A load test is the best method to test a lead-acid battery. If the battery will take a charge and come up to full voltage, then you did not lose a cell. If the multiple deep discharges caused some chemical damage to the plates, the damage will show up during the load test as reduced capacity. (I am talking about a battery load tester that puts about a 100 ampere load on the battery and then measures the voltage. You can read the residual capacity and battery condition directly off of the meter.)

Optima batteries are pretty rugged, but I would suggest that you connect a good fully automatic charger to the battery and forget about the failing internal charger. I use one of these chargers from Century on my ham radio batteries and they stay in top shape. This charger is labeled as fully automatic and will taper down to zero but you can keep it on the batteries all the time. If the battery drops below full charge, the charger will spring into action and charge at up to 10 amps or so. Trickle chargers are OK for keeping a charged battery at full capacity (in storage, for example) but cannot address a variable load condition very well.

Reply

Quote Reply

Digg It

Del.icio.us