[quote author=Nuke link=board=5;threadid=14185;start=0#106696 date=1044906236]<br>[quote author=Broncobowsher link=board=5;threadid=14185;start=0#106680 date=1044902595]<br>Trickle chargers are a slow murder. I have seen countless batteries die on a trickle charger. <br><br>My yellow top boat battery has spent a lot of it's live in the garage. It gets a top off every couple of months from an automatic shut off battery charger. The battery sat for 2 years with about the above treatment and it still work last summer.<br>[/quote]<br><br>An "automatic shut off battery charger" is a trickle charger. :
<br>[/quote]<br>A trickle charger is a battery charger that has a very low output. Usually about 1 amp. It will keep charging the battery even when it is fully charged. Thus slowly cooing the battery to death.<br><br>The automatic shut off charger I have has 2 settings. A 2 amp and a 10 amp setting. Either one will turn off when the battery is fully charged. Not keep pumping energy into a fully charged battery. I still don’t leave the battery on the charge past the automatic shut off point (at least not much over a day anyway). <br><br>I had a weak battery I left on a trickle charger for a week once (did it over at a friend’s house). When I got back it was completely cooked. I knew it was weak before, but it would still work. When the charger was finished, it wouldn’t even light up a test light.<br><br>They do make trickle chargers with automatic shut off, but most of them I have found aren’t much better then a paperweight.<br><br>When an Optima is down, it likes to be hit hard with a lot of current, then topped off with a normal charger. How do I know this? I learned it from my uncle who is in the battery business. When I went to SEMA last year I talked to the Optima reps. They told me the same thing. <br><br>Another Optima trick, If it is really dead and the charger won’t recognize that it is hooked up to a battery. Run a set of jumper cables from the Optima/charger to another battery. The charger will sense the other battery and start running. After a little while, take off the jumper cables and the Optima will be taking in a charge.<br>