Oxford Optimiser 900

Just a quick review. Did a Search and couldn't find this item, so apologies if it has already been covered. The Oximiser is a smart battery charger, which means it can never over-charge your battery. You can in fact leave it attached and on for YEARS. It cost me $88 dollars from the local bike shop, but if you are an internet buyer you can get it for a lot less. The nice thing about it is it comes with a short lead you can permanently attach to you bike battery and tuck under your seat when riding. It took me about 30 secs. When turned on the Optimiser checks you haven't stuffed up the polarity and then gives it's judgement re. your batteries condition. If it is less than 4 volts the battery is cactus and needs to be replaced. 4.1 volts to 11.8 volts it pumps power in at 900 mA/hr until it reaches 11.8 volts and then switches to "Bulk Charge" until fully charged (14.4 volts) after which it will go into "Maintain". If the battery doesn't discharge, then the power input drops to 0 mA/hr.
If it drops below 12.6 volts then a gentle 200 mA/hr is applied until fully charged again.
I put it on my battery and it judged it to be virtually fully charged and in about 2 mins. dropped the feed-in to zero.
Obviously the way to avoid bike battery trouibles is to 'ride the bike' .. but sometimes weather or circumstance or committments (like interstate weddings and caravan holidays) means no ability to ride for long periods. Coming back to a fully charged and maintained battery is going to make the next ride much easier and remove painful frustration (... previous bike experience in a very cold Tasmania)

Costs about the same on evil bay

I always use CTech chargers, very smart, though more expensive than most.

Just don't use the recondition mode on a gell - unless you want a black balloon.

I purchased the CTek xs4003

Has 0.8amp and 3.0 amp charge rates so suitable for both car and motorcycle.

The spec sheet says batteries between 1Ah and 140Ah but I have used mine on a 260Ah deep cycle battery with no problems.

Looks like this model has been superseded but still available online from many sources. Replacement is MXS5.0 for around $105 incl. delivery.