That Aldi one looks nice but I'd check to see what the current ratings are for charging and the float voltages. If the charge amps are too high it will cook a bike battery over time, your looking for summit with charge rate of around 1 amp or a little less I have a CTEK had it for yonks and its great. Cannot compete with Aldi prices but with bargain basement stuff I always want the facts first. The money saved pales when compared with a new battery. Something like this wold be fine CTEK Multi XS0.8 12v Battery Charger 12v Smart Chargers Free Next Day Delivery As @johnv states I like to charge mine every other week for about 24 hours and it all works fine John
@Old Jock It says in the manual that the motorbike charging program charges at 0.8A so hopefully it'll be ok. I'll just be checking it now and again over the winter and topping up if necessary so I imagine it'll be ok come Spring. Cheers
Sounds fine then Jamie. You can start going to nth degrees like putting a scope on it to check how clean the waveform is but that's overkill. Just keep an eye on it first time you use it and check the battery voltages when it clicks over onto float and back again to charge, you could also confirm the current rating by sticking a meter on it to confirm when its bulk charging. If you don't have a meter then I'd just whack it on. Again your choice but I don't like leaving them on constantly and prefer a once a fortnight 24 hour charge ritual....................worked fine for me so far Good luck whichever way you go
When is someone going to bring one out that allows people to set it so it does what they want - that would be good!
Why have to buy something else just because the item isn't designed for how consumers wish to use it?
I thought about the timeswitch, but its a non starter with a lot of chargers as the battery backfeeds the charger and then drains the battery. It may work for some chargers, I just haven't found one that could be done with, just saying be aware of it
Got 2 optimates (a 5 and a 4) - I got the 5 as it can handle car batteries as well. Never had a problem with either of them. Sometimes I leave them on sometimes off for a week or so...doesn't seem to matter....more to the point I like the optimate's as the fly lead can accommodate a usb socket and a light as well....which is quite handy..
I have my bikes all plugged into Optimate 4s when not in use. Leave them on all the time and I've never had a problem. My MV Agusta was still on the same battery for 7 years when I sold it and started on the button every time.
Well - theres the 5 - that's resurrected the battery on our Megane when its been left....ive got that screwed to the wall with and extension fly lead (5m) on it and a fly lead on the car so I can just plug it in even if its raining.... OptiMate 5 Battery Optimiser Theres the usb fly lead. NEW GENUINE OPTIMATE O100 OM SAE USB CHARGER & ADAPTERS LEADS CABLES SAE-100 | eBay Theres the light.... OPTIMATE O-121 6 LED TORCH AND VEHICLE CHARGING SYSTEM CHECK | eBay And the extension lead. Genuine Optimate Battery Charger SAE Extension Lead 4.6 Metres SAE73 New | eBay Ive not gone price hunting - just links so you can see what you can get.
With Battery charges you get exactly what you pay for. Spend £14 if you want, but the electronics won't be good. I've a £300 battery charger for cars and vans, that will condition the battery and charge it. This is not suitable for continuous use as it would use too much electric. I purchased 4 optimate 5's off Ebay (badged for HONDA). These have the biggest Bang for your BUCK $$. £60 ....work perfectly. Left on the bikes & cars all the time, no issue, ever. Not to be used to charge, just to keep charged. Vehicles have trackers and alarms. New Car or Bike Genuine Honda Optimate 5 Battery Charger Optimiser Conditioner | eBay A great deal of what has been said in this thread is inaccurate and as a life long electronics designer (many products still in production) I would treat most of it as suspect. If I get time I go back over the biggest errors. PS I'm not associated in anyway with the products above....they are just good, value for money designs I like.
I doubt it, virtually every design will employ some back feed protection, it's in inherent with reverse connection protection.
No they don't .....the very word float charge means a constant voltage output, the battery would then absorb power as required. This type of charger are not good for motorcycle batteries. They were/are designed for standby applications like security lighting etc and other battery chemistry. It could be that the words Float charger are being used by marketing people (worse that laymen) and not electronics engineers or chemists.
If its a battery that needs topping up then an Optimate will evaporate the electrolyte over time. I have no idea why this is but have had it happen to my trackbike too.
No. The charger is far less aggressive than the bikes own charging system. The batteries are sealed (well the better ones are). you'd have to blow the gas seals (get very hot). Something else is going on here. It is not the charger design. It could/may be that the charger circuitry has failed and is causing damage. That's not unheard of with regard to motorcycles. How many of us has replaced a faulty battery with a new one only to find that the battery failed due to a generator / alternator / earth wire fault etc.
Sorry I may have misread the meaning to your post. Are you saying if the bike has open cells that charging it could evaporator the electrolyte, then yes is the answer. Most, surely all by now, motorcycles use sealed batteries.
