OptiMate 5 Stop Start 12V Battery Charger/Optimiser

OptiMate 5 is the all-in-one tool for 12V battery care at home. OptiMate 5 has all the fully automatic 100% safe and easy-to-use characteristics of the 1.5 million OptiMates produced since 1995, but adds a powerful 4 Amp output to take care of larger batteries.

Forgot your battery throughout the winter? OptiMate 5 will recover it from deep discharge and optimally recharge it. Then it will check that the charge delivered is the best possible before checking how well the battery can retain the charge and tell you its status, at a glance. Of course, it will then maintain your battery at full charge safely for months at a time, prolonging its life by up to 400%.

How it works

1.     Safety check: OptiMate 5 must be connected to a battery (retaining minimum 2V) to activate its output.
2.     Desulphation and recovery: if due to sulphation the battery’s resistance is abnormally high, a voltage of up to 20V is automatically applied to overcome this so as to recover very flat or neglected batteries until they are able to accept the normal charge program.
3.     Bulk charge: a constant current of 4A efficiently brings the battery close to full charge.
4.     Charge verification: as soon as the rising resistance causes the charge voltage to reach 14.3V, the voltage is limited at 13.6V for 30 minutes while the circuit monitors the actual voltage and the current absorbed by the battery. If within 30 minutes the automatic circuit judges that the achieved charge is less than optimal, the program reverts to bulk charge and the process repeats.
5.     Charge retention test: when the monitored parameters confirm that an optimal charge has been achieved, the first check for battery (and connected system) power leakage commences. Depending on the voltage retained during 30 minutes, an “OK” (green LED) or “not OK” (red LED test result is displayed. These 30-minute test periods repeat hourly until the OptiMate 5 is disconnected, so that the battery status indication is continually updated.
6.     Charge maintenance: during alternate 30 minute periods, at a float limit of 13.6V the battery is offered charge current (up to the maximum) it needs to sustain it against any small connected loads or power leakage and against natural self-discharge. OptiMate 5 can stay connected to the battery indefinitely and the battery will stay cool and safe. And optimally charged. Of course.

Technical Specifications

• Recommended for: AGM / MF, STD, GEL and spiral cell batteries from 15Ah to 192Ah

• Programme control: 5 stages, fully automatic

• Input current max: 0.35A @ 230V

• Typical annual energy cost: Less than £1.00 per year (continuous maintenance)

• Reverse drain current: Less than 1 mA

• Output current (bulk charge): 4A

• Automatic desulphation: Yes

• Charge time limit: Safe to leave connected for months

• Maintain / test cycles: 30 min/30 min (alternating hourly)

• Charge retention test: 2 possible results – ‘good’ & ‘bad’

• Size: 200 x 75 x 61mm

• Weight: 1000g

• Enclosure classification: IP54

• Mounting: Easy direct wall mounting

• Input cable length: 2m

• Output cable length: 2m

• Included Accessories: O11 Weatherproof Eyelet Lead; O4 Clamp Lead for bench charging

• Operation temperature range: -40°C / +50°C

• Warranty: 3 years

• Certification (230V model): TUV/GS conformity

Diagnoses, recovers, charges, checks & maintains your battery automatically for months. All major battery manufacturers recommend maintaining starter batteries FULLY CHARGED during periods of non-use. OptiMate 5 is totally safe for months-long connection and maintenance of irregularly or seasonally used batteries even while still connected to the vehicle. The sophisticated charging algorithm ensures no risk of over-charging.

Suitable for all types of rechargeable 12V lead-acid batteries: filler cap types; absorbed glass mat (AGM or “MF”); valve regulated (VRLA); GEL-electrolyte. As simple as 1-2-3: Just connect OptiMate 5 to your battery, the rest is automatic. Electronically protected against user errors. There is no switch, no fuse and there are no sparks.

Delivered with two interchangeable SAE connection sets, one with clamps for bench charging, the other with in-line protection fuse and eyelet terminals for permanent connection to the vehicle’s battery to allow easy reconnection of charger when necessary.

Optional accessories include additional fused permanent connection leads (O1); cigarette lighter plug lead (O2) to charge via the cigarette lighter or DIN socket (as found on some BMW, Honda& Triumph touring motorcycles); 1.8m and 4.6m extension leads, weatherproof sockets to provide a convenient 12V supply for sat-nav, MP3 player, mobile phone charger, PDA etc. and much more.

Certifications: TUV/GS conformity. 3-year warranty.

Battery Storage & Maintenance During Periods of Non-Use

• Batteries of older design types such as lead-antimony (such as often found on classic vehicles) tend to self-discharge in storage more quickly than more modern lead-calcium or hybrid batteries which retain their charge for several months if stored in a cool ambient.
• Fully sealed MF motorcycle batteries (with glass-mat separators) retain charge in storage better than other starter batteries but are more difficult to recover once truly deep-discharged.
• The warmer the storage ambient temperature the faster the battery’s tendency to self-discharge.  Batteries not in regular use which for any reason cannot be maintained by a good maintenance charger are thus best stored in cold conditions, BUT NOT FREEZING !
• Battery manufacturers recommend that engine-start batteries are best kept fully charged at all times. All batteries have finite life-spans, often referred to by manufacturers in terms of duty-cycles. Maintaining the battery fully charged throughout periods of non-use therefore avoids using up some of the battery’s lives. Some chargers sold as “battery conditioners” for medium term maintenance, which charge, stop, then “kick in” again only when a battery has discharged to a certain level, are therefore not recommended. Far better are more advanced chargers such as OptiMate  or AccuMate which by a combination of both voltage & current sensing during & following the main constant current charging stage, automatically “double-check” that the battery is truly fully charged at the conclusion of the main (constant current) charging stage & then only proceed into float charge to offer the battery whatever current it needs continuously, thereby ensuring a permanently fully charged battery. The important advantages are firstly that these chargers do ensure the battery IS fully charged BEFORE passing to a (lower voltage limit) float charge mode, and that in this mode it is the battery which signals to the charger and draws from it just the amount of current needed to support the load of alarms, accessories or current leaks in the vehicle wiring.
• Only by both current & voltage sensing can truly smart circuitry be sure the battery is fully charged before passing into the lower voltage-limited float charge stage.  Sensed voltage alone may indicate a full battery in cases of abnormal resistance due to deep discharge. The OptiMate & AccuMate circuits which monitor both current & voltage, check that the battery does not draw significant current at the 13,8 V Float charge limit during a trial initiation of the maintenance stage, BEFORE fully engaging this stage, (& indicating“battery ready”- green LED).  Both chargers thus revert automatically to constant current mode if the monitored parameters indicate that the charging mode has prematurely passed into maintenance mode.  This ensures the battery is really ready for the maintenance phase even in cases of an irregular rising voltage characteristic during the constant current stage.
• Removal of filler caps of non-sealed batteries connected to an AccuMate or OptiMate is unnecessary.