Other chargers work differently they may not shut off automatically but rather have gauges that let you know when the battery is charged. The Optima charger will automatically shut off when the battery is fully recharged. The Optima charger that we're using here has a switch that sets it for either a motorcycle or car battery or one of Optima's high-performance batteries. For the greatest safety, keep the charger as far away from the battery as the cables allow. Give the clamps a little wiggle to ensure that they have a good connection to the terminals. Read the instructions that come with the battery charger, as each charger operates a little differently.Īttach the charger's red clamp to the battery's positive terminal and the black clamp to the negative terminal. Next, make sure your battery charger is unplugged from the wall socket-it uses household current to charge the battery-and that it's switched off, just to be doubly sure there's no current flowing through it. Most auto-parts stores carry chargers and they're readily available through online retailers such as Amazon. In the following videos, we use an Optima charger that we have had good experience with in the Car and Driver garage. Better still, if a friend or relative has one that you can borrow, you're in luck. If you're intent on recharging your battery, you're going to need a battery charger. ![]() If the battery won't even take a charge, it's almost definitely dead and needs to be replaced. But if it then dies a couple of days later, it could be either a failing battery or the fault of something else in your car's electrical system-starting with the alternator, which supplies electricity to run the car and charge the battery. If the battery takes the charge and you can restart your vehicle, it might not be totally dead. Attempting a recharge will also help you know if you need a new battery. Did you leave the headlights on last night? Or an interior light? Either of those could be enough to run the battery down. The best thing you can do when your battery goes flat suddenly is to figure out why and what shape it's actually in. How to Disconnect Your Vehicle's Battery.It also has a power supply mode which you can use to keep the 12v system powered up when you change a battery and avoid loss of radio presets, etc. I can think of a few uses for that capability. One feature I liked that CTEK has (and probably NOCO and others) is the ability to prewire to the terminals with a quick connect so all I have to do is plug in the charger to the quick connect and go. If I really like the CTEK I'll step up to one of their 25 amp models and keep it under lock and key with my good drill bits, micrometers, etc ha ha. I can use it for bulk charge then use the ctek for tuneups. In the camper I have a "stupid" 40 amp power supply that charges (and boils) the batteries. The low amp charger will be a "deterrent" to (mis)use. The kids can use the jumper cables more and my charger less for their dead or mostly dead batteries. And the amps are low enough that it won't get smokin hot (I hope), plus it has a temperature compensation circuit of some sort. I am curious to try out the desulfonation cycle on iffy batteries. The charger is pretty smart with all the charge phases (which are more or less bulk charge/taper/equalize/maintain).Ģ) Ordered a CTEK 7 amp smart charger. Just plug it in after a trip and quit fooling around. Yep that RN/Ritz reminds me of my old Craftsman.ġ) Put a dedicated 15 amps per bank two bank charger in the boat for the trolling motor batteries.
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