Optima 400 Charger?
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 197
Likes: 55
From: LA (lower Alabama)
I've had one for about a year. I'm pretty happy with it. Pros: it works, it has the ability to do minor charging and maintains charge quite well. My Optima red top seems to like it. I've used it in other batteries as well and it works great to keep a battery fully charged.
Cons: once when I had a power failure, when power returned it switched back on as "small battery" so if you have a power failure just check it. Small battery setting wouldn't have hurt anything in this case, though. The backlighting turns off after several minutes, but I have noticed that if I walk in the shop to check the charger and turn on the backlighting, it "wakes the charger up" briefly and it goes to a moderate charge level for a couple minutes.l, then back to maintain. Kinda funny actually, its like it "got caught sleeping on the job." I'm not really impressed with the battery clamps though. The charger came with a hard wire with connector option but I've just been using the quick clamps and their kinda cheap. I'll probably upgrade them at some point or just hard wire it. Overall I'm happy with it. However, it won't charge a lithium iron battery. My bike has one and I had to buy a special charger just for it.
Cons: once when I had a power failure, when power returned it switched back on as "small battery" so if you have a power failure just check it. Small battery setting wouldn't have hurt anything in this case, though. The backlighting turns off after several minutes, but I have noticed that if I walk in the shop to check the charger and turn on the backlighting, it "wakes the charger up" briefly and it goes to a moderate charge level for a couple minutes.l, then back to maintain. Kinda funny actually, its like it "got caught sleeping on the job." I'm not really impressed with the battery clamps though. The charger came with a hard wire with connector option but I've just been using the quick clamps and their kinda cheap. I'll probably upgrade them at some point or just hard wire it. Overall I'm happy with it. However, it won't charge a lithium iron battery. My bike has one and I had to buy a special charger just for it.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 399
Likes: 31
I've had one for about a year. I'm pretty happy with it. Pros: it works, it has the ability to do minor charging and maintains charge quite well. My Optima red top seems to like it. I've used it in other batteries as well and it works great to keep a battery fully charged.
Cons: once when I had a power failure, when power returned it switched back on as "small battery" so if you have a power failure just check it. Small battery setting wouldn't have hurt anything in this case, though. The backlighting turns off after several minutes, but I have noticed that if I walk in the shop to check the charger and turn on the backlighting, it "wakes the charger up" briefly and it goes to a moderate charge level for a couple minutes.l, then back to maintain. Kinda funny actually, its like it "got caught sleeping on the job." I'm not really impressed with the battery clamps though. The charger came with a hard wire with connector option but I've just been using the quick clamps and their kinda cheap. I'll probably upgrade them at some point or just hard wire it. Overall I'm happy with it. However, it won't charge a lithium iron battery. My bike has one and I had to buy a special charger just for it.
Cons: once when I had a power failure, when power returned it switched back on as "small battery" so if you have a power failure just check it. Small battery setting wouldn't have hurt anything in this case, though. The backlighting turns off after several minutes, but I have noticed that if I walk in the shop to check the charger and turn on the backlighting, it "wakes the charger up" briefly and it goes to a moderate charge level for a couple minutes.l, then back to maintain. Kinda funny actually, its like it "got caught sleeping on the job." I'm not really impressed with the battery clamps though. The charger came with a hard wire with connector option but I've just been using the quick clamps and their kinda cheap. I'll probably upgrade them at some point or just hard wire it. Overall I'm happy with it. However, it won't charge a lithium iron battery. My bike has one and I had to buy a special charger just for it.
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 197
Likes: 55
From: LA (lower Alabama)
Yes as long as you don't turn the backlight on it will tell you the current condition and maintenance charge rate. You can see it without the backlight. If you turn on the backlight the charger ramps up for a couple minutes and may not be dead accurate for current condition.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 399
Likes: 31
Yes as long as you don't turn the backlight on it will tell you the current condition and maintenance charge rate. You can see it without the backlight. If you turn on the backlight the charger ramps up for a couple minutes and may not be dead accurate for current condition.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 399
Likes: 31
Thx again--im going to order the 400--one more thing--what does the unit read for volts when in mintance mode? im guessing around 13.40s
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 197
Likes: 55
From: LA (lower Alabama)
In my case most of the time it ranges from 12.9 to about 13.1 when it's just idling, but I've sent it idle as high as about 13.4 to 13.5. I suppose it depends on current draw in the car, etc. Idle meaning it's not actively maintaining. When it's trickle charging it can go close to 14 at times, again probably depends on car and battery.
Last edited by 50thz06; Mar 3, 2019 at 02:42 PM.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 399
Likes: 31
In my case most of the time it ranges from 12.9 to about 13.1 when it's just idling, but I've sent it idle as high as about 13.4 to 13.5. I suppose it depends on current draw in the car, etc. Idle meaning it's not actively maintaining. When it's trickle charging it can go close to 14 at times, again probably depends on car and battery.
I've had one for about 6-7 years, and am very happy with it.