Optimate 3.........

fw750x · Nova Slayer Joined: 27 Oct 2008 Karma :

Hi anyone with an Optimate 3 I have the permanent connection on my bike,I took my Optimate 3 to a workmates garage to charge his battery using the crocidile clips lead.The only way it would work is by putting the red lead on the minus and the black lead on the plus on the battery.Are my crocidile clips wired wrong "The lead " Can only plug in one way ,So it cannot be the Optimate lead as it works on the permanent connection On my bike . Francis Confused

The Artist · Super Spammer Joined: 06 Jan 2008 Karma :

Red goes to plus

Black goes to minus Laughing

I can't tell if this is serious.

fw750x · Nova Slayer Joined: 27 Oct 2008 Karma :

Hi Allymoss i know red goes to plus black to minus,I wanted to know if anyone one else has the same crocidile clips and if they are wired the wrong way round the same as mine.Francis Confused

P.S.. i have used the permanent lead over the winter time or when i have not used the bike for a week to keep the battery in top condition ,Never used the croc clips until the other day and have owned the Optimate for about 3 years now.

The Artist · Super Spammer Joined: 06 Jan 2008 Karma :

Oh right, I misread your first post.

Just make sure + on the charger goes to + on the battery is all. If the croc clips are wired wrongly just reverse then clips even if the colour is wrong.

Quick way to test if red is positive or not is attach a multimeter to the crocodile clips, the correct way around and see what it says e.g. 12v or -12v.

It should not have a minus next to it.

Blue_SV650S · World Chat Champion Joined: 27 Nov 2008 Karma :

My Accumate (same family as optimate) is as follows (see attached carp paint diagram!) Smile

The block at the top is obviously the crock clip connector plug thingy, orientated by the snap connector bit at the top. The crock clips are the arrow bits down the bottom of the pic (coloured the wires too to make it blatantly obvious which is which!!! Thumbs Up

).
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fw750x · Nova Slayer Joined: 27 Oct 2008 Karma :

Hi again the croc clip lead is wired wrong.The Optimate has a power light on the left front and a red light under it,If the red light comes on it is connected wrong.On the right front is Desulfate/Charge/Weak/Good lights.When connected with the croc clips Red to plus Black to minus the Wrong connection light - lights up nothing on the charge side.When the leads are connected Black to plus Red to minus the charge light comes on and the battery charges up.Just to let anyone else know if they have the same lead.cheers Francis

Blue_SV650S · World Chat Champion Joined: 27 Nov 2008 Karma :

fw750x · Nova Slayer Joined: 27 Oct 2008 Karma :

Hi Blue MY lead is wired wrong not yours , Sorry for the confusion.Francis

Blue_SV650S · World Chat Champion Joined: 27 Nov 2008 Karma :

baldy · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Karma :

I did once have a battery that would only charge in reverse, so the negative was the positive. It would get to around 5v then blow the fuse. apparently this can happen if one of the cells goes flat before the others and then gets reversed charged by the good ones.

Just thought i would share this brilliant information with everybody.
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evoboy · World Chat Champion Joined: 20 Aug 2009 Karma :

My Optimate 3 is wired red to positive, black to negative Thumbs Up

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Davo · Davo To The Rescue! Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Karma :

Hi

Just a bit of a shot in the dark, but what bike are you trying to connect the charger to?

It's not quite an old bike is it (e.g. bike with a positive earthed frame)?

But normally the red goes to the battery's positive terminal & black to the negative. If I remember the optimate should detect if the polarity is incorrect.

It could also be a possibility that the battery is completely knackered, have had it before where the battery was so worn that the optimate couldn't detect it was connected to a battery.

. · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 18 Feb 2008 Karma :

as you mentrion there are warning lights to prevent incorrect connection.

If all is well and before the optimate is plugged into the mains, there will be a faint green glow from the polarity indicator light , if its the wrong way round a bright red light will be seen instead.
Do not switch on until the connections are swapped and the faint green light is shown.

just ignore the clip colours

OptiTech · L Plate Warrior Joined: 04 Jun 2010 Karma :

on rare occasion there are problems with in production. unfortunately this is one of those cases. we have only received less than a dozen clamp leads with this problem ever, if you consider that there is somewhere in the region of 300'000 of these chargers have been sold in the UK thats not too bad.

@ romeohotel - OptiMate reverse polarity light is red, this only illuminates when the charger is connected to battery incorrectly. This is only a warning and there is no risk causing damage to charger or battery even if it was powered before connected to the battery as it requires a battery voltage of +2V in order to engage the charger program. anything less that this (which also includes reverse connection) will result in no charge being delivered.

regards

OptiTech