Optimate Oddity - thoughts?

[breamster]

I have a car sat in the garage for most of time. It is connected to an old Optimate trickle charger 24*7. The charger has lights to show when it is charging and when its in "maintenance."

The old battery was damaged (possibly by overcharging??) and have been replaced.

The Optimate despite being left on for a 3-4 days still has the charge light permanently lit on a brand new battery. I would have thought by now it should have switched to maintenance mode?

Any thoughts? Am I right to assume the Optimate charger is toast and replace it? If so any (cheap) recommendations?

[GreenV8S]

I'd check the battery voltage and current. That will tell you whether the battery is fully charged and what the charger is doing to it.

Was this the same charger used on the battery you mentioned that failed?

[breamster]

GreenV8S said:

I'd check the battery voltage and current. That will tell you whether the battery is fully charged and what the charger is doing to it.

Was this the same charger used on the battery you mentioned that failed?

Yes - the same charger. The car also had a bad voltage regulator (now replaced) which could have caused the bad battery as well just to confuse things.

Voltage on battery is good at 13.9v.

[breamster]

breamster said:

GreenV8S said:

I'd check the battery voltage and current. That will tell you whether the battery is fully charged and what the charger is doing to it.

Was this the same charger used on the battery you mentioned that failed?

Yes - the same charger. The car also had a bad voltage regulator (now replaced) which could have caused the bad battery as well just to confuse things.

Voltage on battery is good at 13.9v.

I answered my own question!

The charge is very old anyway. I'll order a replacement shortly.

[GreenV8S]

breamster said:

Voltage on battery is good at 13.9v.

That seems rather high for a maintenance charge and suggests your battery charger is overcharging the battery. I suggest you disconnect it immediately to avoid any further damage.