Optima battery charger

[Stu]

Need a bit of help deciphering some info please.

I have a red top Optima battery that got run down due to my voltage regulator letting me down. I have read in plenty of places that you shouldn’t charge them with a regular charger, so emailed Optima in the States to see if they could supply a charger. This is the response I got :

“Thank you for your interest in Optima products. The Digital 1200/400 is for use with 110 Volt 60 Hz AC power consistent with U.S. and Canadian standards. We do not offer a 220V or 240V charger. The chargers are not available outside of the US & Canada.

Since there are many great battery chargers on the market, we do not have the capability of testing each one. We do not “Officially” endorse specific chargers, yet we will supply information about our charging recommendations.

The best method for consumers to maximize AGM battery performance or to recover a deeply discharged AGM battery is to use a modern AGM specific microprocessor-controlled charger with a conditioning/desulfation mode.

Below is a link to charging rate recommendations.
https://www.optimabatteries.com/support ... t/charging “


The relevant info from the link comes up as :

“REDTOP Type: 34 & 34R - 34/78 - 78 - 25 & 35 - 75/25
These batteries are designed for engine starting applications. They are NOT recommended or warranted for use in deep-cycle applications.

Recommended charging information:

Alternator:

13.3 to 15.0 volts, no amperage limit.

Battery Charger:

13.8 to 15.0 volts, 10 amps maximum, for approximately six to twelve hours.

Rapid Recharge:

Maximum voltage 15.6 volts (regulated), no current limit as long as battery temperature remains below 125°F (51.7°C). Charge until current drops below one amp.

Float Charge:

13.2 to 13.8 volts, one amp maximum current, time indefinite (at lower voltage).
Strictly adhere to all limits.”

All I really want to know is, from the plethora of chargers out there, can anyone point an electrical dunce in the right direction of one that fits the bill from the info in the link?

Tia!

[mopar_mark]

When my Optima went completely flat, it wouldn’t take a charge or I couldn’t get it to charge to full capacity. A mate of mine told me to put a charger on an old battery & add jump leads from the old battery to the Optima to charge it. I was sceptical, but it worked.

In fairness, I didn’t have a specific charger for an Optima, was a basic Halfords type charger. So this could of been the reason for not fully charging. But never worried, as it would charge through an old battery if needed

[Pete]

Interesting feedback, Mark.

I can only assume that the other battery is acting as a large smoothing capacitor that give the Optima an opportunity to change at its desired rate more efficiently.

I have a few !spare! Optima's so may give your idea a go!

[Stu]

Thanks Mark, that’s an interesting revival technique.

It’s not totally dead, thankfully I rolled into Jims as it was about to die and he had a voltage regulator in the shelf, so jumped it and got some charge on the way back. Just made me realise I don’t have the right charger and wanted to find something that would fit the bill.

[Motorama]

When my Optima went completely flat, it wouldn’t take a charge or I couldn’t get it to charge to full capacity. A mate of mine told me to put a charger on an old battery & add jump leads from the old battery to the Optima to charge it. I was sceptical, but it worked.

In fairness, I didn’t have a specific charger for an Optima, was a basic Halfords type charger. So this could of been the reason for not fully charging. But never worried, as it would charge through an old battery if needed

i have also done this in the past and it worked, more recently i have a CTEK charger that does different types of battery that has successfully charged them up, last Xmas my son got me an inexpensive NOCO charger that according to the blurb works on them though i havent tried it yet

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NOCO-GENIUS1UK ... MG3N&psc=1

[Dave999]

i have on of those Ctek computer controlled chargers

its ok, can't say i'm impressed enough to consider it a BEST BUY

It won't charge a flat battery.

in the past i have used an old 1980s charger on LOW for 1-2 hours to get some charge into the battery get its voltage to 10 volts or so

then the CTEK will work on a trickle charge over a few days to bring the battery back

i.e much the same as using 2 batteries.

when you put a good battery and a bad battery in parallel something like a Ctek charger, can see a battery of 12 volts and twice the current capacity and to the charger it now seems to have some charge and its voltage is above the 6 volt threshold.

single flat battery looks like no battery at all.

the computer based ones think the battery is faulty or that they are not connected to a battery when its really flat. which is why they won't start to charge..

Utterly useless in a siutaion where you really need to charge a battery.
Great in a situation where you don't i.e trickle top up over winter etc

other option is a cheap chinese laboratory power supply

GOPHERT NPS-1602 0-60V 0-3A 110V/220V 180W Switching Digital Adjustable DC Power Supply bout £60

https://uk.banggood.com/GOPHERT-NPS-160 ... rehouse=CN

set to 14.3 Volts and limit current to 0.5 amps and leave it for a few hours or a day then up the amps to 3 and wait until the Volt meter gets to about 13 V usually a day or 2 later, this is a slow gentle charge as most car batteries would fast charge at 5-8 amps.
Basically you will get to a point where current flowing in, is really small can't really leave this unattended and do it in a well venticlated area.


obvioulsy you need to switch it off yourself.... no auto switch off.

anything you can do with a charger you can do with power supply and its ultimately way more useful. plateing rust removal et al

look up the best charging/reclamation/restoration chargeing profile for your type of battery chemistry, on the internet. Execute manually using the settings on the supply.

i.e Gell type differs from wet type differs from AGM for lead acid
and of course all others need different processes. your lithium ion battery booster or mobile phone chageing block needs a different charging profile

https://batteryuniversity.com/article/b ... wer-supply
and
https://batteryuniversity.com/article/b ... -lead-acid
and a bit on AGM batteries
https://batteryuniversity.com/article/b ... %20battery.

PS second battery is just making the first one look like a battery... if the chargeing current needs smoothing!!!!...then your charger is busted and you battery won't like it

Dave

[Stu]

I am officially more confused than I was in the first place.

[Blue]

https://www.toolstation.com/trickle-bat ... ger/p17423. I’ve had one of these connected to my Odessey battery whenever the Barracuda is in the garage for the last 4 years. Seems to to be doing the job.

[Stu]

Cheers Blue.

[adrianp]

I've had a number of Optima's over the years (red top/yellow top) and I just used anything that's marked for an AGM battery. For trickle charging the CTEKs are great and down at the track I use one of these:

- https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke- ... y-charger/
- https://www.drapertools.com/product/534 ... ainer-10a/

adrian.

[Stu]

Thanks Adrian.

[Dave999]

was bored so went off on a ramble... apologies

charge it wiith an old style charger
then stick it on a modern one to keep it happy

or do the 2 batteries trick to get a modern one to charge it

there



Dave

[Stu]

Lol, don’t worry Dave, it’s all advice gratefully received.

I’m all sorted now, went to a local old fashioned motor factors that I did t know had sprung up down the road and they’ve walked me through it and I pick up my charger today.