TecMate’s advanced OptiMate brand Solar battery charging tools have been gaining traction in the market place rapidly since their introduction. At this year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally the company set up at the Black Hills Harley-Davidson lot at Junction 55 on the I90 just outside Rapid City with Drag Specialties/Parts Unlimited, its exclusive North American distributor.
Though there to help the Drag Specialties sales team promote the OptiMate range, with some sales of the company’s Solar chargers being made - especially to people who had transported their bikes in closed trailers - one classic opportunity to showcase Solar products came with the show bikes that Drag trailers around for use at events within the USA.
These bikes don’t get ridden very often and subsequently their batteries are not always charged well enough to fire the engine up or demonstrate the installed accessories, especially the electronics and lights.
TecMate CEO/CTO Martin Human takes up the story: “We mounted an OptiMate Solar 20W (TM522-2) and OptiMate Solar 40W (TM523-4) kit to portable A frame displays and put them to work saving, charging and then maintaining those show bike batteries that had become “needy” - making sure the bikes provided continuous service throughout the duration of the Rally.
“The OptiMate Solar line features a smart charger-monitor that provides battery status information around the clock - when it is charging the battery during the day and when the battery is at rest overnight. You can even switch the charger-controller from battery to battery to check battery condition, see which battery needs charging most, before you hook up the solar panel.
“Once hooked up and the panel receives sun, the solar charge light blinks, confirming solar power is being delivered, and one of the three battery status lights indicates charge progress. When night falls, or if the smart charger-monitor senses no solar power is being delivered, it changes into a battery monitor with one of the three charge status blinks, indicating battery status.”
Martin says the 10W TM522-1 kit (12V 0.8A max.) and 20W TM522-2 kit (12V 1.6A max) are “ideal for all powersports vehicles,” but that if you need to rescue a battery faster, the 40W TM523-4 (12V 3.3A) is the charger of choice.
“No one cares about their battery until it’s dead. But that might be more frequent than necessary if the vehicle is stored far from AC power, as was the case at Sturgis. With OptiMate Solar, you don’t have to change your mindset though - just connect and forget, no more battery problems.”
TECMATE
www.tecmate.com
www.optimate1.com