Battery Charger

One of the best things you can do to maximize the performance and lifespan of your car battery is to keep the battery voltage level properly maintained with a quality battery charger. That's even the case for vehicles that see regular use, especially modern cars and trucks and those equipped with start/stop technology.

Newer vehicles are more demanding than ever on their batteries and the ever-increasing size of the batteries themselves is the evidence. Many modern vehicles have smaller, four-cylinder engines that don't require a lot of cranking power from a car battery to get started, but they still have massive batteries. The reason for that is because many of these vehicles have start/stop systems that force the battery to power the radio, lights and other electrical accessories when the engine turns off at stop lights.

The end result is tens of thousands more cycles over the life of a battery and far more demand on that battery than vehicles produced before the turn of the century. We recommend anyone with a modern vehicle charge their car battery at least once a month with a quality battery charger. The voltage should measure at least 12.6 volts, but if you find your car battery is consistently measuring lower than that, you may need to charge it more often. If you find it typically measures 12.6 volts or above, you can open that window out to six or eight weeks. 

If your vehicle goes into storage seasonally, we would strongly recommend keeping the battery voltage topped off with a quality battery charger until it is put back into service. You may have noticed we've used the qualifier "quality" whenever we mention a battery charger and there's a reason for that- not all battery chargers are created equally. The best chargers are microprocessor-controlled and will offer specific settings for AGM and lithium batteries. All of OPTIMA's chargers offer that functionality.

The end result is a battery charger that delivers the current your battery needs, when it needs it. Once the battery is properly charged, the charger will automatically move into a standby mode and activate charging as needed. OPTIMA's chargers also have spark-free technology, so the risk of spark or electrical shock is minimized, even for people who are not very familiar with proper battery charger usage. 

You may also notice OPTIMA has three different battery chargers to choose from. The biggest difference between all three is the speed at which they can charge your battery. The OPTIMA D1200+ is the fastest, charging at a maximum rate of 15 amps, while the OPTIMA D400+ battery charger will charge at a maximum rate of 4 amps and the OPTIMA D200+ will charge at a maximum rate of 2 amps. If you just need a charger to maintain voltage or you have plenty of time to charge a battery, the OPTIMA D200+ is a great option. If your battery is a little larger or you need it charged a little faster, the OPTIMA D400+ is a good option. All three chargers have large, illuminate LED light bars, that will let you know where they are in the charging process from a distance.