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Re: Unsmoothed car battery charger - is it crap?

Likely AGM. Gel is a gelled electolyte (seems obvious), and the gel can have holes blown in it (from gas bubbles) when unhappy charging events occur. The holes don't heal.

AGM is a liquid electolye Absorbed in a Glass Mat. If bubbling happens, it can "heal" - though if too much bubbling happens, the valve will open to release the pressure (Valve Regulated Lead Acid, or VRLA, rather than "sealed" in a minor technical sense) - you can't put water back in, so gassing is best avoided, or the battery dies soon afterwards.

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Reply to
Ecnerwal
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Right - thanks for that. In the UK Optima cost about 4 times a decent other make for cars - so to me are basically a con. Unless they lasted 4 times as long - and backed it up with a warranty.

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    Dave Plowman        dave@davenoise.co.uk           London SW
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Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

These are sold for off road use where you may roll the vehicle, and race cars for the lower weight. They are more expensive than some batteries, but the conventional types have gone sky high, as well.

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Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

Interstate claims they can be installed upside down so if they vent, it will cause lots of problems.

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You can\'t have a sense of humor, if you have no sense!
Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

My 2001 truck battery is the original. Why do I care if it'll last four times longer?

Reply to
krw

Talking about UK prices they're even more sky high. And are advertised here as being a viable alternative for ordinary car use. But they're not. As regards the weight thing they may be lower weight - but they are also lower capacity in terms of A/hr for all but the smallest cars.

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    Dave Plowman        dave@davenoise.co.uk           London SW
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Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

It's the same way here.

They are backed by a warranty, but I don't think they have a great advantage for the typical driver. Seems like they'd be a good buy for a serious 4x4 though, not my cup of tea but some of those guys do some pretty crazy stuff, angles and water submersion that would be hard on an ordinary automotive battery.

I've seen banks of them used in a few electric car conversions as well.

Reply to
James Sweet

Indeed - that sort of life isn't uncommon these days for a quality battery. Which makes Optima's claims even more ludicrous.

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    Dave Plowman        dave@davenoise.co.uk           London SW
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Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Gel electrolyte batteries use gel electrolyte,

There are wet batteries marketed as sealed. These typically have no user accessable ports to access the electrolyte, but will still leak if inverted etc..

"zero-maintenance" car batteries often have the electolyte ports under the label.

yeah they have a catylist that oxidises most of the free hydrogen back to water. as long as you don't overheat them they can tolerate some overcharging.

Reply to
Jasen Betts

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