Trickle charger

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Symcity
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Trickle charger

Post by Symcity »

If anyone is interested in acquiring a charger then bikespeed are doing a great deal on the Oxford oximiser at the moment
http://www.bikespeeduk.com/oxford-produ ... _6481.html
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Only £24.50 and I have no connection with bikespeed

rossm
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Re: Trickle charger

Post by rossm »

Got one free with a new helmet from lids direct a couple of years ago, it works a treat
Yamaha R1, Kawasaki Z1000, Honda SH300i

abitmad
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Re: Trickle charger

Post by abitmad »

It's not a "trickle charger", they went out with the stone age, it's a smart charger. Anyway, some words of warning for this Oxford 900/888 model.

First, unlike other leading makes like Optimate or CTEK, it doesn't come with croc clips for attaching to the battery, only with the permanent battery flylead. That's okay if you intend permanent connection, which is what most people do. But if you want the croc clips, they'll cost you another £12 odd separately and in that case it's not cheap any more.

Second, the connectors between the battery lead and the unit are poor quality. So poor that Optimate which used to have this type dropped them years ago in favour of the far more reliable SAE type. The problem is that the pins on one connector don't always line up with the sockets on the other. If you just push them together without thinking, as you would expect to do, you can break them because the pins can easily miss the sockets. Not everyone experiences this problem but the design is poor. I had one of these and returned it for that reason and others have reported the same problem.

Symcity
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Re: Trickle charger

Post by Symcity »

Thanks for the lowdown on the “smart charger” It is supplied with the following
Included:
1x Removable power lead
1x Battery connection with crocodile clips
1x Permanent ring connection lead with fuse & weather proof end cap
1x wall bracket and fixings
Full user instructions
My old Optimate smart charger has the old style connectors and I’ve experienced no issues whatsoever in over five years - Rossm appears to have no problems with his oxymiser - I do accept that the new style SAE connectors are more reliable

abitmad
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Re: Trickle charger

Post by abitmad »

With respect I think you are confusing the 900 model with the 900/888 "anniversary model" you featured above. Whilst the ordinary 900 does come with crocs, this special anniv model does not. I know becuase I had one a few months ago and I've seen reviewers elsewhere mention it so it's not just that mine was missing the crocs by mistake. That's why it apears cheap but as I said, the lack of crocs may not matter to most people who want only the permanent connector but that is the fact.

I didn't need the crocs but the connectors had the flaw I described right out of the box so I returned it and bought a CTEK. What attracted me to the Oxford was the actual readout of voltage and amperage, in contrast to the Optimate and CTEK which have only coloured lights to indicate charging progress so it's rather sad that the Oxford was let down by those trashy connectors. As I mentioned, some people don't have problems with them and I'm glad you haven't but the design is poor so the potential is there for failure and I'm not the only one to have experienced it.

Symcity
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Re: Trickle charger

Post by Symcity »

Okay dokey - my mistake - when I initially received the promotion e mail from bikespeed it seemed a good deal - it’s apparent however that it’s not that good a deal after all - like everything else I suppose you get what you pay for at the end of the day

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Data
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Re: Trickle charger

Post by Data »

I bought a Lidl Ultimate Speed smart charger a year or so ago. It normally retails at £20, but is often on special at £12.99. It is 6-12v with max charge rate of 3.8v. It charges your bike battery at 0.9amps and will do it's best to recover a flat "damaged" battery. It's a great battery tender, shutting down when the battery is charged and kicking back in when needed. It gives you a full digital readout of the state of your battery. It comes with croc connectors and a good set of instructions. It would be easy to fit a flylead system if you preferred. Lidl still had them when I was in there a couple of weeks ago. Mines used lots with no trouble.
Probably not ugly enough for the 'Ugly Bunch'! :lol:

Been riding for 54 years & owned too many bikes to list here...

abitmad
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Re: Trickle charger

Post by abitmad »

I've had a look at the Ultimate Speed and have two observations.

First the crocs are hard wired to the unit. If you want to use a battery flylead (known as a pigtail in the USA) which is how I think most bikers use smart chargers, you would have to spend some money to purchase the appropriate parts. For example an Optimate battery lead with SAE connector is around £10. Then you would need to cut off the crocs and splice an SAE connector into the lead from the unit, so more money. Additionally, if you wanted also to retain the crocs for some reason, you would need to purchase a pair with an SAE connector and spend another few pounds.

Second and potentially more serious, as far as I can establish if there is a power cut, when it is restored the unit does not revert to its previous setting but the instructions say it starts again at the "basic" setting whatever that means. In contrast CTEK and Optimate, probably most others, restart in the same mode as before the cut so no problem. Similarly when plugging in bikes on a CTEK or Optimate etc. after disconnecting them to use the bike or whatever, no resetting has to be done because they always start in the same mode as last used. It may be that "basic" on the Ultimate Speed does in fact mean the same setting as last used but it is unclear.

So I'd be interested to know what actually happens if after the unit is connected to your battery with the power on for a while and the unit having been set to the correct mode and working normally, the power is turned off for a few seconds and on again to simulate a brief power cut, if you don't mind trying that out. Or same thing really, when you come to use it after it has been disconnected to ride the bike, do you need to reset it or can you just plug in without having to play with the settings?

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