Battery Tester Analyzer

[Rebeldad1]

Okay, a dead Optima (Yellow Top) battery in one of the Kubotas today. Tractor would not start, took the battery out and charged it up on a conventional charger. Charged for about 1/2 hour and charger indicated the battery was fully charged. Measured 12.27 Volts so I put it back in, but no luck starting. With my multimeter hooked up when I turned the key the voltage on the whole keyswitch dropped to 0.9 V when attempting to start. Pulled the starter and jumped it off another battery, starter good. Swapped out battery and the tractor started. The battery seems to have enough Voltage but can not put out any current.

The Optima is about 5 years old and now measures 12.25 Volts with no load. I know there are special AGM chargers which I do not have but does anyone think this battery is recoverable? I will be headed to the auto parts store tomorrow to have them check it out, but curious what anyone thinks. I would like to salvage it, 830 CCA yellow tops are not cheap. I have 5 Optimas so maybe an AGM charger is also something I need to get if there is a real advantage.

Isnt the yellow top a deep cycle? may not be getting enough run time to charge or not getting a proper charge cycle for a deep cycle. how low of voltage do you go before charging? If you are using it like a car battery it might reach its end of life sooner. Might switch to blue or red top. Also I have seen rebuilt ones for sale. Bought my last yellow top rebuilt for $75.00.

3 things that told you its a bad battery. 1. charged to full way too quick 2. after charging its only 12.27 volt
3. dropped to 0.9 volt trying to start. (also could be bad grounds if it wasnt charging to full too soon)

A AGM charger is a plus.

 

[goeduck]

My two tractors that have yellow tops are on a remote property and only get started once a week, sometimes once a month in the winter. So I selected a yellow top as they seemed be more like RV use. When they do get started they are run for hours anywhere from 4 to 8.

The auto parts store guy checked the battery and his tester indicated the battery needed to be charged. He also indicated that he was told Optima recommends their own charger (what mfg does not?). I asked him about his AGM charger and he recommends that for what Optimas cost, Optimas model 400 ($90) is probably a better bet and it doubles as a maintainer.

 

[TractorGuy]

Old school here. I use a volt meter and hydrometer. If it has good voltage and the specific gravity in all 6 cells is even and in the green it will pass a load test.

 

[fried1765]

Old school here. I use a volt meter and hydrometer. If it has good voltage and the specific gravity in all 6 cells is even and in the green it will pass a load test.

YUP!
Me too!

 

[RustyA]

Newer vehicles with pcm controlled charging will mask a poor battery by operating the alternator more to compensate. You will use more fuel and take more life out of the charging system and never know it. Have battery tested with midtronic tester or replace every 3-5 years and you will be money ahead. Modern vehicles are not very tolerant of voltage drops and spikes caused by weak batteries. If you have a dual battery diesel have them tested independently. Weak battery in diesels eat injector driver modules for breakfast

 

[3930dave]

My two tractors that have yellow tops are on a remote property and only get started once a week, sometimes once a month in the winter. So I selected a yellow top as they seemed be more like RV use. When they do get started they are run for hours anywhere from 4 to 8.

The auto parts store guy checked the battery and his tester indicated the battery needed to be charged. He also indicated that he was told Optima recommends their own charger (what mfg does not?). I asked him about his AGM charger and he recommends that for what Optimas cost, Optimas model 400 ($90) is probably a better bet and it doubles as a maintainer.

With 5 Optimas in the the fleet, I'd spend the $90 on their charger.

I have a Yellow top in mine too, but as listed here already, they are not primarily designed as a Starting battery, more deep-discharge. Mine has served me well. But, I also use a battery disconnect switch every time it's parked. IMO, that is even more important on newer tractors, to fight parasitic loss.

AGMs are great batteries, but do better with an AGM friendly charger.

Certain batteries are beyond recovery, but IIRC, ultrarunner has had good luck with his extensive fleet with that latest charger he bought (bigger money than $90). PM him if you are interested..... I don't trust my memory on what he bought, and don't remember the thread name he last posted in.....

Rgds, D.

 

[goeduck]

I ended up buying the $90 Optima 400 which has the same feature set as the larger $200 Optima 1200 model. It does not have the fast charging capacity however which is fine with me. I hooked it up to the battery and it charged for about 5 hours to 100% and it went into maintenance mode. I unplugged it for the night and plugged it back in the next morning and it said 50% (WTH?) charged for a few more hours, took it to 100% and went back to maintenance mode. Hmmm.... There may be something to the yellow tops needing a deep discharge.... or I have a bad battery. I will pick up an actual load tester (always wanted one) and see how many amps it can put out. Drain it down a few times, let the maintainer charge it and recondition it and see if that helps. I have not found out if there is a way to force the Optima 400 charger to recondition mode, it does it every 30 days while in maintenance mode.

 

[3930dave]

If you have reasonable load performance just after a full charge, then you may being looking at a very high self-discharge rate. Not common, but I've heard of Optimas doing that.

I always try and recover a good quality battery, esp. one not that old. I want to say Battery Tender, but search around for a post in the last year from ultrarunner, or PM him - he bought a higher end model that had extensive re-conditioning modes, and had good luck on a near stone-dead battery or 2 - not sure if he used on AGM or not....

I have a few chargers around, that do get used, but something like that ^ one is probably my next addition here.....

Rgds, D.

 

[shovelmike]

That is a good option. Simple. Do you have to take the battery cables off to use them?

No need to remove the cables.

 

[aczlan]

If you have a dual battery diesel have them tested independently. Weak battery in diesels eat injector driver modules for breakfast

And if one of the two batteries is bad, replace both of them (preferably with two batteries that have the same build date)
If you don't replace both, the "good" old one will drag the new one down and kill it in short order.

Aaron Z

 

[goeduck]

I have had the two tractor yellow top Optimas with me at the house this week and ran the Optima 400 charger maintainer on them all week (rotated every day or so). Both are about the same age and size. Both would show 100% charge after being on the charger and both would say 75% charged when I first switched to each battery from the other. I would power down the charger each time so it would analyze the battery. Both would show approx 13 V in the 100% charged state on a multimeter.

I received my $30 Schumacher BT100 load tester (old school heating element type) today and tested both batteries. One easily put out over 1000 Amps. The other (the one that failed to start its tractor) could not get off the bottom of the scale.

My intent is to let the charger go through the 30 day maintenance cycle on the bad one where it will attempt to desulfate the battery in a last gasp hope of recovering it. Seems odd to me, but nothing to lose.

 

[5030]

Never been impressed with any Optima (Johnson Controls) battery. Over priced. They make them not too fat from here in Waterville, Ohio.

 

[3930dave]

I have had the two tractor yellow top Optimas with me at the house this week and ran the Optima 400 charger maintainer on them all week (rotated every day or so). Both are about the same age and size. Both would show 100% charge after being on the charger and both would say 75% charged when I first switched to each battery from the other. I would power down the charger each time so it would analyze the battery. Both would show approx 13 V in the 100% charged state on a multimeter.

I received my $30 Schumacher BT100 load tester (old school heating element type) today and tested both batteries. One easily put out over 1000 Amps. The other (the one that failed to start its tractor) could not get off the bottom of the scale.

My intent is to let the charger go through the 30 day maintenance cycle on the bad one where it will attempt to desulfate the battery in a last gasp hope of recovering it. Seems odd to me, but nothing to lose.

Shame to lose a young yellow-top; certainly worth a try.

I voted for the Optima charger for a few reasons. According to the BU guys, AGM is a bit more heat-sensitive than I would have guessed (wrt. charge voltage).....

Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) Battery Information - Battery University

Standard FLA batteries can have a tough time with heat too, but at least there you have the option of topping up electrolyte. (Not slagging AGM; many people don't check FLA cell levels, so don't gain anything there.....).

Rgds, D.

 

[John_Mc]

Never been impressed with any Optima (Johnson Controls) battery. Over priced. They make them not too fat from here in Waterville, Ohio.

I thought Optima moved their production to Mexico a few years ago. I got the one I'm using in my tractor a little over 4 years ago, and it's been working just fine so far.

 

[John_Mc]

I always try and recover a good quality battery, esp. one not that old. I want to say Battery Tender, but search around for a post in the last year from ultrarunner, or PM him - he bought a higher end model that had extensive re-conditioning modes, and had good luck on a near stone-dead battery or 2 - not sure if he used on AGM or not....

I have a few chargers around, that do get used, but something like that ^ one is probably my next addition here.....

Rgds, D.

Battery Tender has no desulfation mode. They are not all that good as chargers go, IMO, and will not recover or recondition a weak battery.

You are not thinking of a BatteryMINDer charger, were you? I have about 6 of them of varying models (the oldest is almost 20 years old and still works well). Their top of the line 12 V charger is the 128CEC1. For a less expensive maintainer, check out their model 1500 can be found for less than $50.

 

[3930dave]

Battery Tender has no desulfation mode. They are not all that good as chargers go, IMO, and will not recover or recondition a weak battery.

You are not thinking of a BatteryMINDer charger, were you? I have about 6 of them of varying models (the oldest is almost 20 years old and still works well). Their top of the line 12 V charger is the 128CEC1. For a less expensive maintainer, check out their model 1500 can be found for less than $50.

That sounds more probable.

Thanks for assisting my less than 100% memory .

Rgds, D.

P.S. - always liked the tagline you have. Also found out the hard way.... Tallest Nail Gets The Hammer First.....

D.

 

[John_Mc]

P.S. - always liked the tagline you have. Also found out the hard way.... Tallest Nail Gets The Hammer First.....

D.

Thanks. Some people take it too literally, assuming I'm talking about actual hand tools. I've found the sentiment expressed in my tagline to be true all too often in life. (I try to guard against doing it myself, but don't always succeed.)

I like your "Fizx" tag line as well. (A classmate and I basically taught our high school physics class, and I almost majored in it in college - I took 4 semesters of it - so I especially appreciate the value of understanding it.)

 

[5030]

I thought Optima moved their production to Mexico a few years ago. I got the one I'm using in my tractor a little over 4 years ago, and it's been working just fine so far.

Could be, I don't keep tabs on them. Isn't everything made elsewhere today?