OptiMate USB is lithium and AGM friendly - "no worries"!OptiMate is a reliable and innovative battery charger with a unique maintenance mode that allows it to maintain a battery 24-7 - most of the motorcycle industry knows that.
However, what people in the industry are also now realising is that in recent years brand owner TecMate added another battery charger range - OptiMate USB. This new task-specific range is designed for charging the batteries in phones, GPS, cameras, Bluetooth communication in helmets etc.
What TecMate did not want to see happen was that OptiMate USB chargers would kill the battery that the OptiMate maintenance chargers worked so hard to keep alive - that was the motivation to include unique and smart battery protection that prevents the powersport vehicle’s battery from being totally drained if the rider left the USB charger hooked up.
Simply put, OptiMate USB chargers shut down after the vehicle has been parked or if it senses the battery is down to 50% charge, and it automatically turns on when the vehicle’s engine fires up again. There's smart and there's smart - that is really smart!
Functionality like that is real-world important out there on the road, especially for the more adventurous riders who camp out where there’s no AC power available. If their OptiMate USB is charging one of their USB devices after the motorcycle has been parked, it will shut down well before the motorcycle’s battery is drained.
Then though, enter a new type of battery that works at a higher voltage - lithium. The industry standard, the sealed lead-acid AGM (absorbed glass mat) battery, is fully charged at 12.8V or higher, but that’s only 10% charge remaining for a lithium (LiFePO4). Lithium also has less capacity to give (amp hours) when the motorcycle is parked - it will discharge faster. For that reason, it’s best not to discharge that lithium below 50% (13.1V), higher is of course better!
The updated OptiMate USB range is now lithium friendly and continues to work with AGM batteries. To protect that small lithium battery, OptiMate USB now shuts down one hour after it sensed the vehicle has been parked, guaranteeing there is sufficient charge remaining to start the engine and ride again - then the OptiMate USB charger automatically fires up to deliver a fast charge to the GPS or phone, guiding the rider to the next adventure.
www.optimate1.com
