Strangely Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 I just bought one of those Draper Battery Master conditioners that have been mentioned here, and inside it says "intended for use with all conventional automotive lead acid batteries ... it is not suitable for specialist applications such as ... gel type batteries and other types of rechargeable batteries". Anyone know whether this is OK to use with my Hawker Odyssey PC680? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philwaters Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 Not sure Jason, although I am using my Airflow with my 680 - I can check those instruction if I can find them if you like... The 680 is a gel type though. Phil Waters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 I dont know if I'm supposed to , but my oddessey 580 runs with a draper conditioner from halfrauds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefoster Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 There was a long thread on this about gel's and ordinary batt conditioners. The summary was that you would not fry a gel with one. However I only run mine for limited periods. Overnight like you will use it Jason it should be fine. Hants (North) and Berkshire Area club site here My racing info site here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Walker Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 Unless its a regulated stepped charger you run the risk of spoiling your battery. Gel batteries must not be overcharged or " gassed ". A regulated charger starters at 14.3v first stage down to 12.8v preventing any overcharging. I bought the pukka charger for about £50 but I have recently seen regulated stepped chargers designed for the gel batteries in Maplin for £20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefoster Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 Do you mean this Rob? here Hants (North) and Berkshire Area club site here My racing info site here Edited by - stevefoster on 23 Dec 2004 14:55:41 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Walker Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 Steve, Yes that should do the job, bit more than £20 though sorry! I doubt that the Draper unit is a regulated output, therefore its charge rate is purely dependant on the internal resitance of the battery. As you say should be OK for short charges, just don`t forget and leave it on overnight or your battery will be overcharged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budgie Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 I use the 'optimate' for my 680 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefoster Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 I use a turn knob ticking timer to set a couple of hours... Might search out Maplin in Farnborough with my Xmas money some time Hants (North) and Berkshire Area club site here My racing info site here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 Do not use the Halfords with any type of Gel battery, only the dedicated versions offer the thermal spike cut out voltages , that is why they cost a lot more. Variations in voltage and resistance is not built into the circuits that draper or cheaper variants offer, if you have a gel battery then i suggest that you use what is recommended, as this unit is not new and has been around for 40yrs or so. Support the 7 Society...... Ehhh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strangely Posted December 26, 2004 Author Share Posted December 26, 2004 Thanks, everyone. I consider myself duly warned; the description on the leaflet in the Draper box did not match the Hawker requirements, here: http://www.odysseybatteries.com/charging.htm Hopefully I won't get any grief from Halfords about taking it back. The OptiMate III sounds like it will do the job: http://www.accumate.co.uk/it010003.html Phil, if your Airflow is this one http://www.airflow-uk.com/battery-conditioner.htm then I don't like the sound of it. It apparently lets the battery drain down to 12V before resuming charging. 12V isn't enough to start the car, is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefoster Posted December 26, 2004 Share Posted December 26, 2004 Jason, I fancy one of those Maplin ones. Do you want me to get you one too? Or if we club together delivery is free. Hants (North) and Berkshire Area club site here My racing info site here Edited by - stevefoster on 26 Dec 2004 20:02:12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlesElliott Posted December 26, 2004 Share Posted December 26, 2004 Optimate III Charles --- My Roadsports B 2005 diary My Caterham Academy 2004 build and race diary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strangely Posted December 27, 2004 Author Share Posted December 27, 2004 Steve, I think I'm going to try to track down an OptiMate locally. You'd only need to spend an extra 1p at Maplins to get free delivery though. I'm sure that you could find something else there that you'd like. How about a single resistor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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