Best charger for D31M optima blue top

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flavtfan

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Aug 28, 2007
Messages
79
I've heard bad stories of people not using the right charger....think i have to have a 3 stage charger....what is the best one for this battery and can anyone tell me their likes or dislikes of the optima blue top. also a jump box, can you use one of those on an optima if your battery were to die on the water?
 
Boatist

Boatist

Rear Admiral
Joined
Apr 22, 2002
Messages
4,552
Re: Best charger for D31M optima blue top

Cost way too much and no better in my opinion.
 
L

Leoparddog

Cadet
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
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Re: Best charger for D31M optima blue top

dingbat said:
I have to agree. I got 6 years out of my last set of Delco Voyagers at 1/2 the price.
Click to expand...


Thats great guys, so you don't like Optima batteries, but you didn't answer the man's question, which happens to be my question too. I already bought the Optima battery and I want to know if my 2/8/12 amp charger will do the trick or if I should go looking for another.

The reason I spent way too much money on the Optima is because the other marine 700+cca batteries I found wouldn't fit down the access hole in my boat and I didn't feel like cutting a larger hole.

So....Charger recommendations?
 
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Leoparddog

Cadet
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
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Re: Best charger for D31M optima blue top

I've got the D31M. Looks like my current charger a 2/8/12 amp falls in between the recommended specs for charging. The 2 amp mode exceeds their 1amp recommendation and the 8 amp mode is less than their 10 amp spec.

I guess I'll run it on the 8 amp setting and go shopping for a 1 amp trickle charger for maintenance.
 
R

rndn

Commander
Joined
May 20, 2007
Messages
2,323
Re: Best charger for D31M optima blue top

Why not pick up an onboard charger for it. Most of them have settings for your type of battery and most also have the three stages of charging built it to the unit. I just picked 1 up from BassPro for $149. It handles up to 3 banks of batteries and is capable of providing up to 15 amps of charging to any one of the three batteries. It is fully automatic and it allows you to keep the batteries fully charged and maintained.
 
JCF350

JCF350

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Oct 21, 2007
Messages
1,149
Re: Best charger for D31M optima blue top

Any charger with an AGM battery setting is neede for any of the Optima batteries (they are an AGM construction battery). The amount of charge current depends on how fast you want to recharge (your not going to push to much current into one unless you have a commercial charger).

Comparing prices of AGM batteries with flooded cell batteries is apples and oranges.
 
L

Leoparddog

Cadet
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
8
Re: Best charger for D31M optima blue top

The charger I have now which is a Schumaher SC-1200A - 12/8/2 Amp does have an AGM setting as well as a Deep Cycle setting. I guess I'll use the one I have and run it at the 8 and 2 amp settings.

I did see a Deltran Battery Tender Junior 12V @ 0.75A that I may buy and mount in the boat to use for longer term maintenance. I haven't found many chargers on the internet that run at 1 amp or less which is what was recommended by Optima on their website.
 
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