Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Need some basic knowledge before i dive in

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #16
    Originally posted by PNjunction View Post
    Just a quick check since I can't really tell ... hope that Blue Top of yours has a light gray case, and NOT the black case, which is the SLI version.

    (The only real difference is in the acid/water ratio of the electrolyte)

    The algo tells all. When it comes to agm charging, most consumer chargers are too timid, or go totally overboard. Trying to find those I like is like searching for the "Goldilocks boundary". I have no problem keeping the Optima chargers around.

    At the very least, it makes a GREAT way for newbies doing the agm thing to make sure they start out on the right foot for eventual solar charging.

    WARNING: I AVOID any sort of included usb-port charging that comes with a lot of stuff these days. I'm not going to take the risk of blowing out that stupid usb port, and having it take down the whole logic board of the thing I really purchased it for in the first place! Just not worth it to me. Fluff.
    Yes. My Blue Top Optima is the D27M light grey body with a C20 rating of 66Ah. I bought it back in October of 2012 and it still is holding a pretty good charge but I doubt it will provide what the nameplate says after this long a time even with minimal deep cycles.

    Comment


    • #17
      You may be surprised. You can do a 50% DOD test pretty easily and quickly with a 10-hour test instead of a 20-hour. We'll pull power at the 20 hour rate, but only do so for 10 hours / 50% DOD - at least on paper.

      Discharge it a bit, and then recharge with your agressive Schumacher on the "gel" setting. (again lurkers, this is for the overly-agressive Schumachers ONLY)

      Find a load that pull near 33 watts. A non-led bulb like a 40W "equivalent" that I have pulls 29 watts. Eh, close enough.

      Discharge that for 10 hours with an inexpensive msw inverter. Generally, the inverter means dividing that ac load wattage by 10 (not 12v in case any lurkers are wondering) to help account for inefficiency. So one is basically near the 3.3A pull at the *battery* terminals for 10 hours.

      After discharge, disconnect inverter, and let it rest for at least 12 hours. Assuming the battery isn't shot, it should be resting near 12.2v.

      Btw, the 100% charge indicator on the Optima charger doesn't illuminate until AFTER the 3-hour conditioning has been completed. And, if you watch things like a hawk like me, you still aren't truly done! Allow it to float for at least 12 hours before storage. After conditioning, the battery is basically in a highly excited state, and when it drops to float, you may observe it pulling little to no current. A few hours later after settling, you will see more current in float mode being pulled, before that too settles.
      Last edited by PNjunction; 12-01-2016, 03:14 PM.

      Comment


      • #18
        I will try that the next time I have some spare time to play with it. Most of my "play" time lately has been scheduled by my better half. Something about working on the condo getting it ready for sale before we start on our home to get that ready for sale. Then it will be on to the retirement home to get that ready to be built. I think I need a vacation but she probably has that scheduled as well.

        Comment

        Working...
        X