With over 25 years of experience in saving,
charging and maintaining starter batteries worldwide, this FAQ video gives you THE
answers to some of the basic questions you have about the OptiMate battery chargers.
Now, there’s a shortcut in the video. If you only want to see the answer to one specific question,
use the description at the bottom. And if we have a more detailed video on one of the topics,
a link will pop up on screen.
But that’s enough about the format, let’s start answering some questions.
Well, there’s four main reasons. First of all, we test the battery at connection.
Secondly, they have a 24-7 unique OptiMate maintenance program. Thirdly,
they have an equalization after charge, so we can insure a 100% charged battery. And fourthly,
they have a unique OptiMate SAVE program, so we can bring back dead sulfated batteries.
A lead-acid battery is built differently, and has different components than a lithium
starter battery, so to insure a 100% charge use a lead-acid specific charger.
The same for lithium: If you want a 100% charged lithium battery, use a lithium specific charger.
Yes, OptiMate has introduced a DUO range of products,
which is suited to charge and maintain both of them.
Well, motorcycles use both lithium-ion starter batteries and lead-acid starter batteries. Now,
OptiMate has a good/better/best solution for both. The good/better/best for lead-acid motorcycle
batteries is the OptiMate 1 DUO, the OptiMate 3 and the OptiMate 4 that gives you the best.
The good/better/best for Lithium starter batteries, is the OptiMate 1 DUO,
the OptiMate Lithium 0.8A and the best is our OptiMate Lithium 5A charger.
Now, in the automotive and marine market they mostly use 12V lead-acid starter batteries.
And for those batteries we also have a good, a better and a best solution.
The OptiMate 2 is your basic maintainer and then we have an OptiMate 5 and a 6
or 7 platform to give you the best charger. For those few who use lithium-ion starter batteries,
we also have OptiMate Lithium 5A and OptiMate Lithium 10A platforms to give you the best result.
Every OptiMate that is an OptiMate 3 or above, can save your dead sulfated or deeply discharged
lead-acid battery. So if your battery isn’t capable of starting your vehicle,
then remove it and the SAVE program will automatically bring it back to life.
Well, the OptiMate 6 and 7 series consist of three different chargers. There’s a Select model,
an Ampmatic model and a 12V/24V model. Now, a Select charger is our professional charger.
Why? Because you need to manually select what type of charge program you want for your battery.
And the Ampmatic model is our easy to use ‘at home’ charger. It’s a 100% automatic
and it’s just connect and the charger does the rest.
Now Ampmatic means that the charge current will be adjusted to the size
of the battery – A small battery will get less and a big battery will get more charge current.
And then of course there’s a 12V/24V charger,
which can charge both 12V and 24V lead-acid batteries.
OptiMate recommends to only use a lead-acid type battery charger
for your lead-acid starter batteries.
Again, we at OptiMate only recommend to use our OptiMate
Lithium specific battery chargers to charge your Lithium-ion starter battery.
Yes, all OptiMate lead-acid chargers are safe to use on AGM batteries.
There’s an equalization step after charge, so we can insure a 100% charged battery all the time.
If your battery is still able to turn over your engine,
YES, keep it connected and just hook up one of our battery leads to charge and maintain. Now,
if your battery is too weak to turn over your engine, remove it from the
vehicle and use one of our saving chargers before you build it back into your vehicle.
Well, that depends on the size and condition of your battery at one side and the maximum charging
power of your battery charger at the other. To give you a simple exemple: If you want to
charge a 100 amps per hour battery with a 10 amp charger, it will take you max. 10 hours.
Yes, it is! That is exactly what the Optimate is designed to do.
The gentle charging algorithm will never overcharge or undercharge your battery.
Yes, that’s perfectly normal. When bulk charging your battery, your OptiMate will create some heat.
Now, it will create more heat in some situations than in others, especially when we’re saving a
discharged battery or when we’re charging a large battery, your charger will get warm.
Yes, all OptiMates are designed to operate to at least -20°C, that’s -4°F. Now, if you
use one of our OptiMate 4, 6 or 7 chargers, they can operate to a staggering -40°C, that’s -40°F.
Well, you can find digital versions of the manuals on our optimate1.com
website. Just go to your specific product page
and click on the documents tab and there will be a digital upload manual available.