Optima battery question

[Rhino]

Again, I feel I should restate that I'm not attempting to state that there is a quality issue with optima products. In general it's more of a comparison of AGM vs standard lead acid. If I did feel optima had poor products I wouldn't be using them in other vehicles and wouldn't have purchased an Optima charger.

I'll see if I can duplicate the results, and snap a picture of it. While I could be remembering incorrectly, I do feel strongly that I saw the display peak to 13 amps. I found it puzzling since the model number indicates a maximum of 12 amps. You did mention earlier that AGM's have a lower internal resistance. It sounds most likely that the low resistance and high sulfation is what lead to this particular issue.

AGM batteries are a different technology than traditional flooded batteries and they will react differently in applications. Probably the biggest difference between the two is a result of the extremely low internal resistance of AGM products, which allows them to provide power longer (and discharge more deeply) than flooded batteries. This difference tends to manifest itself quickly in off-road applications, where users are running batteries down with winches and other big-draw accessories and more slowly amongst hot rodders, whose cars slowly discharge batteries as they sit in storage. Either way, this difference can make AGM batteries more challenging to recover with many battery chargers on the market and traditional recovery methods (jump-starting).



I think the industry is working very hard right now to find ways to educate both retailers and consumers about AGM technology, because it is quickly taking OE market share from flooded products, especially in start/stop applications and will be doing the same in the aftermarket as well. We have both an online training program for our retail partners, as well as a program that travels the country, bringing the experience to them. We also created a whole host of YouTube videos, which also explains the technology. Some other brands have simply elected to just void warranties on deeply-discharged batteries. We haven't done that and as a result, we end up with a massive quantity of “bad” optima batteries that are only deeply-discharged and work fine, when properly-recharged.

The above abreviated quote is getting to the heart of my question, which I feel is sufficiently answered. AGM's allow themselves to become more deeply discharged due to their lower internal resistance. What should be done to properly recharge an AGM battery that's set for a number of months unattended? With the Optima chargers; If it states the battery can not be recharged at what point should that battery be relegated to the scrap heap?
I've not had much success with attempting to jump start these vehicles after a number of months. Assuming one follows a proper jump start procedure is it possible these attempts have caused damage to the battery in a deeply discharged state?