Who needs an optimate.....

[sockpuppet]

Due to a perfect storm combination of work and having my weekends stolen by other people it had been eight weeks since I touched the bike. Last time I touched it was GOTC in Ullapool.

Walked into garage today started first time. Standard BMW battery, no optimate thingy.

Can't argue with that.

 

[sproggy]

The weather's warm. Chances are if those 8 weeks had been in the middle of winter you might not have had so much luck. An Optimate is still worthwhile

 

[jimbo]

No alarm fitted I guess

 

[Steptoe]

No good battery should go flat in 8 weeks whatever the weather.

None of my bikes get left on a battery charger, the only thing i do if they're going to be left standing for a long period is pull fuse 3 - it stops the clock, but i don't know if that would be enough to flatten the battery anyway.

Batteries can get "addicted" to being on constant charge, that's why you see posts of riders having optimates and leaving their bikes for a couple of days without charge and they go flat.

 

[Tarka]

Batteries can get "addicted" to being on constant charge, that's why you see posts of riders having optimates and leaving their bikes for a couple of days without charge and they go flat.

Bollox.


Nicads and the type used in battery drills have a 'memory' which can result in lower battery capacity if used for a short while then slammed back in a charger,but that doesn`t apply to bike batteries.

 

[Steptoe]

Bollox.


.

Doesn't it ????????

 

[Decster]

 

[Fanum]

I don't think it's so much the memory thing (that does appear to be wrong with the gel batteries Neil, according to the tech stuff on t'interweb) as much as the masking effect........an un-optimated battery will appear to be ok 'cos it's kept fully charged but because of that, a duff cell or a poor connection inside might be masked and the result is that the battery, when it fails, goes suddenly and without warning, where the same battery if not optimated will give warning signs leading up to the failure.

There have been too many sudden failures in batteries that have been kept on charge to be a coincidence.....

 

[Steptoe]

Excerpt from my encyclopedia of "Batteries and their manufacture and maintenence"

*A common misconception is that starting batteries should always be kept on float charge. In reality, this practice will encourage corrosion in the electrodes and result in premature failure*

 

[Fanum]

Excerpt from my encyclopedia of "Batteries and their manufacture and maintenence"

*A common misconception is that starting batteries should always be kept on float charge. In reality, this practice will encourage corrosion in the electrodes and result in premature failure*

What type of batteries though ?

 

[Steptoe]

What type of batteries though ?

batteries with lead plates. Doesn't matter what substance is used in the battery.

 

[Marjorie Proops]

Bollox.


Nicads and the type used in battery drills have a 'memory' which can result in lower battery capacity if used for a short while then slammed back in a charger,but that doesn`t apply to bike batteries.

Sorry Tarka but that is not correct (and yes I know your profession ) - even the very best of the best of wet cell batteries such as those fitted to both nuclear and conventional submarines (many thousands of a/h's and the size of a small house) need cyclic maintenance such as quarterly discharges, equalising charges and the like - sitting on float forever is not acceptable (I looked after them for a couple of decades)

http://www.enersys.com/defense/images/submar9.jpg

 

[Trippy]

Have an Odyssey fitted on my airhead, I can leave it outside for a month without touching it and it will wiz over and fire up with-in 2 or 3 seconds.

 

[Fanum]

Have an Odyssey fitted on my airhead, I can leave it outside for a month without touching it and it will wiz over and fire up with-in 2 or 3 seconds.

But when it does fail.......

 

[sproggy]

*A common misconception is that starting batteries should always be kept on float charge. In reality, this practice will encourage corrosion in the electrodes and result in premature failure*

But my understanding of a float charge is a constant, trickle charge which most people agree is bad. That's very different from what an Optimate or similar does, though. An Optimate doesn't provide a constant charge, neither does it maintain a constant voltage.

Or maybe I've just fallen for the marketing crap like I'm supposed to

 

[Mr K]

04 1200GS, 48k miles, on Optimate if standing for 2 weeks or more.

Still on original battery.

 

[stolzy]

But my understanding of a float charge is a constant, trickle charge which most people agree is bad. That's very different from what an Optimate or similar does, though. An Optimate doesn't provide a constant charge, neither does it maintain a constant voltage.
l

That's certainly what it says on the box. And the flashy lighty things seem to concur

 

[Steptoe]

Still on original battery.

I expect you would be regardless of using an optimate.

 

[Steptoe]

That's very different from what an Optimate or similar does, though. An Optimate doesn't provide a constant charge, neither does it maintain a constant voltage.

l

So are you suggesting your optimate keeps the battery fully charged without charging it

No matter how they put the wording on the box, It's a battery charger. Nothing more nothing less. It's an automatic battery charger.

 

[jimbo]

b*gger - my ipods got a flat battery. Will an optimate just make it worse then?