The advanced 24/7 battery maintenance program periodically delivers just the right amount to keep the battery optimally charged, but never overcharging. This process will continue for as long as you keep your OptiMate connected to the battery.

1) Battery type:

Lead-acid & Lithium-Ion batteries differ in how they generate electricity and therefore need different maintenance charging when stored. Scroll down the page to find out more on these processes.

2) How fast charge is lost depends on the self-discharge rate of your starter battery and the parasitic draw.

a. Energy loss due to self-discharge: it is normal for a battery to lose charge when inactive. Stored outside a vehicle, a Lead-acid battery will self-discharge much faster than a Lithium-Ion battery.

b. Energy loss due to the parasitic draw: your vehicle’s electronics system and all its memorized settings (radio stations in your car, suspension settings, ride mode setting on your motorcycle etc..) requires energy from your starter battery to function, this energy needed daily is called the parasitic draw.

To check the vehicle’s charge system, Optimate has a range of Battery Testers that can tell you, on the spot, if your system and your battery are performing as they should.

If your battery is too weak to start over your engine, always disconnect it from your vehicle’s electronics before you connect the SILVER or GOLD charger. This way, the charger can safely use all its desulphating powers on your battery. Leaving the battery connected in your vehicle when you connect the SILVER or GOLD charger, limits the power of the charger to insure no damage is created onto your vehicle’s electronics, but this limitation can cause the problem on the battery to remain.

A Lithium battery passively generates electricity; Li-Ions flow from the anode (-) to the cathode (+) of a cell and that causes static electricity. When receiving charge the Li-ion flow is reversed, Li-Ions are returned to the anode. It is essential that a balance is maintained and there are sufficient Li-Ions at the anode and cathode after discharge or recharge.

All Li-Ions will have migrated to the Anode (-), leaving the cathode (+) ‘empty’ and fragile.

All Li-ions will have migrated to the cathode (+), leaving the anode (-) ‘empty’ and fragile.

In an active battery the presence of lead-sulphate (PbSO4) poses no danger as it is continuously created and dismantled. When the battery is left in a partially discharged state for too long the unconverted lead-sulphate (PbSO4) crystalizes and hardens on the surface of the plates, making it more difficult to dismantle when the battery once again receives charge. The reduced lead surface area affects the battery’s ability to deliver and hold power i.e. the battery has become smaller (less Ah capacity) and therefore weaker. Maintaining a lead-acid battery at full charge will avoid loss of power. Alternatively recharge frequently, ideally before the battery drops below 75% S.O.C..

The battery’s electrolyte is diluted sulphuric acid (H2SO4 + H2O).

Within a charged battery the concentration of sulphuric acid (H2SO4) is higher than water (H2O), which decreases the electrolyte’s freezing point to -95°F / -71°C.
As the battery discharges the concentration of sulphuric acid reduces and water content increases, which increases the freezing point of the electrolyte towards that of water. A battery at 50% charge level has a freezing point of approximately -22°F / -30°C, but a completely discharged battery’s electrolyte is mostly water (H2O) with a freezing point of 32°F / 0°C.
When water freezes it expands by 120% and will break the battery from within.
Maintaining a lead-acid battery at full charge prevents the battery from freezing even in extreme cold.

An excess of lead-sulphate within the battery prevents electricity flow at normal charging voltages (e.g. 14.4V for a 12V battery) – the battery is unable to hold a charge. To recover the battery a higher voltage is required, to overcome the resistance caused by too high levels of lead-sulphate and force electricity to flow. OptiMate Battery Saving chargers for lead-acid batteries can recover dead flat batteries from as low as 0.5V.

Once all lead-sulphate has been converted, continued electricity flow causes the electrolyte to increase in temperature and emit hydrogen and oxygen. The electrolyte will eventually ‘dry out’, causing the battery to demand even more charge current that will destroy the battery’s plates. If trapped, hydrogen and oxygen can cause an explosion.

A Lithium LFP battery has three main components in each cell, the cathode made of Lithium Ferrous Phosphate (LFP - LiFePo4), anode made of Carbon (C ) and the Lithium based electrolyte (LiCIO4 - Lithium perchloride) that transfer lithium-ions between the the anode and cathode.

Lithium batteries create electricity by moving Lithium Ions (Li-Ions) between the cathode and the anode through the electrolyte. No additional waste chemical is created.
When discharged (battery delivering energy) Li-Ions move from the anode to the cathode. When recharged the Li-Ions move from cathode back to the anode.
A lithium battery remains in a good State Of Health if there is always sufficient Li-Ions at the cathode, anode and within the electrolyte i.e. the battery is never discharged too low and never charged too high.

All the lithium-Ions are concentrated at the cathode with very little at the anode. This causes the carbon anode to lose structure and it cannot receive lithium-ions at normal charge rate. If recharged too fast, or even ‘jump started’, lithium ions bombard the carbon anode and causes it to overheat. To recover the battery a very slow controlled charge at low current is required, to allow the anode to slowly absorb lithium-ions until it can once again receive charge normally. OptiMate Lithium chargers for LFP Lithium batteries can recover dead flat batteries from as low as 0.5V.

When fully charged the carbon anode of each cell is fully packed with lithium ions and cannot receive any more, but continued electricity flow forces lithium-ions to try entering the anode, causing the carbon to overheat. Once it reaches a critical temperature, it will self-combust, and the battery may catch fire.