Help! Severly Discharged Optima Bluetop
#1
09-25-2010 | 09:32 PM
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Help! Severly Discharged Optima Bluetop
Hey,
I am currently running one optima red top in my truck, had it for a year and I am very impressed! I just came across a deal on a discharged Optima Blue Top that came out of my friends boat and I offered him $20 for it. If it charges it does and if it doesn't it's only $20.
I read on optimas site to hook up a battery in parallel and hook a charger at 10amps to either battery and let charge for 2 hours. This doesn't seem to do much but my battery went from 10volts to about 11.4 but the % battery read out on my charger shows only about 10% after the battery sits for a few minutes. I have a schumacher Ship n' shore charger that charges at 2 10 and 15 amps. It also has a desulfation mode which i have ran the battery through twice. Again, I have brought the voltage up just not the %. I was considering using a battery isolator and running a dual battery setup in my truck if I can ever get this one charged up, but thats another day.
Any assistance? I may try to take the battery to a battery shop on monday afternoon to get them to do a short 100amp charge, but until then is there anything to try?
I am currently running one optima red top in my truck, had it for a year and I am very impressed! I just came across a deal on a discharged Optima Blue Top that came out of my friends boat and I offered him $20 for it. If it charges it does and if it doesn't it's only $20.
I read on optimas site to hook up a battery in parallel and hook a charger at 10amps to either battery and let charge for 2 hours. This doesn't seem to do much but my battery went from 10volts to about 11.4 but the % battery read out on my charger shows only about 10% after the battery sits for a few minutes. I have a schumacher Ship n' shore charger that charges at 2 10 and 15 amps. It also has a desulfation mode which i have ran the battery through twice. Again, I have brought the voltage up just not the %. I was considering using a battery isolator and running a dual battery setup in my truck if I can ever get this one charged up, but thats another day.
Any assistance? I may try to take the battery to a battery shop on monday afternoon to get them to do a short 100amp charge, but until then is there anything to try?
#3
09-25-2010 | 11:49 PM
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Joined: Apr 2006
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From: Indiana
I think your idea of taking it to a shop that will charge batteries is your best bet. Many autoparts stores and Sears will do this for free.
I do not claim to have any significant knowledge of vehicle batteries, but I can share a recent experience...
I own a 1994 T-bird I use as a beater to drive to and from work, mostly around town, etc... to help keep the miles off my '05 Expedition. The ole T-bird has a current leak of about 0.18 Amps somewhere I have yet to track down, and if I leave it set without starting it more than 5 or 6 days the battery will not have enough power to re-start the motor. When I first bought it last year ($800) the car needed a little work, so it sat in my garage almost a month before I tried to start the motor again...and discovered my battery was at about 6 volts.
I figured no big deal, just put the charger on it. My charger is similar to your own, mine is a Sears brand, but was still around $30 brand new. All the charger would do was kick on and off, the meter would peg and then drop back to fully charged repeatedly. I went ahead and left the charger on over night only to find it still pegging the next morning...and the battery was still only about 6 volts.
Figuring it needed replaced, and finding it was a less than 2 years old Sears die-hard, I took it to Sears hoping to get a little break from the pro-rated warranty. They placed the battery on a "quick charge" (perhaps this 100amp setting you mentioned) and told me that it did not work, but they could do a slow 24 hour charge that might work. I left the battery with them and returned the next evening to find my battery fully re-charged.
Long winded story short, my advice is if your battery is low and your charger is not helping...take it some place with a better charger before you give up!
I was prepared to drop a $100 on a new battery and ended up not spending a dime.
Best of luck, if you get that optima working you got one hell of a deal.
Mike
I do not claim to have any significant knowledge of vehicle batteries, but I can share a recent experience...
I own a 1994 T-bird I use as a beater to drive to and from work, mostly around town, etc... to help keep the miles off my '05 Expedition. The ole T-bird has a current leak of about 0.18 Amps somewhere I have yet to track down, and if I leave it set without starting it more than 5 or 6 days the battery will not have enough power to re-start the motor. When I first bought it last year ($800) the car needed a little work, so it sat in my garage almost a month before I tried to start the motor again...and discovered my battery was at about 6 volts.
I figured no big deal, just put the charger on it. My charger is similar to your own, mine is a Sears brand, but was still around $30 brand new. All the charger would do was kick on and off, the meter would peg and then drop back to fully charged repeatedly. I went ahead and left the charger on over night only to find it still pegging the next morning...and the battery was still only about 6 volts.
Figuring it needed replaced, and finding it was a less than 2 years old Sears die-hard, I took it to Sears hoping to get a little break from the pro-rated warranty. They placed the battery on a "quick charge" (perhaps this 100amp setting you mentioned) and told me that it did not work, but they could do a slow 24 hour charge that might work. I left the battery with them and returned the next evening to find my battery fully re-charged.
Long winded story short, my advice is if your battery is low and your charger is not helping...take it some place with a better charger before you give up!
I was prepared to drop a $100 on a new battery and ended up not spending a dime.Best of luck, if you get that optima working you got one hell of a deal.
Mike
#4
09-26-2010 | 12:13 AM
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From: In the fast lane from LA to Tokyo...
#5
09-26-2010 | 01:48 PM
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Thanks for the replies,
I was aware of that charging method and it worked to charge it but it didn't hold that charge long at all.
I have done repeated desulfation cycles through my charger, they raised voltage but the % charged. I finally put it on a 2 amp charge and left it for a couple hours. I am monitoring it and it seems to be holding it ok but it may take several cycles and leaving it on maint charge for a while before it's ever usable.
Thanks,
Open to any ideas tips
Tanner
I was aware of that charging method and it worked to charge it but it didn't hold that charge long at all.
I have done repeated desulfation cycles through my charger, they raised voltage but the % charged. I finally put it on a 2 amp charge and left it for a couple hours. I am monitoring it and it seems to be holding it ok but it may take several cycles and leaving it on maint charge for a while before it's ever usable.
Thanks,
Open to any ideas tips
Tanner
#6
09-26-2010 | 05:14 PM
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 182
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From: Knoxville, TN
This may be nothing,
I bought a used riding mower and the battery was about dead. I found that I had to buy a charger, so I bought a slow trickle charger and started charging it. For weeks if I hadn't charged for several hours at least the battery would not turn the motor over. After several weeks I stopp putting the battery on charge between jobs and it was holding a charge from week to week. I know that small batteries like this are 6 volt and a vehicle battery is 12 volt. Maybe it just need to be used regularly for a few weeks to hold its charge.
Keep in mind my knowledge of batteries is very simple. But this is just my story
I bought a used riding mower and the battery was about dead. I found that I had to buy a charger, so I bought a slow trickle charger and started charging it. For weeks if I hadn't charged for several hours at least the battery would not turn the motor over. After several weeks I stopp putting the battery on charge between jobs and it was holding a charge from week to week. I know that small batteries like this are 6 volt and a vehicle battery is 12 volt. Maybe it just need to be used regularly for a few weeks to hold its charge.
Keep in mind my knowledge of batteries is very simple. But this is just my story