Optima battery??..

Totally agree - it should be good out of the box. Fresh off a charger it will definitely be close to 13v, but don't be surprised if it depresses back to ~12.5v after a few days off the charger. Somehow I'm betting summit doesn't ship a lot of batteries, so maybe yours is old stock? Is there a date sticker on it? Typically month/year on it.

I have nothing against optima's BTW - just seen a ton of crap with them since I sold them for a while. Then again, buddy of mine swears by them and has them in every 'old' car of his and has never had an issue. I've personally seen at least one of his go 10+ years with little use, no trickle charger use, and yet it starts his scout every time he moves it to a new place in the shop (about once every 2-3 years). So there's that...

Hopefully it works for you! Chances are it will, and if this one is no bueno right out of the box at least you've got Summit behind it :thumbsup: