For neglected batteries, the OptiMate 4 starts the recovery mode, initially limiting the applied voltage at 16V, and if necessary for sulfated batteries, engaging TURBO recovery at a voltage of up to 22V at low current for up to 2 hours, to recover the battery to a condition in which it can accept a normal charge. The only significant difference between the Optimate 3 and 4 devices is the fact that with the OptiMate 4's Dual Program, you can now either charge the battery direct, or select the program to charge via the 12V port on CAN-bus equipped motorcycles (using an optional DIN pluglead). How smart is it? It’s so smart, that if they gave out degrees to consumer battery chargers, some might say this one should have a PhD. It’s so transcendently gifted, in fact, it can even raise the dead! Is the Optimate 4 worth it? I’m not sure. Again, regardless of the hype laid on by the battery charger manufacturers, the products all seem to do the job for me.

OptiMate 4 has a sealed “weatherproof” enclosure with wall mounts and is ideally suited for use with batteries in the water & snow powersport markets. Also includes cables extreme weather cables SAFE: No risk of overcharging. Totally safe for vehicle electronics. Sparks suppressed. Safe for long-term battery maintenance. Automatic shut-down if short-circuited or battery disconnected. Desulphation and recovery: STANDARD (up to 16V) engages automatically to recover neglected, flat batteries from a sulphated to a chargeable state. For badly neglected batteries the TURBO stage (max 22V) engages if vehicle electronics are not detected or the battery is out of the vehicle. The turbo stage is disabled in CAN-bus mode. The safe low voltage PULSE recovery engages for the final 15 minutes.

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When the battery-sensing circuit observes that charge progress is sufficient, the unique ‘verification’ stage engages. The voltage is limited at a lower level, & if sensed necessary, a voltage pulsing action provides further desulfating (and) tops off the charge. When this has been verified, or if after 48 hours from connection the battery has been unable to accept (and) retain adequate charge, the next stage engages.

As for the desulfating feature, all we can say is we suspect this is at best for batteries that have only been left sitting for months, and not years-old batteries like the one that Duke should have recycled long ago.The manual lists 13 different combinations (that I can count) of steady and/or continuous light that can be seen on the flat panel of the Optimate 4 to let you know what’s happening. Once you get past the owner’s manual, the Optimate 4 is pretty easy to operate. It comes with a very nice, heavy-duty SAE connector type harness for your battery, instead of the white square plastic things that came with the Optimate 3. As soon as the circuit detects that this point has been reached (immediately for most batteries), the “bulk charge” mode engages and delivers current at a constant rate of 0.8A to charge the battery. The charger also has a unique feature that allows it to automatically diagnose the battery's condition and adjust the charging process accordingly. This feature can help extend the life of the battery and avoid damaging it due to overcharging or undercharging.

Frankly, all we need is a charger that does what it’s suppose to do and many of us only need red and green indicator lights to let us know the basic information. Switch between STANDARD or CAN-BUS program with a simple procedure: connect clamps together, connect to mains, wait for the LED’s to confirm program change, disconnect clamps. LED indication confirms the CAN-BUS program is active. Once selected, the chosen program is saved as the default mode for next use, but you can switch programs as many times as you want. The OptiMate 4 BMW CAN-bus model is delivered preset in CAN-bus mode. To evaluate the Optimate 4, I used a riding lawnmower battery that has been sitting in the lawnmower since April of this year.Considering that the Optimate 4 appears well designed and is priced within range of competitive brands, we think it’s worth considering. It should at least do what other smart chargers also claim to be able to do, if not also a few things more. Good morning, I have a 2017 HD Iron 883. It has a purpose fitted battery charger lead. Does the Optimate 3 come with a lead that will connectdirectly? Suitable for all types of rechargeable 12V lead-acid batteries: filler cap types; absorbed glass mat (AGM or "MF"); valve regulated (VRLA); GEL-electrolyte. As simple as 1-2-3: Just connect OptiMate 4 to your battery, the rest is automatic. Electronically protected against user errors.There is no switch, no fuse and there are no sparks.

I just wish I could tell you that paying the extra money for one is worth it, but it’s beyond my abilities to tell. Compatible with modern BMW CAN-bus systemsThis unique multistage battery optimiser is specially designed for modern 12V starter batteries from 2.5 to 50 Amp-hours. With OptiMate 4 Dual Program you can now either charge the battery direct, or select the program to charge via the 12V port on CAN-bus equipped BMW motorcycles (using either the optional O2 or O9 accessory plug lead). My advice, heed the advice of Mike Cecchini of MRC Engineering (below) and the very generous advice of webBikeWorld. He is dead on and webBikeWorld was very generous to TecMate. The red wire should be connected to the positive terminal. If you copy and paste the link below you can view the instructions.

OptiMate 4 Diagnoses, recovers, charges, checks and maintains

Wouldn’t you know it — just as soon as that review was published, Tecmate, the makers of the popular Optimate line of motorcycle battery chargers, released the Optimate 4. Sadly, as the months go by and their batteries still continue to die they will again be in search of a charger that actually achieves it’s primary goal: to charge a battery properly. Bulk charge stage: Charges at 0.8 Amps constant current until such time as the battery is normally able to crank the engine.