Can I Use a Regular Battery Charger on an OPTIMA battery?

Can I use a regular or factory battery charger on my OPTIMA battery? In just about every case, the answer is absolutely! It's a common misconception that regular chargers or OE battery chargers that come with brand-new vehicles cannot charge OPTIMA batteries, because they are designed for lead-acid batteries. The fact is, OPTIMA batteries happen to be lead-acid batteries, so as long as the charger has a setting for lead-acid batteries, it can probably should be used to charge and maintain your OPTIMA battery.

The confusion often comes into play because OPTIMA batteries are AGM lead-acid batteries, with the "AGM" standing for "Absorbed Glass Mat." Apparently, the "G" can confuse some folks and lead them to believe OPTIMA batteries are Gel batteries, which is definitely not the case. While there may be a car or truck driving around somewhere with a gel battery in it, we haven't seen one yet. Everything else on the road is probably running either a flooded or AGM lead-acid battery (or in rare instances, a lithium battery).

Adding to that confusion is the fact that some battery chargers have "gel" or even more confusing "Gel/AGM" settings. Our advice is to simply avoid any battery charger setting that references "gel" in any way, as it may not fully-charge non-gel batteries and could damage them over time. We would also suggest avoiding any charger settings that exceed 10 amps, as some chargers have settings as high as 200 amps, which could severely overcharge any battery and potentially create a dangerous situation, if not properly-monitored.

If you're not sure what kind of charger you have, your charger is older than you are or you just want to make sure you have a charger that will do a great job of charging and maintaining your OPTIMA battery, you can always purchase an OPTIMA Charger or Maintainer from us!