Hey guys, my buddy was going to purchase an Optima deep cycle yellow top battery for his high boy, his mechanic told him if a Jell type battery ever goes dead it will require a special battery specific Jell battery charger, do you know if this is true, I had never heard that before?
I charged mine by hooking it to a normal battery that was hooked to a battery charger. Positive to positive, etc.
If it is real dead you need the latest type charger, or use your old charger and connect the battery in parallel with a regular battery. Either will work.
Read this about AGM and Gell battery differences. http://www.vartapowersports.com/en-us/news/agm-batteries-vs-gel-batteries
I use a Genius charger for my AGM batteries, hell I use it on my standard batteries to. It's easy light weight and very portable. They have models that will do 24 volt if you are into that! I stole the picture off the internet. Joe
Yeah, 'splain this. Thats what I was thinking too. IF your car alternator charges it while its in the car then why should you need some special type of charger to charge it out of the car.
I believe the digital chargers vary the charge voltage to minimize sulfating. Yes you can get away with the two battery charging but if you are going to use a float charger/maintainer be sure it is for AGMs. I wrecked an odyssey bike battery the first winter with the wrong float charger.
Optima told me if the battery voltage falls below 10.5 volts, you need to recharge with a conventional battery between an old style charger and the Optima. Or use a modern charger made for it. If the voltage is above 10.5 volts you can use any 12VDC battery charger. Left my parking lights on and discharged the Optima probably below 10.5 volts. Used a Jump starter to start the car, It cooked the alternator trying to recharge the battery.
I'm sure there are millions of Optima batteries out there being used by happy campers unless they go below that 10.5 mark. I have ganged three 12V yellow top in my 5th wheel. At one point I thought they were toast, couldn't charge them even using the suggested method by Optima of putting a regular batty between the charger and the Optima. I also am running 2 Optima 6V red tops in series in the hot rod. Since the batteries are in the cab, I didn't want acid type, again after sitting for some time they drained down, probably a leak somewhere and I actually disposed of one because it wouldn't take a charge. I tried several chargers including taking the batteries to a battery reseller and nothing charged them. I talked to Optima and found they have their own charger. It was expensive but so were the batteries. I bought it, used it on all the Optima batteries and it worked perfectly. If you are really into the Optima line, this charger is a good investment. No, I don't work for Optima. Warren
AGM batteries do require a different charger than regular wet cell batteries http://www.batterychargers.com/faqs/
Deep cycle's should never be used in cars. A deep cycle battery is designed to be discharged over 50% of it's rated capacity before being recharged (hence the name). When used in an automotive setting when they are constantly being charged by the generator / alternator they never discharge as intended. This greatly reduces their functional life. They are also not designed to deliver the high amperage load required to start a cold motor, and typically have much lower cold cranking ratings.
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