Deeply discharged optima battery....

jdmfreak

jdmfreak

PACNW
Oct 8, 2010
2,232
0
0
north clark co. WA.
I love optima batteries... but recently I let my buddy borrow mine and he said that it wont hold a charge from his alternator and that he tried charging it and his battery charger wouldn't even start charging it ....
So I was board and had given up looking up "supra vids" on YouTube and googled my battery and this is what I found



Jim McIlvaine eCare Manager said:
fintstone asked me to start a thread with instructions on how to recharge a deeply-discharged (below 10.5 volts) Optima battery.

Virtually any standard automotive battery charger on the market will charge an Optima battery just fine. However, most automotive battery chargers will not charge any battery that has been discharged below 10.5 volts. If a standard flooded battery is discharged below 10.5 volts, there’s not much of a chance that it will be serviceable again. However, AGM-style batteries, like Optimas, can be recovered from a deeply-discharged state, by using an AGM-specific charger or by parallel charging.

To charge a deeply-discharged Optima with a regular charger, you can wire a second fully-charged automotive battery (12V+) to the discharged Optima in parallel (+ to + and – to –). Then hook up the charger to either battery, setting the charger at 10 amps for 2 hours and monitoring it frequently.

When the discharged Optima reaches 10.5 volts or more, remove the second battery and continue charging the Optima until fully charged.

Typically we recommend charging at a relatively low current, such as 2 amps, but when a battery has been deeply discharged, some sulfation of the battery plates may have occurred. However, if you charge at 10 amps, the higher current will help to break up sulfation that may have occurred. If you have an automatic charger, let it run until the charger indicates charging is complete. If you have a manual charger, estimate charging time by multiplying the capacity (amp hours or Ah) of the battery by 1.2 for a rough estimate of charging time in hours.

In most cases, these steps will recover an Optima battery. It’s ok for the Optima battery to get slightly warm during the charging process, but hot to the touch or hissing from the battery indicates a short and the process should be discontinued. If you are able to fully charge the battery, but it gradually loses it's charge (without any loads on it) over 12-24 hours, the battery is probably not recoverable.

If you’d rather not deal with this process, you can always take your battery to a professional battery specialist, like Interstate, who knows AGM technology. Most of them are willing to provide “charge and check” procedures for a small fee and many will provide the service for free.

If you have any other questions, I’ll do my best to answer them. I appreciate your interest in Optima batteries!

Jim McIlvaine eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
Click to expand...


I tried it and Presto believe it or not it worked:) battery charged and is working now

So i thought i would share:)

Sent from my C771


P.s. mods please move this thread if I posted in the wrong area :) or if it would be more helpful elsewhere :) thanks
 
I

IJ.

Grumpy Old Man
Mar 30, 2005
38,728
0
0
62
I come from a land down under
I've ran my Yellow down to the point it wouldn't light up the dash lights, it bounced back fine, I've retired it to the Tractor and it has no trouble starting it even after sitting for months on end (it's 7>8 years old now)

Thanks for the heads up!
 
Poodles

Poodles

I play with fire
Jul 22, 2006
16,757
0
0
43
Fort Worth, TX
Interesting... I have a redtop in the garage that I've tried a few times to bring back to life and I haven't gotten it to hold a charge. My charger only goes to 6 amps though...
 
Supracentral

Supracentral

Active Member
Mar 30, 2005
10,542
10
36
jetjock;1817664 said:
It's an old trick that has more to do with crappy chargers than batteries. That said doesn't anyone see the obvious problem using this method?
Click to expand...

That you need a fully charged second battery to make it work?
 
jetjock

jetjock

creepy-ass cracka
Jul 11, 2005
9,439
0
0
Redacted per Title 18 USC Section 798
Be sure to hook the charger up first and then the fully charged battery because it's the charger, once activated, that limits current from the fully charged battery. Without it the discharged battery will be charged at an unlimted rate similar to what happens when a dead in-car battery is jumped and the car started. High rate charging of any battery is bad for it and can be dangerous. Note the warning in the instructions.
 
Supracentral

Supracentral

Active Member
Mar 30, 2005
10,542
10
36
jetjock;1819196 said:
Be sure to hook the charger up first and then the fully charged battery because it's the charger, once it activates, that limits current from the fully charged battery.
Click to expand...

Ok, that makes sense, since the charger completes the circuit. Might also be really important to point out that the battery shouldn't be in the car and connected while doing this...
 
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