Gel Cell Battery

[supernaut]

I've got an optima red top battery in my '75. It sat and got discharged, but I've since had it hooked up to a battery minder. At the moment it reads 10.7 volts without any load on it and drops to 3.4volts when I turn it over. I've heard these things are bulletproof. With a normal lead acid battery I'd assume it just lost its capacity to hold a charge. Perhaps the battery minder isn't doing work properly?

 

[supernaut]

Dropbox link to picture

 

[rampage]

Dropbox link to picture

You usually can't charge as AGM battery with a regular charger. What you need to do is connect a lead acid battery in parallel with the AGM battery and trickle charge it. It may or may not hold a charge after that. There's a video on YouTube from Optima that explains the process of how to do it.

 

[76zimmer]

True that!

 

[supernaut]

You usually can't charge as AGM battery with a regular charger. What you need to do is connect a lead acid battery in parallel with the AGM battery and trickle charge it. It may or may not hold a charge after that. There's a video on YouTube from Optima that explains the process of how to do it.

Thanks! As a test I tried hooking up my DD with a lead acid battery via jumper cables overnight while having the charger connected to the lead acid battery. It brought up the AGM battery to 11.4 volts, but didn't hold a charge. I'm hopeful that with this method for a week or so it will actually hold a charge and come back to life. Can anyone recommend a cheap trickle charger that works on AGM batteries? One you tube video a guy posted shows him using a charger hooked up to a solar panel. Obviously I don't need a solar panel, but if there does appear to be cheap chargers available that can be set to work with an AGM.

 

[ryoken]

haven't read this whole thread, but... AGM's can certainly be charged with a regular charger.. it's why AGM's where basically invented.. a TRUE gel battery cannot, they have to have less voltage..... but a true gel battery is pretty much nonexistent anymore anyway..

true gel's where a nightmare for charger companies...