Can you use an Optimte IIISP on a car battery?

[T84]

Just wondering, is it meant for bike batteries?

Also, is a car battery knackered once it's been fully charged?

Can I just disconnect the battery? It's an 02 Yaris...

[_gez_]

I have a CTEK for the car. It does bikes too and is switchable between the two. It outputs at 0.8Amps in bike mode and 3.6Amps in car mode. Do you know how much the Optimate kicks out?

Your second question - did you mean knackered if discharged or recharged? If the battery has been discharged for a while it might not take a charge. As long as the battery isn't overcharged you can leave it on a trickle charger like your optimate indefinitely.

[Magic919]

Optimate III is fine for a car.

[_gez_]

Just looked up the specs of an optimate 3. It doesn't really have enough power I'm afraid. It's output is only 0.6Amps and is rated for batteries between 2 and 32 Ah.

[MarJay]

Magic919 said:

Optimate III is fine for a car.

I don't think this is true.

You can get half decent car and bike chargers that automatically detect the size of the battery but I wouldn't risk A) destroying my Optimate and B) damaging my car battery or charging system.

[anonymous-user]

I have used baby Optimates on cars and they were fine.

[Viper]

_gez_ said:

Just looked up the specs of an optimate 3. It doesn't really have enough power I'm afraid. It's output is only 0.6Amps and is rated for batteries between 2 and 32 Ah.

I dont agree, i have x3 optimates and have been using them for years, on my jeep and vipers and they have huge battery's. They work fine no problem at all infact i beleive they help extent battery life as one battery went over 10 years with an optimate on it regularly

[Variomatic]

Charging at a lower than recommended rate (eg: 0.6A instead of 3 - 4A) won't cause any problem at all for the battery or charger. The downside is it'll take around 6 times as long. So,very roughly, a 50AH car battery will take about 3 1/2 days to charge from fully discharged (ignoring any losses along the way). Effectively the 0.6A output from the charger will act like a bigger charger set to trickle.

[T84]

3 days? Damn! Can it be charged by driving it for a while?

[_gez_]

Viper said:

_gez_ said:

Just looked up the specs of an optimate 3. It doesn't really have enough power I'm afraid. It's output is only 0.6Amps and is rated for batteries between 2 and 32 Ah.

I dont agree, i have x3 optimates and have been using them for years, on my jeep and vipers and they have huge battery's. They work fine no problem at all infact i beleive they help extent battery life as one battery went over 10 years with an optimate on it regularly

You are correct. I should have said it isn't ideal as explained by the the poster above. I have an optimate and an accumate on the two bikes in the garage and a CTEK on the car.

[Speed addicted]

I used the optimate to charge back up the battery in the MG (so it's fairly small). it took two days to fully charge.
So it will do it, but really slowly.

[Variomatic]

T84 said:

3 days? Damn! Can it be charged by driving it for a while?

It can but, especially with the weather we're having, it's likely to be unreliable until it's been given a decent charge. Of course, depending on how it got flat in the first place, you may have a charging fault on the car anyway in which case driving ain't gonna help!

To be honest, if you need something for occasional use like a "left the lights on" situation then get down to your local discount place and pick up the cheapest most basic car charger you can find - if you hunt you can probably find one under a tenner!

Take the battery out (or just disconnect it if you can get power near the car), connect up the charger and leave overnight.

You really DON'T need all the flashy electronic stuff most chargers have nowadays as long as you're not planning to leave it connected for days at a time! All you need is a hefty 12v transformer and a diode (slow / 6v charge) or 4 (12v fast charge), and charge till it's gassing freely on all cells. That's exactly what all garages used for the best part of a century without killing people's batteries! Just remember to switch it off when it does start gassing cos the next stage is buckling the plates

[_gez_]

T84 said:

3 days? Damn! Can it be charged by driving it for a while?

The problem with this approach this time of year is that you'll probably be using lights, heated rear window, heater fan, etc, etc, so not much left to actually charge the battery. If you could go for a long drive in the daylight and be sparing with the ancillaries then, yes.

[Magic919]

MarJay said:

Magic919 said:

Optimate III is fine for a car.

I don't think this is true.

You can get half decent car and bike chargers that automatically detect the size of the battery but I wouldn't risk A) destroying my Optimate and B) damaging my car battery or charging system.

I have an Optimate IIISP and an Optimate III and both have been used to charge my car batteries. The Optimate is convenient as I can use the maker's extension lead for the low voltage side to run to the car and keep the mains charger in the shed. I have other chargers but only use those for dead flat, off the car, battery charging.

[T84]

I think she's had her interior light on overnight, that's what's killed it. That was a day or so before it refused to start though, and she had managed to drive it to work in the morning... Strange!

[E30M3SE]

Magic919 said:

MarJay said:

Magic919 said:

Optimate III is fine for a car.

I don't think this is true.

You can get half decent car and bike chargers that automatically detect the size of the battery but I wouldn't risk A) destroying my Optimate and B) damaging my car battery or charging system.

I have an Optimate IIISP and an Optimate III and both have been used to charge my car batteries. The Optimate is convenient as I can use the maker's extension lead for the low voltage side to run to the car and keep the mains charger in the shed. I have other chargers but only use those for dead flat, off the car, battery charging.

I have been using an Optimate for 5+years on the same car, Optimate still works perfectly, battery and charging system also work perfectly.