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Kraziken
03-07-2007, 01:19 PM
I accidentally left my map light on looking for my keys and I killed my Optima red top battery.
So I was using a small charger. I set it for the lowest trickle charge. My charger is supposed to automatically shut off.

This morning, when I was unhooking the terminals, I noticed that the battery had some small bubbling noises coming from it.

Perhaps I shouldn't trust the auto shut off feature of my charger? What is that bubbling noise?

JMoney
03-07-2007, 01:39 PM
I beleive that bubbling is the acid.

Bdubs
03-07-2007, 02:42 PM
At my old warehouse job years ago, the electric pallet jack used to do that after charging, the guy that serviced them said it wasn't it a big deal. I dunno, I always thought if your battery acid is boiling it isn't a good thing.

Kraziken
03-07-2007, 02:53 PM
At my old warehouse job years ago, the electric pallet jack used to do that after charging, the guy that serviced them said it wasn't it a big deal. I dunno, I always thought if your battery acid is boiling it isn't a good thing.

Yeah, it is a bit disconcerting. I'm hoping I didn't decrease the life of my battery since it is fairly new.

I probably won't trust the auto shut off feature on my Optima from now on.

I used the charger on my other car that also has a maintenance free battery and it didn't seem to have this issue when I let it run over night.

warrior
03-12-2007, 09:05 AM
Optima batteries are a spiral dry-cell battery. There is no liquid or "battery acid" inside that battery. Also being an Optima battery, it shouldn't have drained to a complete halt with your map light on. You also mentioned this a fairly new battery right?

I have a yellow top and I've blasted my car audio system for a good 5 hours and the battery voltage dropped to a 10.7v before I turned it off. My friend has a red top and drove his car for 3 days with a faulty alternator.

I think something might be wrong with your battery.. and if it's fairly new, I'd get it replaced.. they do come with a 5 year warranty.

backpack09
03-12-2007, 11:39 AM
Did you follow optima's spec? 15volt 10amp charger for 12 hours to
charge it from dead?

Battery Spec (http://www.optimabatteries.com/publish/optima/americas0/en/config/product_info/automotive/starter/technical_specs.html)

Kraziken
05-02-2007, 12:09 AM
Did you follow optima's spec? 15volt 10amp charger for 12 hours to
charge it from dead?

Battery Spec (http://www.optimabatteries.com/publish/optima/americas0/en/config/product_info/automotive/starter/technical_specs.html)
Well to bring this up to date, the battery was bad. A couple days ago, the car would barely turn over after not being driven for a couple of days.

I'd have to check, but I'm not sure about the volts. My charger was set to a 2 amp trickle charge overnight. It is supposed to shut off automatically.

I just went and purchased another Optima. I figured I screwed it up somehow with the overnight charge (maybe not?).

Anyway, I turned in my old one for recycle. The costco guy asked me how old it was, I said maybe a couple of years old. He gave me a receipt for a full refund. So no cost for my new replacement. I actually made $5 for turning in the old one for recycling. :grin: