Optima 150-34178 Digital 1200 Battery Charger

I got this to charge an Optima 8051-160 D31A YellowTop Battery, which was in turn purchased as part of preparations for electrical outages at home (I would like to be able to keep small gadgets such as smart phones going as long as possible). So I plan on just leaving this charger attached to the battery all the time, inside my house, in maintenance mode.

First impressions are that the unit looks great, seems to be well made, has some thoughtful features, and is extremely easy to use. The central display has a 0-100% digital dial which looks really attractive (if that matters to you it certainly can't hurt). To operate the unit, you basically just hook up the battery (red terminal first), plug the charger into the AC wall socket, wait for it to finish its self test, and then select one of the "Quick Select" buttons. There are two sets of these, on the left and right sides of the panel, both arranged as quadrants in a circle (i.e. four buttons in each circle, like if you cut a pizza into four). So on the left you have charging options for four types of battery: Engine Starting (Red Top), Deep Cycle (Yellow Top), Motorcycle, and Auto/Marine. Then on the right side you have another set of four buttons: One turns the backlight on the central display on and off, then there's Battery Maintainer, Aux Maintainer (plug in on side), and Battery Pre-Charge Status. To be honest I haven't played with the ones on the right side (except for turning the backlight on and off); I just wanted to charge and maintain the new Yellow Top battery, so I pressed that button on the left and then let the charger do its thing. It's entirely automatic after that; so basically, you just need to know what type of battery you have, push one button, and off it goes. VERY easy. First it spends a minute or so analysing the battery. It then goes into "Charging" mode, showing a dial with how much charge it thinks the battery currently has. During this time, for my new battery it showed me about 75% charge. Then it shifted into "Conditioning" mode, with the meter now reading about 90%. A few minutes later it went to 100% and "Maintenance" mode. The central display also shows Volts DC in the bottom left, and Amps DC in the bottom right, presumably the former is the current voltage of the battery, and the latter is the amps being applied to charge it. So at all times you have a clear visual indication of the state of the battery, and what is being done to it.

This is a multistage charger, which means it has these different levels that it can use (charge, condition, maintenance etc) based on its analysis of the state of the battery. This also means that it's safe to leave the charger connected to the battery all the time it won't be damaged, in fact it will keep it topped up safely. Also, if you leave it connected in maintenance mode, then the charger will do an automatic three hour reconditioning of the battery every 30 days; this helps with desulfating AGM batteries, which is apparently something that can happen with this type of battery if you're not careful. I feel encouraged that the battery and the charger are both made by the same people, so presumably they know how to keep their own batteries in optimal condition. But obviously this charger isn't just for Optima batteries it'll work with any 12 volt battery for car, truck, motorcycle, boat etc.

I should mention noise: Namely, there isn't any. Some chargers have a tendency to buzz, this one is completely silent. ***Update: Actually, I've noticed that a fan does come on after a while when it's in full-on "charge" mode. This is presumably because of the increased amps being delivered (up to 12 amps DC). However during "maintenance" mode it is usually delivering a trickle charge, which doesn't seem to need the fan. Incidentally I notice that the only air vents seem to be on the bottom of the unit, so putting it on thick carpet would probably impede air flow down there. I would try to keep it on a solid, flat surface like hardwood or concrete floor, just to make sure it is able to keep itself cool when it needs to.

The charger has a place for winding the AC power cord, and an internal compartment in the back for stowing all the cables, which is a nice thought (so you don't have to have a tangled mess dangling all over the place when you transport the thing). Also, the carry handle folds away neatly on top when it's in use. Someone seems to have sat down and actually thought about how people would be using this thing, and what features would make it more convenient to transport and store.

There is also a USB charging port, though I haven't tried that yet. Currently the charger is installed in my home office, next to the new Yellow Top battery, trickle charging it in "maintenance" mode. I have to say it looks good, it's definitely an attractive piece of gear that my wife thinks looks like a small boom box. I really don't have anything bad to say about it at this early stage. These are first impressions; I guess only time will tell how it lasts let's hope a good long while!

Incidentally, in case anybody is interested: I purchased this charger as part of a setup that will hopefully provide power to keep my small electronic gadgets (smart phone etc) charged during electrical outages. Initially I purchased a Duracell DRPP600 Powerpack 600 Jump Starter and Emergency Power Source for this purpose, but after some more research decided to also try a more modular approach. This allows for use of a larger capacity battery, possibly multiple batteries, and easier replacement of the batteries, as well as a more sophisticated charger (the subject of this review), and inverters that can be used in your car as well as at home. A modular system allows for easier replacement of individual parts; the downside is that it is not as easily transportable as the all-in-one Duracell, and it is also more expensive, at least initially. I think both approaches have their place; I will still use the Duracell 600 for occasions where I need to just take a small power source along (car trips, camping etc), while the modular setup stays at home ready for emergencies. The other bits you would need for this, apart from the aforementioned battery and this charger, would be something like the Roadpro 12V Battery Clip-On and Cigarette Lighter Adapter (this clips onto the battery and gives you a 12V socket similar to the cigarette lighter socket in your car, and you can use any car USB charger then to charge your small gadgets like smartphones); then you need an inverter, e.g. Samlex America PST30S12A 300W Pure Sine Wave Inverter this gives you a 120V AC outlet. So then you would be set for a while should the power go out those Yellow Top batteries are the highest capacity (in terms of aH, or amp hours) that I found in the Optima lineup, and since they are "deep cycle", they are made to be able to be discharged completely and then recharged without damaging the battery. Of course if you want then you could even get multiple batteries to have on standby, depending on your needs, and hook them up to solar panels or whatever in addition to this charger. Lastly you might also want to get a tester so you can gauge the health of the battery during electrical outages, e.g. SOLAR BA7 100-1200 CCA Electronic Battery and System Tester. I am getting a solar panel (Instapark® NEW All Black 50W Mono-crystalline Solar Panel) and a charge controller (Sunforce 60031 10 Amp Digital Charge Controller) to keep the battery charged up during extended power outages.

All that being said, I think many (most?) people would probably be using this digital charger simply for keeping their car, truck, motorcycle or boat batteries healthy. Apparently this unit is able to "bring back from the dead" batteries that have been deeply discharged, due to its ability to analyse the battery's state and charge it appropriately. I haven't tried this out for myself, but based on what I have seen, I can believe it.

I must admit I was anxious to try this unit and Amazon has the best price $149. If you don't see this price then they are out of stock and check back every day until you do.

I don't have time to write anything to long but will say that this is the best charger I have ever owned! It does so much and is very complete package! I am using a desulfator along with it to restore old battery. This unit starts at 1.25v which no charger will do. I have a Battery Tender which was not able able to charger and bring back one of my Odyssey battery's but the Optima did. Anyhow its your call what you buy but your a fool if you pass this charger up for a any lesser. I have learn my lessons that's all I will say.

Buy Optima 150-34178 Digital 1200 Battery Charger Now

I bought this fancy battery charger and it works pretty good. After about two months half of the display went out. Getting ahold of Optima is proving to be very difficult. Until my warranty is dealt with I cannot recommend this product. I would buy a regular battery charger and a battery tender instead of this expensive complicated charger/tender with a fragile display and poor customer service from Optima.

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I bought this charger because I needed one for my truck works great for that. What really impressed me though was hooking up a supposedly "dead" battery from a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Source) connected to my computer system. I hooked up the battery to this charger and about 2 hours later the battery readout was at 100% and the UPS is working fine now. I don't know how long it will last, but the charger is reading its capacity at 100% so I'm guessing it's good for the immediate future. That saves me about $60 because I'd ordinarily go to Batteries Plus and just get a new battery.

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I completely drained my red top and also had an old Autocraft wet cell battery that was drained also. Honestly, due to poor troubleshooting on my part. Took them both to Autozone and there was nothing they could do with recovering the batteries. Actually the manager said "You must have cross-polarized the Optima" which of course I did not do. He also said he put it on his $10k battery charger that he bragged about and it said the battery is beyond dead; not exact words, but you get the point. (BTW, I actually like Autozone). This charger recovered both batteries. When I first tried to charge the red top, I got a little discouraged because it had to analyze it about three times and keep coming up with errors. Kept trying and it worked. This unit is lightweight and slightly smaller than the group 25 red top. Cables are easily stowed. Very pleased with the purchase.