And, just to be contrary, I agree with Costas!
But, just sticking an Optimate on and forgetting about it is not the way to do it!
The Optimate has a series of tests and charging programs that it goes through, it is not merely a battery charger!
If you never look at the sequence of lights then you won't know what it is telling you about your battery and you can end up, as Tom says, up the schtuck without a pedalo!
However, if you pay attention to the lights sequence, like what it tells you to do in the user manual (remember that) then rather than masking problems, it will forewarn you of impending doom!
Whether you then take any action is up to you, the Optimate won't fit a new battery for you
My four year old K13 battery won't even turn the bike over after two weeks left standing and that is without the alarm turned on! However, I would have no qualms about heading off sur le continent for a couple of weeks because it will always start the next day or even after a couple of days after it has been ridden.
The Optimate is telling me something isn't quite right with it and I need to study the lights and the manual (which is right next to the Optimate
) to find out what. As with all things in life, it will only get worse and I think a new battery is on the way!
By comparison, even though there is no comparison, my K12 which has a battery at least five years old and probably much older, will happily start after week or more with no charger connected. It rarely gets left any longer than that.
Brian (who says if you use an Optimate like a charger you will run into problems, use it like the intelligent conditioner it is and it will repay you handsomely for your troubles
)
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