Optima battery

mrtexas

mrtexas

Well-known member
The 12v optima battery in one of my antique cars had been sitting for a few months. I put the battery charger on it and the auto charger thought it was a 6v. So I jerked it out and jumped it to my Honda. That got the voltage above 6v so the charger recognized it as a 12v battery. Then I had to select slow charge it to get it up to charge which is a long wait. Not much experience with optima batteries.

Is this the normal routine for an optima battery neglected a few months?

Should I put it on a trickle charge all the time I'm not using it?
 
I have a trickle charger on mine because ive went through a couple of batteries because ive let them go flat too many times, the optima is too expensive to let it keep going flat and maybe not come back one day.
 
I believe trickle is the best for those types of batteries.

I have two. One about 8yrs old and another about 3. work great, I disconnect when not in use and charge with a basic 6v schumacher charger occasional. Pull for winter, probably not a issue for you.
 
The trickle charger is the best way to bring the Optima back to life but you need to remember the battery is an AGM type so using an older charger for standard lead acid battery's is not really the best charger to restore life in the AGM type battery. I use a $20.00 two amp Schumacher brand charger I purchased at Home Depot to charge my Optima its good for lead acid and AGM battery's its slow going but it works great. Another way to charge the AGM if you only have a lead acid charger is to first connect the AGM battery to a lead acid battery next connect the charger to the lead acid battery. Sounds strange but that's a good way to do it if your charger is not rated for the AGM type battery.
Ronnieroadster
 
I should have mentioned my Schumacher has a setting for 12v-6v and open - closed cells. Think it ran about 40$ at the time. I've dropped it a few times so its a bit dented but works great. :)
 
I expect the car to start even after 6-8 months of sitting, never tricle charge---or other charger, only driving, but I have the stock 6V system ---got 16 years from the last optima using "neglect" ----and I run bright halogen bulbs too

I have some yery old chargers, I have revived "bad" optima batterys with them, no need for a "fooling" battery to get the charging started
 
Only had one that never came back. It was DEAD.
Sitting (unconnected) in a car for 5 years though
is really hard on any battery.
Couldn't bring that one back, no matter what I tried.
Even the in-parallel charging trick didn't do it.
I have Optimas in 3 of the 5 vehicles at my place.
The Optima quality isn't quite what it was 20 years
ago under Gylling but they're still pretty decent.
 
We've used optima batteries on our endurance race cars for a few years now and use their charger to maintain and occasionally bring one back to life. If you run an Otima batteries should you should use one of Optima's computer controlled charger to maintain the battery. Here's the least expensive (and the one we use) charger: http://www.jegs.com/i/Optima-Batter...bWqddfECB9EN9ytnQZ3WoRypLKeLDfvwaAiQmEALw_wcB. It can perform magic onn these AGM batteries. There is a more full-featured model but this $90 version has proven adequate with our batteries.
 
Unfortunately Optima do not make a charger for their 6 volt batteries, only for 12 volt. Regards, Kevin.
 
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I have some yery old chargers, I have revived "bad" optima batterys with them, no need for a "fooling" battery to get the charging started[/QUOTE]
Optima suggests using a good battery to fool some chargers that won't charge a battery that's less than 10.5v.
 
we had a cord in our shop waiting for ir,s owner to decide if he wanted to restore it it sat two years with an optima batt. when he said do it i sat in the car & tried starting it . it started right up. the cord is 6v & a v8 eng. if you ask why we let it sit two years we do at least two restros a year for him he is a very good client
 
Lets face the facts that an Optima battery is a lead acid battery and not really a lot different to a normal lead acid battery whose plates swim in a bath of diluted sulphuric acid. The optima has the acid or electrolyte enclosed within the plates that take up all the space inside the battery case because of the SWISS ROLL construction. No battery should be allowed to sit unused in a vehicle or otherwise in a state of discharge of more than about 20% (unless its a deep cycle type) regardless of the time its sitting there. Having said that I have had several optimas sitting around for 8 years or more(not in cars) that have been still OK and only charged now and then. The big advantage with an optima is the large working surface area of the plates compared to a normal battery the same outside dimensions. That's why the optima has larger cranking amps capacity, simple really. You have to look after all your batteries ESPECIALLY if they are idle and check them every month for voltage. Every sitting around type vehicle should have a battery isolating switch to prevent any possible drain into the vehicle of the battery. A low charge of one to 4 amps for a day or so each couple of months will keep them up. I don't leave batteries on trickle charge indefinitely. I have used optima batteries in a fleet of high drain commercial vehicles (big city fire engines) for more then 30 years and found them to be the best battery for power and service under very tough conditions. The 6 volt optima is the best 6 volt battery for antique vehicles by a long shot in my opinion, but I know others will differ. Some just because they are not made in the USA any more. I have an optima red top in my 1988 Toyota Hi-Lux Utility for 19 years. Regards, Kevin.
 
I have two battery maintainers, one 12 volt Harbor Freight, and an eBay 6 volt clone of the HF model. During the winter the 12 volt one does duty on my garden tractor, the 6 volt one on my '41 coupe.
 
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