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RE: Optima Battery

To: "'Ronald Olds'" <tr6@pipeline.com>, <shop-talk@autox.team.net>
Subject: RE: Optima Battery
From: "Randall" <tr3driver@ca.rr.com>
Date: Mon, 28 May 2007 11:48:19 -0700
> I have an Optima battery that won't keep a charge.  Does 
> anyone know if or how I might be able to revive it.  Any help 
> would be greatly appreciated.

Is it losing it's charge, or not taking one in the first place ?

If it's the latter, the battery just acts like an open circuit, then this
procedure _might_ work.  I've never tried it with an Optima, but it worked
better than half the time on the older 'Gates' sealed lead-acid cells.

The idea is to get the charge voltage up high enough that the battery begins
to take a charge; while keeping the current low enough to not overheat
anything.  50 volt is usually enough, although I've gone as high as 100.
Then put a resistor in series that will limit the current to a few milliamps
(only a watt or two dissipation in the battery).  Monitor both voltage and
current at the battery; lower the source voltage as necessary to keep the
current/power down.  It may take a few days of this.

Even if it works, the result will not have full capacity.  But I used to get
75% or more (and these were fairly old batteries, damaged by being run flat
and left that way).

Randall




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