The Optima rep on the phone said to drain it, recharge it with a trickle charger and repeat the process 3-4 times and that may help bring it back. Discovered that my battery charger was broken even though it makes noise like its working and gives a spark if u tap the leads together. I got a new charger and put it on the battery and set it to trickle 2A and have been trying to charge it back up which seems to be working as now my radio turns on and the lights aren't nearly as dimmed. But its still up in the air as to if this will work and the battery will hold a charge for more than 24 hours. I run a sounds system, lights, and I would like to get a winch in the near future so deep cycle would be ideal for me but if I absolutely need a battery then I think I am just going to get a Duralast gold since I have had good luck with their products and they live up to their warranties and I don't have to keep track of a receipt.
That's the way to go about it (I usually use a single headlamp for a "drain load.")
Generally, you're looking at one of two problems when a lead-acid battery starts to head West on you...
- Sulphation. The plates inside start getting coated with lead sulphide (the metal salt of lead and sulphuric acid,) and this inhibits the electron exchange process that makes electricity for you. A good
deep draining and recharge can often reverse the reaction that lead to sulphation - "deep draining" being putting a headlamp on until the battery voltage reaches zero (or close to it,) and the recharge should be at 2A -
or less.
- Memory. This is known to anyone who owns cordless telephones, cordless shavers, or who has been using cordless electric power tools for any significant length of time. The battery only gets discharged so far, so it begins to think that's all the capacity it has. Restore as above -
slow total drain and
slow total charge, to break up the memory.
If one full cycle won't do it on a lead-acid battery (liquid, AGM, or gel,) chances are pretty good the battery is wrecked. And, one full cycle is something you should plan a week for - it generally takes a couple of days to drain the thing fully, and then several more to fully charge it. I like to put an ammeter in circuit to monitor drain (so I can get an idea of where the thing is) and charge rates (to make sure it's taking a charge) during the process.
before. I don't remember the number though. I think it's more then that one too.
