Optimate or what?

TaDa

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Ok, The probem is my 1150GS is likely to stand for a long while between uses.

Its been suggested I avoid using an optimate - (for fear it stops me seeing the battery dying).

I guess, if its not to be an optimate, that removing the battery would be best but I've learned that removing/replacing the battery is a right royal pain.

So, is there another way? Some sort of powerful switch maybe?
 
Optimate, unless there are long continuous periods without use, then you could charge the battery and remove it.

If you've got an Odyssey, don't bother with an optimate.
 
Ah - I wasn't expecting that curve ball - Are you saying that Odyssey batteries do not work with optimates?
(or that Odyssey batteries are so fantastic they don't need topping up?)

My problem with removing the battery is that I might need the bike 'in a rush' and not have time to put the battery back in - eg its sunny (for once) and I need to pop out for some eggs :)

Is there an easy disconnect/reconnect the battery solution?
 
TaDa said:
Ah - I wasn't expecting that curve ball - Are you saying that Odyssey batteries do not work with optimates?
(or that Odyssey batteries are so fantastic they don't need topping up?)

My problem with removing the battery is that I might need the bike 'in a rush' and not have time to put the battery back in - eg its sunny (for once) and I need to pop out for some eggs :)

Is there an easy disconnect/reconnect the battery solution?
Click to expand...

Don't bother removing the battery - a major pain in the arris and there's no need - get a charger. Odyssey batteries are nothing special - they just trade capacity for cold cranking amps by using different plate specs - there's no special magic involved - they're just a gel / agm battery.

CTek chargers are generally recommended for Optimates. They also work with standard gel and wet batteries. I have a CTek charger (for my OEM gel battery) which I leave connected to the bike when I leave it for any length of time. When I bought the charger I also bought the CTek adapter which plugs straight into the accessory socket by the starter motor.
Simples.
 
TaDa said:
Ah - I wasn't expecting that curve ball - Are you saying that Odyssey batteries do not work with optimates?
(or that Odyssey batteries are so fantastic they don't need topping up?)
Click to expand...
I had a new Odyssey fail after a few months, supplier (MotoWorks) blamed the Optimate and said Odyssey don't recommend them.
 
My Optimate still works so I'm happy with that, but any maintenance/float charger that meets the battery specs should be fine (not a plain old battery charger, it needs to switch from the bulk charge voltage to the lower float voltage once the battery is fully charged).

If you take the battery out of the bike you'll still need to charge it periodically (they lose charge with time and don't like being stored flat). Some batteries have much lower self discharge than others, I imaging you just have to pick your point on some sort of price/capacity/life curve.

I'm still on the original 2003 battery in my 1150GS, have kept it on the Optimate semi-regularly during winter non-use and the like mostly 'cos the alarm drain would kill it otherwise.

Yep, a smart charger might hide a dieing battery. So I only plug it in if the bike is going to stand for a while. Often leave it disconnected if I'm not going to ride from one week to the next, so I do know that it'll work after being stood for as long as I'm ever likely to park away from home.
 
stolzy said:
I had a new Odyssey fail after a few months, supplier (MotoWorks) blamed the Optimate and said Odyssey don't recommend them.
Click to expand...

The only reason that you might have a problem using an Optimate with an Odyssey is that, when badly drained, Odysseys need careful current handling to kick-start the charging. The latest Optimate IV and onwards have been upgraded to cope with AGM/gel batteries.

Oddyseys are like any other battery in that leaving them severly discharged will ruin them and regular use of an Optimate will prevent that happening.
 
I use an Optimate during winter months, about Nov-March if the bike is not going to be used for weeks. Never had a problem, ride bike in, plug in, no problem.:thumb
 
Womble said:
The only reason that you might have a problem using an Optimate with an Odyssey is that, when badly drained, Odysseys need careful current handling to kick-start the charging. The latest Optimate IV and onwards have been upgraded to cope with AGM/gel batteries.

Oddyseys are like any other battery in that leaving them severly discharged will ruin them and regular use of an Optimate will prevent that happening.
Click to expand...
It'd be nice to have this issue resolved properly. When I had issues with an odyssey the supplier was very quick to blame the Optimate. They pointed out that the Optimate is not an approved charger for Odyssey (not that that means squat necessarily).

Me, I'm just a poor customer befuddled by the information and disinformation of manufacturers and suppliers.
 
Ive had an Odyssey on my 1150 for about 2&1/2 years now. When bike is in my garage it is connected to an optimate (ver SPII, I think). Also I have SORN'd the bike over the last winter, & it was connected to the optimate all the time.
Bike has started first push of the button.
The Odyssey is an AGM type battery & the optimate is approved for that type of battery. There is almost as much debate about battery types & chargers, as there is about oil. :)

Regards
Paul
 
I don't use the Optimate on my bike as a 'battery minder' because I know full well through my own experience that the green light can be completely FALSE.

Green Light means the battery is OK: charged and tested and retested.

So.. I thought all was well, However it wasn't. Start the engine, pull away and I got an ABS fault. No prizes for guessing the cause of that.

Over the course of a couple of months this got progressively worse.. though throughout the optimate was still saying the battery was OK.

Result is.. I trust the Bike to tell me there;s a problem, rather than the Optimate which seems incapable of recognising there is one.

Mine is now used as a battery charger. only. And since the current battery was fitted, it hasn't been used at all.

OEM Exide.
 
That's the same as any charger - you can have a duff cell and the battery will look fully charged, but it will fail when cranking. All the green light is telling you is that the battery charging voltage has reached the appropriate level the charging current is behaving the right way. There is no way that any battery CHARGER can tell you that you have a duff cell - you need to do a DISCHARGE test to find that out. You can do a discharge test in a couple of ways, the first is to go to a motor factors and to get them to load test it, and the other one is to just try and start the bike - as you have found.
 
I've always plugged the optimate (III) into the 1150's socket when I've got it in the garage (as there's a small drain running the alarm).
I've been doing this for the last 7 years & the bike is always ready to run & I've had no problems with the battery either, so a big thumbs up for the optimate from me.

I think my OptIII cost me £30 about 10 years ago, but before I started to use it my batteries used to be duff after about 3 years, so I reckon it's paid for itself a few times over :)
 
Use an ordinary lead/acid battery and an Optimate wheneven you're not riding the bike.

My original battery lasted nearly 10 years on an Optimate.

What more do you want?

Greg
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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