Reconditioning battery- Optima Blue top

[JimmyC Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close JimmyC]

G'day all,
After some advice I am looking at changing my dual battery system from using an SBI12 to some sort of dual battery manager such as the Projecta IDC25 or Redarc BCDC1225.
It was mentioned that given the way that modern toyota alternators work that they tend to ruin deep cycle batteries that run through isolator only setups. I have an optima blue top 55AH as my second battery which struggles to hold charge overnight (charges to 12.7 max then will be 12.5-12.4 overnight with no load).
I was told that a good quality 20-25 amp 7 stage 240 volt battery charger has a 90% chance of being able to resurrect the battery.
My question is will the redarc/projecta be able to resurrect the battery or is a 240v charger a whole different thing?

I looked up a 25 amp charger and they are around the $250 mark. Big investment for a gamble.

Cheers,
James

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

I have found that the optima's in the last couple years don't seem to hold 13.1 like the older ones did.
I use a sb112 & alternator voltage booster, I have also a/c charged battery & it settles to about 12.8 pretty quick & drops overnight with no load. It's also a d34m blue 55ah. I was concerned, however on the trip I'm on now engel is running 24hrs, vehicle only getting driven 2 x 15 minutes a day & it seems to be coming back to 12.8 pretty easy, still mid 12's by morning. So I'm thinking its fine.

You seem to have similar concerns.

IMO changing chargers will not fix your issue.

I know someone else describing similar issue also. So could be just how they are now?

[JimmyC Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close JimmyC]

hopefully you're right and it's just got to do with the newer batteries.
I might also just have a power hungry fridge too. Evakool travelmate (old style one) 60L. Crossing the Simmo last year we'd pull up camp about 5pm and by 9am the next morning battery would be 12.2-12.3. That was with the fridge running at 4 degrees. The only other thing running off it was a camp light (3w narva LED) running for about 3 hrs each night.

[matt12 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close matt12]

I assume you are measuring when the battery is at 25 degrees and rested for 8hrs+?

[JimmyC Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close JimmyC]

So I bought a 7 stage charger, figure it wouldn't hurt to take all the batteries in the cars at home and give them all a bit of TLC. It would not charge the Optima blue top at all. I did find it at 12.1 volts in the morning with nothing running off it at all.
Officially battery is kaput.

[cmilton54 Find all posts View Profile Close cmilton54]

If you got the 25amp projecta JimmyC that has a regeneration mode if the bars were going through it cycle they would have been continuously rolling up and down, the charge and absorption lights would be flashing and no voltage showing.
That could take all night and some of the day.
I only set the charger to charge to a maximum of 12amps when charging, as 25 amps can be hard on the battery, over a longish time.

[JimmyC Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close JimmyC]

If you got the 25amp projecta JimmyC that has a regeneration mode if the bars were going through it cycle they would have been continuously rolling up and down, the charge and absorption lights would be flashing and no voltage showing.
That could take all night and some of the day.
I only set the charger to charge to a maximum of 12amps when charging, as 25 amps can be hard on the battery, over a longish time.

Hi, I just re-read my post and I may have typed it a bit strangely.
I have noticed over a period of months that the battery has been dropping to 12.1-12.2 overnight with no load on it. Yesterday it was 12.1 in the morning and I put the battery charger on it and it kept telling me battery error. This charger has a regeneration mode. 7 stage, 10 amp which was recommended by the projecta customer service people.
The decision to get a new battery wasn't just due to the one event of low voltage, I also wanted a larger A/hr capacity.