May 2007

                                     

[Previous Item]       OptiMate – additional information.

 

RIDE Magazine June 2007 – Battery Charger Test 

 

Due to several concerned calls from customers confused by RIDE’s product test, we have added this sheet as a way of explanation of OptiMate’s apparently low score in their test.

 

Despite the fact that every charger tested was a maintenance charger – i.e. intended for long-term connection - the test centred mainly around the speed that the battery chargers could charge a battery from flat. 

 

The whole concept behind OptiMate is that it is left connected to their vehicle while it is unused in order that the battery is maintained in 100% tip-top condition, thus preventing sulphation and extending battery life.  This being the case, you will never have a flat battery and therefore the charge speed from flat is not relevant.  If you have for some reason forgotten to connect OptiMate or you have a flat battery for any other reason, OptiMate is designed to charge it correctly, safely and optimally – speed is not considered a priority.  That being said, do not get the impression that OptiMate is a particularly slow charger – the test stated that OptiMate charged their flat battery to 98% within 24 hours and to 80% in 14 hours 48 minutes.  If your main requirement is for a fast charger to charge batteries from flat in a shorter time than that, we have plenty of more powerful chargers better suited to the task like AccuMate and AccuMate Pro.  OptiMate is a complex charger that has features other chargers don’t, including a verification mode to ensure that the battery is fully charged after the bulk stage before progressing to the maintenance phase.  With OptiMate, quality of charge and safety for your battery are considered paramount.

 

The only other reason why OptiMate was marked down concerned the “trickle charge current” which was measured during the test.  All the chargers tested had a Constant Voltage float / maintenance / trickle charge stage – this means that the Voltage is fixed at a suitable float charge (13.6V for OptiMate) and the current supplied is dictated by the load. In the test conditions, the load was dictated purely by the battery condition (as no external loads were connected). Therefore the current is free to go up and down in relation to the impedance of the battery, as dictated by Ohm’s Law. This figure, “trickle charge current”, is virtually meaningless in this context. The fact that identical chargers with differing cases/brand names were attributed with differing measured currents ranging wildly from 3mA to 290mA proves the point that the conditions of the batteries were not consistent.  A far more useful figure would have been to state the float charge Voltage. We know of several chargers marketed as “motorcycle chargers” which were designed as DC (deep-cycle) battery chargers with a float Voltage of 14.7V – far too high for lead-acid batteries as used with bikes and almost certain to cause gassing and acid loss over a relatively short time period. 

 

Considering that not even basic specifications of the chargers tested were mentioned (e.g. output current, charge method, charge stages, voltages, features etc.) and the strange test results – e.g. charging 2 batteries in parallel quicker than charging just one – means that this cannot be considered a serious test of this type of product.  Had we known the test methods, we could have supplied a 6V/12V 4A charger for £19.95+VAT which would have won hands down - totally unsuitable for anything other than fast charging, but it would have won the test.

 

Unusually for RIDE, the only criteria for scoring were the charge speed and trickle charge current. The only other item included was whether the charger would charge a flat battery (i.e. the start Voltage) – a useful thing to know, but no test result Voltages were given or indeed even any charger specifications.  Capabilities, spec, accessories or even price were not considered in the scoring system.

 

OptiMate is optimised for modern motorcycle sized batteries from 2.5 Ah to 28 Ah and hence has a bulk charge current of 650mA in order not to overcharge small batteries.  OptiMate was the first product of its type in the marketplace and it has been upgraded steadily over 11 years with 4 major product updates. TecMate, the manufacturer, are the only specialist battery charger manufacturer who concentrate on battery charging technology in the motorcycle and PowerSports industries.  Because of this they are called upon by virtually every major motorcycle manufacturer, at factory, importer, dealer and consumer levels in all major markets worldwide.  This is why OptiMate is the only motorcycle charger in the world which is recommended by nearly all major motorcycle manufacturers, despite there now being a whole raft of imitators these days, mostly manufactured by companies with little knowledge of battery technology.  For the same reasons, TecMate professional battery chargers are specified by most manufacturers and importers for use in their dealers’ workshops and ProBike have supplied most dealer networks in the UK with TecMate battery charging and testing tools.  Over a million OptiMate users worldwide and 250,000 in the UK can now testify to the fact that OptiMate is the best product available to maintain your motorcycle-size battery – this could never be the result of slick marketing or talented salesmen. To be recommended by nearly every global motorcycle manufacturer who test products thoroughly and have the most demanding requirements takes a lot more than that.

 

If you have any questions about this article, please do not hesitate to ask. Please phone us on 01604 660777 or email sales@OptiMate.co.uk