Jan T Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I hope someone can give me some advice on this issue. I have had my battery plugged into the Optimate 3 over the winter but when I tried to start it a few weeks ago the battery was flat (pretty new Banner). The green light was displayed on the Optimate so nothing amiss as far as the optimate was concerned (assuming it was functioning correctly). I used jump leads on the 7 went for a blat to charge the battery , put it away for a few more weeks but when I went to start it today whilst the battery was not flat it did not have enough juice to start so back to the jump leads. The optimate again was showing the green light. Something is clearly not right here, is the optimate (also pretty new like the battery) failing in its task? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Day Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Battery electrolyte level? If this has dropped considerably then you will need to top up with concentrated sulphuric acid not distilled water. You battery may be U/S even when topping up with concentrate. This happened to my Banner a few years ago so I now use the Optimate for 24 hours only per week. The battery was U/S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CageyH Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 As stated above, you need to keep an eye on the electrolyte level. I check mine every two weeks when I leave my car on the optimate/accumate. I have had to top mine up before. Only dead fish go with the flow....! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Fox Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 My experience of Optimates is that they are pretty reliable, I have 4 in service at the moment of various models. The green light is telling you that the voltage isn't falling below 12.3 Volts from the float charge voltage of 13.6 in half an hour. The charger doesn't "know" however how much energy is stored in the battery. As your car starts on jump leads I would expect the problem lies with the battery. I wouldn't expect that it would be necessary to add acid unless the electrolyte has been spilt, normally only the water is lost by evaporation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan T Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 Sorry I should have said that I checked the electrolyte level and the cells are covered but high should the level of fluid be? If the battery is the problem (new not so long ago) is it recoverable and do I take it that keeping it connected all the time to the Optimate has caused the problem? Thanks, Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Fox Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I leave batteries on Optimates permanently with no apparent ill effects. I changed a battery on my Suzuki Bandit last year that was nine years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan T Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 Memo to self :Check all cables are connected properly and have not been accidentally yanked loose. Sorry to trouble everyone. Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akakubi Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 One word: Powervamp. My Banner died on me after 7 months and that's with charging it every few weeks. 😔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadsport06 Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 akukubi, charging it every few weeks may be where it went wrong. If fluid level is checked and it doesnt keep going through a deep discharge then charge (ie accumate) it should last for some time. Not doubting the likes of powervamp are better but a looked after Banner should last some time. BRG and Yellow nose now with added brooklands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akakubi Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Fair enough. Still, I would have thought that with regular driving and occasional charging a new battery should have lasted longer than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Ford Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 I wouldn't expect that it would be necessary to add acid unless the electrolyte has been spilt, normally only the water is lost by evaporation. If evaporation is the cause of loss of fluid, why wouldn't the acid evaporate as well? I guess acid might evaporate slower if the molecules are bigger, but no reason why it shouldn't evaporate at all. Or is the water loss due to electrolysis into hydrogen and oxygen during charging? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Fox Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 We have a number of large lead acid batteries at work (rooms full), they are maintained by float charge and occasional discharging and boosting and they are not topped up with acid. Lots of info on google if you search for lead acid batteries, following is an extract. "Traction and semi traction batteries are generally supplied with removable vent caps so that they can be kept topped up with water. The action of charging the batteries causes gassing when a certain voltage is reached, usually somewhere around 2.35 to 2.4 volts per cell. The result is that water is depleted of its constituent parts by liberation of the Hydrogen gas plates. Hydrogen is of course much less dense that air and the electrolyte and consequently floats out of the batteries at the earliest opportunity." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Ford Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Right, so it's electrolysis rather than evaporation, it seems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Fox Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I don't really care but....Cambridge dictionary; verb 1 to cause a liquid to change to a gas, especially by heating: The high concentration of sugars forms a syrup when the sap evaporates. Plants keep cool during the summer by evaporating water from their leaves. 2 to disappear: Halfway through the film reality evaporates and we enter a world of pure fantasy. Looks like it changed to a gas and disappeared to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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