laborkei

My HHR sits often for weeks. I plug in one of these "Battery Tender" devices to keep the battery charged. The LED shows green when fully charged, and red when charging. It's supposed to be for boat and motorcycle batteries, but this works great for me for the past few years.

Harpozep

I found this info on charging Optima batteries here:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5522442_char...batteries.html

Step 1

Check the voltage of the Optima battery. If it is above 10.5 volts, proceed to Step 4. If the voltage reading is below 10.5 volts, the battery is in a state of deep discharge, and you need to use a fully charged automotive battery to charge your Optima battery properly.
2.
Step 2

Verify that your battery charger can produce at least 100 amps and a voltage of between 13.8 and 15.6 volts. You should not charge your battery at more than 15.6 volts.
3.
Step 3

Use jumper cables to connect the positive terminals of the Optima battery and the other, fully charged auto battery. Similarly, connect the negative terminals of the two batteries.
4.
Step 4

Connect the charger's positive lead to the positive terminal of the Optima battery, its negative lead to the negative terminal of the same battery, and set it to charge at 100 amps. (If your voltage reading was above 10.5 volts and you are not using a second auto battery to charge your Optima battery, complete this step then proceed to Step 7.)
5.
Step 5

Check the voltage of the Optima battery every 15 minutes. Once it has reached 10.5 volts, turn off the charger and remove the second battery from the circuit, first disconnecting the positive terminal and then the negative.
6.
Step 6

Connect the positive lead of the battery charger to the positive terminal on the Optima battery, and the negative lead to the negative battery terminal.
7.
Step 7

Set the charger to 100 amps and charge for 15 minutes. Then turn off the charger and allow both the charger and the battery to cool off for 15 minutes. Repeat this 100 amp charge for 15 minutes and 15-minute cool down period a total of four times.
8.
Step 8

Set the charger to trickle charge or between 2 and 10 amps, and allow the battery to charge this way for at least 24 hours to complete the charging process.

skyeglen

Harpozep, thanks for printing that. I had considered getting a Optima several times in the past but after reading that nonsense about the second fully charged battery, 100 amp charger and the connect/disconnect proceedure there ain't no way I would ever pay the price they cost for that headache.

Besides, it's not like we need some great super battery for cranking over some big hairy high compression V8. I honestly think my motorcycle battery from the CBX would start the little ecotec.

Sno White

Optima's standard charging recommendations can be found here:
http://www.optimabatteries.com/produ...t/charging.php
AND
http://www.optimabatteries.com/produ...agmbattery.php
and are nothing like Harpozep supplied in his prior post. Notice the link is from ehow.com not Optima!

The link Harpozep supplied is one of three ways Optima recommends to "Resuscitate" a deeply discharged or bad battery. This is a last step one might take before junking the battery. For Optimas complete write up of all three methods see:
http://www.optimabatteries.com/produ...agmbattery.php

I'm not particularly pro Optima, just against web misinformation fungus.

The first two links in this post are good reading for anyone.

skyeglen

Thanks Sno White, I should have done my own research. I know better but took the easy way. The first link shows not much different than a regular battery.

Harpozep

Yeah, thanks for bringing us back to reality.
Sorry if I panicked anyone. The Net is full of truths, half truths and outright mis information for sure.
My post referenced the final way in which one may save an Optima battery.

I got the link while I was in the throws of dealing with a deeply discharged battery, so it was relevant to my needs. Quite the procedure for sure.

The other ways Optima suggested were not enough for me. But I did bring it back to life.....for now..........................