Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

What are the negatives to using a non AGM type charger on an Optima battery? What is a suitable charger for between round charging car battery and a seperate charger for trailer battery maintenance? The trailer charger will operate every time the generator is run. Both car and trailer batteries will likely be Optima type.

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

I've used a Red Top Optima battery for years and never used a "special" battery charger.Never had a problem either.

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

While it may not be common,I, DO NOT recommend using a regular battery charger on any type of AGM battery.....I was bench charging one of my Optimas and was gone for a few minutes and when I came back there was a flame coming out of the vent a good 6 to 8 inches high (it was set on low).....I am glad it was on the bench and not in the car, there would have been nothing left......

D L Rambo.....

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

Can. tire had a nascar (schumacher) m/prossesor charger on sale last week 40% off,for 70.00. Has agm, deep cycle, etc. good charger. Sometimes they will give last weeks sale price. gsa612

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

CTEK is supposedly what Optima recommends.

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

Optima has their own charger coming out this Spring, here's a link to it -

http://www.optimabatteries.com/optima_products/charger/

Here's some charging information on the Optima/AGM batteries -

http://www.optimabatteries.com/produ...t/charging.php

Good Luck!

Lew

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

Might be a good idea to get that charger checked out.

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

Not an issue with the charger, the charger couldn't sense the charge condition of the battery and because of that didn't "back down" the charge rate....I install charging systems in emergency vehicles that are connected 24/7 and you need a system that can sense the charge and roll it back so as not to cook the battery but still left on the battery so it maintains it's full charge....

D L Rambo.....

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

Lew,

Thanks for the good info.

JimR

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

Yes Lew thank you for the info. If I'd had my thinking cap on I should have went to the Optima site in the first place! Having said that this has provided some technical dialogue. Bonus! Doug

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

Along the lines of what magnumv8 said, I've been using "automatic" battery chargers on Optima and Odyssey batteries for years with no issues and getting long life out of the batteries. I've used a Schumacher auto taper charge with 2amp and 10 amp switches. At the moment I forget the name of the brand I'm using now, but it's a well know company who makes a variety of crappy tools. "Orange" is their color. But this battery charger has been working well and it basically goes into a trickle cycle to maintain it once fully charged.

I've always heard that it's important to keep batteries fully charged, so I keep them up during the races and fully charge them as soon as I can after the races.

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

Just going to add my 2 cents to this thread...........

I learned a trick about charging gel-cell batteries from when they first came on the market....

If your gel-cell will not take a charge try the procedure below....

Take your charger and connect the cables to a conventional lead-acid battery next you connect, in parallel (negative to negative and positive to positive, + to + and - to -), your gel-cell battery with a pair of jumper cables. Turn on your charger with the lowest charging rate that you have…..

This will put a load on the charger and act as an electrical damper for the gel-cell.....

I have brought many gel-cells back to life with this procedure.....

Bob

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

Bob Mulry you have a PM

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

I have this Black & Decker that I like a lot. It was recommended by a racer friend with three cars and three of these chargers. It has settings for wet cell, AGM, and Gell Cell. Works great with the Optimas in the race car and the deep cycle wet cells in the trailer.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00..._ya_os_product

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

I've used the Diehard Microprocessor controlled charger for years to charge two Optima red tops at once and it works great.
It has specific settings for AGM batteries and limits the charging voltagefor them.


http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...25000P?prdNo=8

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

Schumacher's "Speed Charger" also has a specific AGM/Gel Cell setting as well Deep Cycle and Regular settings

Not a fan of optima batteries. AC Delco in my cars

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

I use http://smartercharger.com/ and like them..they are also waterproof. I use Optima batteries in all race cars and tow vehicles. They work great.

Phil

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

I work for the company thats owns Optima. Battery Tender is what I use, CTECH is good too. We also make our own charger now. The key with all the Optima whether red, yellow or blue is that the charge voltage can not go over 14.5volts. If you had a charger that put 500 amps thru a battery it would be fine in charging an Optima as long as the voltage stayed below 14.5 volts.

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

The Battery Tender and CTECH may be the better suited for battery maintenance but will they get the job done between rounds? Or do these Optima type batteries just perform that much better between rounds? I've yet to have a battery that I had absolute confidence in.

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

I use a Coleman Powermate Pulse 1850 portable generator with a "built in" battery charger. I use it on my Optima between most every round. Been doing it for years. No issues as of yet. Am I asking for trouble?

Re: Battery charger choice for Optima type battery?
 

I have been using a Wal-Mart brand 1.5 amp battery maintainer on a yellow top Optima battery for the last 6 years.....has been working great. Did I just jinx my battery?....

Just bought a 5 watt solar powered battery maintainer of Northern Tools, gonna see how well that works here in sunny AZ