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Get (and Stay) Charged Up! >> OPTIMA Chargers Digital 1200 packs tons of high-tech features into one convenient, portable package by
Toby Brooks
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f you have upgraded your ride to a high performance absorbed glass mat (AGM) battery, then you are probably already aware that your new power source can be mounted in most any direction, is impervious to temperature extremes, and is lighter weight than traditional lead acid batteries. However, what you might not have realized is that your battery requires a little extra special care. And whether you have an AGM or even a traditional lead acid unit,
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OPTIMA’s Digital 1200 charger can help charge, maintain, and even save your batteries. We ordered a pair of Yellow Top batteries for Project aPocalypSe Horse, and after running the Ride Tech on-board compressor for much of the weekend on one of them, it was ready for some juice. It was then that we realized our cheap old shop junk based on 1940s technology simply wouldn’t cut it with our new-tech power source. At $199, the OPTIMA Digital 1200 won’t
june 2016 | RPM Magazine
be the cheapest option available, but when you consider what it does and the fact that OPTIMA will tack an extra year on their standard 3-year battery warranty if you purchase the Digital 1200 at the same time as your battery, the cost suddenly seems like a bargain. The plastic housing features a locking carry handle, a convenient USB power port, an auxiliary power port for connecting a battery maintainer, and a locking storage door that houses the charging cables. The coolest feature
is the easy push button control panel with a backlit LCD display. The display shows not only charging status but also displays a quick glance 0-100% charged analog-style gauge during charging. We connected the battery we had used all weekend and the unit analyzed it for about 30 seconds before commencing to charge it. Although our Yellow Top only showed 8.5 volts, the Digital 1200 had it back to more than 14 volts in less than 30 minutes. The Digital 1200
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1: Straight out of the box, it is pretty obvious that the OPTIMA Digital 1200 isn’t your typical old-school charger with the big louvered metal case and loud buzzing action. The lightweight ABS housing features unique OPTIMA styling and integrated carry handles and storage space for your cables. The addition of a USB power port on the side of the unit is an incredibly handy feature, as it seems like our iPhone is always nearly dead every time we head out to the shop. The backlit LCD display provides all pertinent charging data, and even the grounded power cable has a handy wind up provision with a rubber retainer clip. While our old charger was stowed away in a cabinet, the good looks and the USB port on the Digital 1200 earned it a spot on the benchtop.