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Posted by: anthony Mar 28 2004, 10:23 PM

So my Optima battery won't take a charge anymore. It's so dead that I can't even jumpstart it. I left it on trickle charge for over 24 hours and it's still dead. Is this common or usually unheard of?

(Fortunately I saved the receipt for this purchase!)

Posted by: MarkV Mar 28 2004, 10:35 PM

I was told that trickle chargers don't work on a dead Optima. You need something like 60 amps to charge a dead Optima.

Posted by: GWN7 Mar 28 2004, 10:40 PM

Optima facts... http://www.optimabatteries.com/faq.asp#q6

Can you trickle charge an OPTIMA? Solar card charger?
Yes, you can use any charger on an OPTIMA as long as the voltage is regulated properly. If your charger will remain on indefinitely the voltage should be at 13.8 volts maximum with a one amp maximum current.

Posted by: Brad Roberts Mar 28 2004, 10:47 PM

I have had them die. Take it back and grab another one.



B

Posted by: anthony Mar 28 2004, 11:14 PM

Thanks, that's what I figured.

On this page,

http://www.optimabatteries.com/usingOptima/charging.asp

they say you can do

1amp ----- indefinitely
10amp ------ 8 hours
60 amp ----- 2 hours


I'd be willing to try the 50amp setting on my charger but the terminals get warm just after 10 minutes.

Posted by: James Adams Mar 29 2004, 07:35 AM

I had one that did not want to charge after being on the trickle for a long time. I changed to a higher amp charger (like 6 amps) for a few hours and it took the charge after that.

Posted by: Joe.D Mar 29 2004, 09:41 AM

At the risk of "thread hijacking", may I ask which model Optima fits the 914? The optima web site shows no listing for it. I think its a 34R (R for reversed posts, I think?)

Sorry, but a quick seach of the archives didn't reveal this, although I'm sure I read a thread on it a while ago...

Thanks
Joe

Posted by: seanery Mar 29 2004, 09:43 AM

the 34R reversed terminals fit. I have one in whitey now. But whitey used to have a 34, I liked it better than the 34R as far as fit goes.

Posted by: agentblr Mar 29 2004, 09:49 AM

DONT CHARGE IT TAKE IT BACK!! Ihad one in my carrera and it shorted out after one year.Tried to charge it but it was throwing the breaker in my charger

Posted by: anthony Mar 29 2004, 10:00 AM

I tried the 10 amp setting on my charger and that didn't help. Usually the amp meter starts at a high number and then falls to zero as the battery charges but the meter never falls no mater what mode I use the charger on or how long I charge it.

I wonder if the battery would have lived a longer life if I had disconnected the battery over the winter. In the summer I probably drive the car 2-3 times per week but in the winter I drive it maybe 0-3 times per month. Last winter there was always enough juice to start it. This winter I've had to jump it the last two times I drove it and the other day I couldn't even jump it.

Posted by: MarkV Mar 29 2004, 11:33 AM

Maybe there is something wrong with my charger. My Optima went dead for lack of use. I put the charger on the lowest setting (trickle) & left it overnight. The next day the battery was still dead. So I put the charger on the high setting & the meter still didn't move. It took about a half an hour & the meter went up to 20 amps, two hours later the battery was fully charge. The battery did get quite warm, but I think that is normal.

Their web site says that you can use a trickle charger to maintain a battery, it doesn't say anything about charging a battery that is dead.

Posted by: jkeyzer Mar 29 2004, 11:36 AM

Trickle chargers are not for charging batteries! They don't apply enough voltage to the battery to get it to properly charge. If you can get one to charge a completely dead battery you are very lucky.

Posted by: MarkV Mar 29 2004, 11:38 AM

Posted by: dinomium Mar 29 2004, 11:45 AM

I was told that when one of the Optimas go completely flat, they are done. I had the same thing happen to me. The car sat for two months with draw on the battery ( I left the turn signal on DOH). NAPA guy said it happens alot with the red tops. Costco gave me a refund...

Posted by: anthony Mar 29 2004, 03:25 PM

Well, I got some action out of the battery.

I used the higher amp setting on my charger for a couple hours. It still wasn't 100% but I was able to start the car. I'm going to try and give a full 8 hours at the higher 10 amp setting and see if that restores it.

With, regular batteries I've always been able to charge them back up using the trickle setting. Maybe the Optima is unique in this regard?

Posted by: anthony Apr 17 2004, 08:43 PM

End of story: this optima was dead. As I said before I got some charge out of it by using the 10amp setting on my charger but it would only charge up to 12 volts. And then the next morning the battery read zero volts.

And since Optimas have a 3 year free replacement warranty and then an 84 month pro-rated warranty I got a brand now for free.

Posted by: J P Stein Apr 17 2004, 08:48 PM

I kilt one with 17.5V . Ya know them funny lookin' "vents" on top?......I got green stuff to blow outta' them

They took it back (no questions asked) and gave me a new one.