Cheapest Battery Optimiser - Any Help

[tedj]

Dear all

I have an Optimate on my Griff and I can honestly say it is the best thing I have ever bought. The only problem is that I am now looking for another for the girlfriend's car. I would normally look to one of the usual places, M&P, Leven etc but does anyone know of somewhere with the cheapest ones as these are about £45? I remember seeing some on here for about £25. Can anyone help?

Thanks

[mrandy]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OXFORD-OXIMISER

mine came next day

[Guillotine]

£29.99 www.tvrmonster.com

[B16 RFF]

Halfords do one these days for about £20.

Paul.

ETA Sorry, they seem to have discontinued it.

Try Draper Tools Battery Master, code 63147. £11.00 +(p+p) from their website

Edited by B16 RFF on Tuesday 6th February 12:55

[talkwrench]

Be wary of cheap ones that claim to be proper optimisers. Theyrs often no more than low powered power supplys.
A proper optimiser only charges when necessary, puts the battery through a light charge/discharge cycle to keep the plates clean and monitors exactly what is going on.
I've tried many, believe me!
The best conditioners I've ever used are the Ctek ones. They've maintained batteries for years and kept them perfect. They actually increase battery life.
This one is the cheapest model that will do the job - I have two of these and one of the larger ones. This size is quite happy maintaining my Elise battery or my Range Rover battery. It'll manage a Griff with ease.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CTEK-MULTI-XS80

[richb]

Bought both an Optimate a few years ago and an Accumate this year from ebay both for £30. You shouldn't have ot pay more. Rich...

[sparkythecat]

talkwrench said:

The best conditioners I've ever used are the Ctek ones. They've maintained batteries for years and kept them perfect. They actually increase battery life.
This one is the cheapest model that will do the job - I have two of these and one of the larger ones. This size is quite happy maintaining my Elise battery or my Range Rover battery. It'll manage a Griff with ease.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CTEK-MULTI-XS80

The Ebay Ctek ad says "It's designed to charge 12V batteries of up to 32Ah capacity at a constant rate of 0.8 Amps per hour"

Isn't the 072 battery as fitted to the Griff/Chim 70Ah?

In which case you should be using the Ctek Multi XS 3600 which is around £50

adclicky

Edited by sparkythecat on Tuesday 6th February 23:29

[richb]

Anyway, as Andy says, £29.99 for a proper Accumate from TVR Monster is the best bet.

[talkwrench]

sparkythecat said:

The Ebay Ctek ad says "It's designed to charge 12V batteries of up to 32Ah capacity at a constant rate of 0.8 Amps per hour"

Isn't the 072 battery as fitted to the Griff/Chim 70Ah?

In which case you should be using the Ctek Multi XS 3600 which is around £50

adclicky

Edited by sparkythecat on Tuesday 6th February 23:29

Yes, use the 3600 if you wish to charge the battery - but we were discussing maintaining and conditioning the battery, not charging it. If budget is tight, the smaller unit will happily keep your battery in perfect condition for years.
The ad does state "The CTEK XS 800 is also an ideal maintenance charger for seasonal vehicles with batteries up to 100Ah."

The smaller battery tenders/optimisers or whatever you wish to call them are often not designed to charge a discharged battery.
However, the Accumate claims to be able to charge the battery too, so maybe thats your best bet. I can't comment as I've never used one - I've only used an older model of optimate and that smelt a bit odd and melted one day. All I can say is that the Ctek units are the best and most reliable units I've ever tried.

Edited by talkwrench on Wednesday 7th February 10:40

Edited by talkwrench on Wednesday 7th February 10:45

[B16 RFF]

richb said:

Anyway, as Andy says, £29.99 for a proper Accumate from TVR Monster is the best bet.

Had a bad experience with Accumate. It developed a fault, got very hot and started to melt its plastic case. It was the smell that alerted me.
Even worse, it took the Griff's battery with it. I suppose it could have been the other way round, and the car battery took out the Accumate, but surely the output stage should have been protected against a short circuit?


Paul.