry. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif. the 65-year-old company services more than 20,000 restaurants in more than 50 countries. Its core businesses include: processing and distribution of liquid products, meat, produce, bakery and other services. For more information, visit www.goldenstatefoods.com.

Did you know many of the “bad” batteries returned to retailers are really just deeply-discharged and work fine, when properly-recharged?  Unfortunately, many battery chargers simply will not work on batteries that have been discharged below a minimum voltage level, which can be as high as 10.5 volts!

OPTIMA’s new Digital 1200 12-volt battery charger can recover many deeply-discharged batteries, including batteries discharged all the way down to 1.25 volts!  That’s great news for any battery owner, but what if you don’t own one of these chargers yet?

There are some other methods for recovering deeply-discharged batteries and we decided to create a YouTube video, which explains the options most consumers have in recovering deeply-discharged batteries.  Be sure to check it out, because the few minutes you spend watching that video could end up saving you time and money that might otherwise be spent buying a new battery.

Have you heard of Pinterest yet?  If not, let us bring you up to speed.  Pinterest is a site for sharing photos and originally became very popular with women.  While that is still the case, an increasing number of men are signing up. Why would men care about new hairstyles, favorite recipes or fashion tips?  They may not, but Pinterest has plenty of photos that interest men as well.

We signed up a while back and we’ll admit, we’re pretty addicted to it.  Pinterest allows you to create your own cyber bulletin boards, where you can “pin” your favorite pictures.  OPTIMA now has 14 such boards, each dedicated to something different.

If you want to see photos of vehicles from SEMA, we have a board dedicated to it.  The same is true for drag racing, open road and salt flat racing, boat racing and tournament fishing, off road, road racing and autocross racing and a board that shows our favorite places to do all of that stuff and more.  We even have boards set up just for station wagons, red vehicles, yellow vehicles and blue vehicles!  If users find a board they like, they can follow updates to that board or every board from that user.

Pinterest also has an app that allows you to view photos on your smart phone.  Stuck at a doctor’s office with a stack of Ladies Home Journal and National Geographic and not a hot rod magazines in sight?  Open up your Pinterest app and start browsing photos of the most-amazing vehicles on the planet.  If you have a thing for non-Cobra Jet ’69 Mercury Cyclones, search for those and start pinning them to your own board.  If you still aren’t convinced, check out OPTIMA’s pinboards and see if there aren’t more than a few photos that appeal to you.  Once you check it out, we think you’ll get hooked!  Once you sign up, be sure to follow a few of our boards, so you’ll know what is going on in the world of OPTIMA.

Unfortunately, the story behind this Group D27M BlueTop is a familiar one.  It’s owner contacted us, frustrated with the performance of his battery.  Even though the battery was well outside of warranty coverage, it’s owner felt OPTIMA owed him some sort of resolution, because he couldn’t get the battery to charge above 12.5 volts.

The best we could offer was to send him another battery that we knew tested good, but also had no warranty, in exchange for his battery.  When his old battery arrived, it sat under a desk for almost a week, before we had a chance to check and charge it. Surprisingly, the battery measured 12.57 volts, even though the owner claimed he couldn’t get his charger to charge it up to 12.5 volts.

After measuring the initial voltage, we connected it to the OPTIMA Digital 1200 battery charger. With one touch convenience, the charger went to work, recharging the battery.  A few hours later, the voltage measured a solid 13.02 volts, well within the range of what would be considered acceptable for this battery.  Is the OPTIMA Digital 1200 a miracle worker for batteries?  While it is capable of charging batteries that have been deeply-discharged down to 1.25 volts, it may not have performed any miracles on this battery.

The pre-charge voltage indicated the battery likely had more voltage than the owner realized.  If that is the case, it would be the second time in the last two weeks that we’ve heard from someone who was getting incorrect voltage readings on their battery.  If it did recover a battery that the original owner couldn’t manage to charge properly, then the OPTIMA Digital 1200 battery charger could have already paid for itself with one use, as a new D27M BlueTop will run $254.99 at shop.optimabatteries.com before a $25 mail-in rebate, while the OPTIMA Digital 1200 battery charger is only $199.99.

In hindsight, we wished we had tried to first recharge the battery with a regular battery charger, just to see if the owner was getting incorrect voltage readings.  Either way, it is a good idea to check the voltage before and after charging, to make sure the battery charger is doing it’s job and if the voltage readings seem unusual, that the volt meter is doing it’s job.

With the NHRA and World Challenge both having a weekend in between races, it was beginning to look like a relatively-quiet weekend in the world of OPTIMA Batteries.  Quiet is a relative term, as the Lucas Oil Off Road Series was making a stop at Lake Elsinore and we knew they wouldn’t disappoint.

If you missed out on the action out on the off road race action, be sure to check out our photo album for some incredible shots. OPTIMA Jim & Ryan Hoffins also spent the latter part of last week out West, filming new Tech Tips videos for OPTIMA’s YouTube Channel, which should be posted shortly.  When filming wrapped up early on Friday, the boys headed over to the Picture Car Warehouse, where they ran into Popular Hot Rodding magazine editor, Johnny Hunkins, several motorcycles from Ghost Rider and a Mopar freak, named Kenny Wayne Shepherd, who plays guitar for a living.  You can find the pictures for that trip in this album.

The B.A.S.S. Elite Series traveled to Bull Shoals, where Edwin Evers led the way for OPTIMA-sponsored anglers, with a fourth-place finish, mere ounces away from second place.  However, the big OPTIMA fishing news for the weekend came out of da Nort’ country, where OPTIMA pro walleye angler, Tommy Skarlis won the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour season opener on the Mississippi river.

All in all it was a pretty solid weekend for mid-April.  Next weekend promises to bring more of the same, as the NHRA and World Challenge are back in action.  Last weekend’s World Challenge race will also air on NBC next Sunday at 3PM Eastern, so be sure to set your DVRs to record.