Originally Posted by JHZR2
Sorry, but this is silly. Unless the scaler has a measuring tape, barcode scanner, and/or digital camera, it can't.
It can tell the battery's impedance simply by knowing what voltage it must output to get the battery to take a certain level of current, but beyond that, there's not much else a cheap (were not talking pricy EIS probes) can do.
These correlations may or may not be right. Usually larger batteries have lower impedance, it's just that simple.
How the optimate, as a 6A charger, claims that it can do a 3Ah battery is unclear to me, what I do know is it takes a lot more time thinking, and is very slow to start charging, even once it enters a charge mode. So it may be counting coulombs and identifying voltage changes, to help understand what the Ah rating is, in order to set a charge current. Most will just start driving current in by ramping up to a target voltage level, the optimate seems a bit more deliberate.
I have a 25A ctek charger, and it just start going. Great for getting something charged quick of course...
There is in reality something to be said about the user needing to match the right size charger to the battery...
Im having a hard time understanding what is "silly". Perhaps they are lying but almost all smart chargers claim an upper and lower range and they are deriving that somehow.
I can say it works, I haven't gone down to 3AH, but I often do 10 and less.
I have a dozen optimate 6's and am very familiar with its operation
I dont see any difference delay in starting either on an empty 8D or a 10 AH genset battery (my smallest for a yamaha 3000iseb) .
I clamp it on, it goes and does a test - and starts. What is a " a lot more time"
What kind of "delay" are you seeing and how relavant or a problem in the the totality of charging the battery?
Sometimes algorithms change - my newest one is a few years old - maybe they changed
I have the CTEK 25 AMP charger as well - I really like it except my model is missing a specific AGM mode, (to me not a huge deal)
What I really like about it is that it works well on RV banks and has a temp sensor in the positive clamp vs " ambient" like the smaller chargers.
It goes through a test phase as well before charging starts- like my CTEK 7002
25 amps is awesome - on a battery or empty bank that can take it.
That chargers battery size range is rated at 40-500.
motorcycles, atv's, gensets, lawnmowers - anything with a small battery is NA with this charger.
Hence my position that the 6 covers the widest range for most guys.
There are very few instances for me that I want something charged quickly vs thoroughly and slowly
UD