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Good evening. I purchased a new Ctek 3300 battery tender about 4 months ago. I normally have it on my car connected directly to the battery whenever I am not using my car. It has been a few months since I used it. I attempted to start the car and it started fine but after driving it to a nearby mall, the car would not start afterward (the battery was about 10 years old). I ended up purchasing a new Optima red top battery to install in the car. After bringing the car home and connecting it to the Ctek (as I normally do because I don't drive these cars very often) I began to smell a rotten egg smell coming form the battery after about 2 hours from connecting it to the Ctek. I noticed that in the 30 minutes I looked at the Ctek, the amber light never went to green. It stayed at amber the whole time which told me that it was charging the whole time.
I am trying to figure out if the issue is the battery or that the Ctek is overcharging the battery. What do you suggest in this situation?
Optima batteries generally "like" a charge rate that is not the same as a regular battery. Possibly your C-tek charger is indeed overcharging it. I've used Optima batteries in my cars for a long time, both in "daily drivers", as well as my Corvette, which is just a summer car. For that reason, I purchased an Optima charger.
There shouldn't be any issue using that maintainer on your battery. The rotten egg smell generally indicates a battery that is venting though. It probably wouldn't hurt to have the battery load-tested at the retailer where you purchased it, just to make sure the battery is ok. If there is an issue with the battery, it will likely manifest itself within the first few weeks, if not the first few days of use. Beyond that, battery lifespan is largely tied to how a battery is used and maintained. When we do see warranty returns on new batteries that aren't just deeply-discharged, many of them have obvious damage to the exterior of the case, indicating the battery was dropped at some point, which caused significant damage. Abrasions or crazing on a corner of the case are the most obvious signs. If the battery checks out, it would be worthwhile to stick a voltmeter on your battery when it is being charged, to see how much voltage is being pushed into the battery (we don't recommend exceeding 15.0 volts with battery chargers).
Thank you for the information Jim. Is it common for venting such as I described to occur when a Optima battery is new? I dont recall having the issue with my last Optima but then again it has been 10 years.
Also, to clarify I did have the Ctek set to the snowflake/battery setting. Is it also common for these batteries to be depleted enough for the charger to still show the amber light (not switching to green) after 4 hours of attaching it to the battery?
You may need to check to make sure you don't have some new electrical drain that is draining the battery as fast as the charger can charge it. And/or disconnect the battery from the car and charge it with the CTEK and see if it charges normally....
It is not common for any battery to vent to the point that you'd notice the smell, new or old. Knowing the voltage of your battery is kind of like knowing how much gas is in your tank. Not knowing what your voltage was when you began charging your battery makes it hard to know how long it might take to fully-charge your battery. I believe your 3300 will charge at a maximum of 3.3 amps, but most chargers typically taper amperage soon after they start charging. If you have a battery like our 75/25 RedTop, it has a capacity of 44Ah. If your battery was 50% discharged (~12.1V) when you started charging it and your charger was running at 3 amps for four hours (~12Ah), you'd still have a ways to go (~10Ah) before the battery was fully-charged (~12.6-12.8V).
Thank you all for the details. I have Smog to pass so I can't disconnect the battery now but hopefully by early next week i will be able to start doing some testing to see how much charge the battery has and how much charge the Ctek is passing (both with the battery on and off the car).
I believe that the SNOWFLAKE setting is for charging a battery in cold weather and AGM batteries
SNOW FLAKE MODE:.
Mode 14.7V/3.3A
This setting is recommended for a battery at temperatures <41°F. It is also
recommended for many AGM batteries like Optima, Maxxima and Odysses.
Consult your battery manufacturer when in doubt
Like Jim stated, read the battery voltage at the terminals with the charger OFF and then ON and see what the charge voltage is.
I too recommend having the battery tested at the place that you purchased it. It should not be venting unless it is over charging.
Was the battery extra warm when it was charging and venting and or was one cell hotter than the other cells?
So I used my voltmeter on the battery installed and it registered between 12.4 and 12.5 mV. I then connected the Ctek and measured at the clips. It was passing .003 V of charge. Do these measurements sound right or did I perhaps set my voltmeter to the incorrect settings?
I actually had an Optima RT do the same thing in one of my old cars. It turns out the voltage regulator in the alternator was overcharging the battery causing it to swell and vent gases. This probably isn't your problem, but I would check voltage at the alternator while the car is running just to verify it's working properly. You should be in the 13.5v to 14.5v range.
I actually had an Optima RT do the same thing in one of my old cars. It turns out the voltage regulator in the alternator was overcharging the battery causing it to swell and vent gases. This probably isn't your problem, but I would check voltage at the alternator while the car is running just to verify it's working properly. You should be in the 13.5v to 14.5v range.
Good day everyone. Thank you for the advice. I checked the Ctek once again and it was reading at 14.6 V charging. The charging has been working well for the last few days. The issue I believe was that The day I installed the battery it was 105 degrees and I had been driving the car all day. When I parked it I connected the Ctek to the battery right away and I believe that since the battery was so hot, the charging just added more heat and caused the venting I was explaining. It all seems to be working just fine now.
06-12-2019, 02:23 AM
Bad Smell after New Optima Battery Install
