I recently ordered and received the updated version of the old standby techMATE OptiMATE 3 (their funky capitalization, not mine) battery charger.
I had been using a cheap-o trickle charger, purchased from WalMart (aka Satan's Asshole) for tending my various power sports batteries over the long New England winters. However, I was losing confidence that the cheap-o was doing a good job since every time I moved the charger to a new battery (I have 7 or 8 on life support) it would show "charging" for only a few minutes then switch into standby float mode.
The Optimate chargers have several advanced features that make them superior to the run-of-the-mill battery tenders. For one thing, if a battery is heavily discharged and left for any length of time it may develop sulfate deposition on the lead plates. The Optimates have a "desulphate" mode where it blasts the battery with a higher voltage at a limited current. It also has a unique "cycling" during the maintain mode where it lets the battery rest with no charging for 30 minutes and then runs the trickle charge for 30 minutes. This allows the unit to identify a problem battery, and also allows a higher charge state than just holding to a constant float voltage.
The new style "+" has standard SAE charger connections in lieu of the proprietary connectors used in earlier versions. Since SAE is the defacto standard in powersport battery chargers, it only makes sense to use these for compatibility with the rest of the world. It also comes with an SAE to oversize alligator clip cable and one fused SAE to ring-lug battery tender style cable suitable for hard wiring to your battery. This cable has a nice red rubber weather tight cover for the end of the cable to keep out dirt and moisture when not in use. The new unit also has a sealed ventless, splash-proof case which is more modern looking than the old "3".
I searched the web for outfits selling this new unit and found it is available from HandsonTools.com for $41.18 plus reasonable UPS ground shipping. My order totaled just $49.42 and arrived in New Hampshire in 3 business days, drop shipped from Altoona, PA.
I hooked it up to each of my batteries and it analyzed each of them as not requiring desulphation (whew). I allowed it to run a couple of the 1 hour cycles on each one. Now that they have each had a taste, I'll leave the charger on each of my batteries for a day or two before moving on to the next patient.
Both the charger and HandsonTools are FredW: "Recommended" :thumbsup:
https://www.handsontools.com/assets/images/optimate3(1).jpg
I had been using a cheap-o trickle charger, purchased from WalMart (aka Satan's Asshole) for tending my various power sports batteries over the long New England winters. However, I was losing confidence that the cheap-o was doing a good job since every time I moved the charger to a new battery (I have 7 or 8 on life support) it would show "charging" for only a few minutes then switch into standby float mode.
The Optimate chargers have several advanced features that make them superior to the run-of-the-mill battery tenders. For one thing, if a battery is heavily discharged and left for any length of time it may develop sulfate deposition on the lead plates. The Optimates have a "desulphate" mode where it blasts the battery with a higher voltage at a limited current. It also has a unique "cycling" during the maintain mode where it lets the battery rest with no charging for 30 minutes and then runs the trickle charge for 30 minutes. This allows the unit to identify a problem battery, and also allows a higher charge state than just holding to a constant float voltage.
The new style "+" has standard SAE charger connections in lieu of the proprietary connectors used in earlier versions. Since SAE is the defacto standard in powersport battery chargers, it only makes sense to use these for compatibility with the rest of the world. It also comes with an SAE to oversize alligator clip cable and one fused SAE to ring-lug battery tender style cable suitable for hard wiring to your battery. This cable has a nice red rubber weather tight cover for the end of the cable to keep out dirt and moisture when not in use. The new unit also has a sealed ventless, splash-proof case which is more modern looking than the old "3".
I searched the web for outfits selling this new unit and found it is available from HandsonTools.com for $41.18 plus reasonable UPS ground shipping. My order totaled just $49.42 and arrived in New Hampshire in 3 business days, drop shipped from Altoona, PA.
I hooked it up to each of my batteries and it analyzed each of them as not requiring desulphation (whew). I allowed it to run a couple of the 1 hour cycles on each one. Now that they have each had a taste, I'll leave the charger on each of my batteries for a day or two before moving on to the next patient.
Both the charger and HandsonTools are FredW: "Recommended" :thumbsup:
https://www.handsontools.com/assets/images/optimate3(1).jpg
