Does anyone have a car battery charger that you ACTUALLY LIKE

For heavy duty use Snap On makes a good one, the Schumacher and Century don't hold up in commercial use.

Especially if you try to charge a dead battery in "HI" the amp flow will smoke the rectifiers, Century told me a dead battery should be charged in LOW for 20 minutes before attempting to boost start. I had 2 Century's that I threw out to scrap because I got tired of fixing them. They came with crappy cables, which I replaced with a good jumper cable cut in half.

I have a small Schumacher trickle charger just die last week that I used to keep the generator battery charger.

I have another "smart charger" that is worthless because the smart charger types won't charge a dead battery unless they sense an existing voltage.

Tony

Reply to
Tony
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Yes, if you want to adjust the rate, minimize the time, maximize the charge, and extend the lifetime, under a variety of conditions.

Reply to
Richard J Kinch

All that is necessary is to have current limiting electronics...

OK... I have been very happy with my smart charger. I will keep looking around and will check my military pile also.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus16400

I have two - one very old Sears that has a massive transformer and has been run over by two different cars while on our upper road back in Ca. The other is a new high tech switcher that works with several types of batteries - and can discharge and de-sulfur the plates...

I got it at SAMS - but I suspect it is available lots of places. The analog one will charge anything and work with junk.

The new high tech one will work with fixable batteries but those that are flat - almost zero it aborts after a test.

I use the analog one to re-build the battery to a level for the switcher which then takes over.

Martin

Martin H. Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net NRA LOH & Endowment Member NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder IHMSA and NRA Metallic Silhouette maker & member

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Ignoramus16400 wrote:

Reply to
Martin H. Eastburn

Only if you care about battery life, particularly deep cycle. Yes, you can charge into a battery by just shoving current into it -- just not nearly as many times.

The skinny on battery charging:

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My last set of deepcycle batteries lasted 5 years. That's almost unheard of in trolling motor batteries. Chargers are by MinnKota.

My last set of auto batteries (Ford) were still working fine after 7 years but I replaced them anyway before it got bone-breaking cold out.

Reply to
Don Foreman

On Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:41:15 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm, Richard J Kinch quickly quoth:

I'll ditto that, and that goes for each type of battery. All have different rates and comfort zones for longevity.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

That's all that's necessary to avoid buckling the plates or having it explode, but don't expect to charge a battery that way many times before it must be replaced.

Reply to
Don Foreman

I have an 80 amp charger that I picked up at a car swap meet - it has two diodes in a bridge configuration - a diode had failed and it had some other problems, I think I paid $5 or so for it - replaced the diodes with modern ones (smaller, cheaper better), replaced the inoperative push button switch with a huge rotary switch, put in a working volt meter and I have a great unit - heavy, but it works nicely on both 6 and 12V cars. maybe this is the approach to take. and yes, it will start a car with a dead battery if you wait about 30 sec

Reply to
William Noble

Can't recommend a dumb charger of any brand. Mine is a Western Auto 2/12 amp with a count down smart relay set for 10 hrs. Turn it on and it automatically shuts down 10 hrs later. This is a short term charger.

Now the long term storage charger I can recommend is a Sure Charge IV from CDV Electronics. Puts out 1 amp and shuts down on its own based on battery condition. Have used a half dozen of these on various projects for over 10 years and had only one go bad and the company honored their

5 year warranty without question. Replaced unit with latest version after shipping bad unit back.

They market them through Northern Tool

Later

Jim Vrzal Holiday, Fl.

Reply to
Mawdeeb

I have a Century I bought from Sam's club. It works fine, picky about a good connection. A totally dead battery might not allow it to turn on. Dropped it once off of car. Had to do some soldering. Transformer inside is heavy.

The other charger is a solar panel I leave in my old truck that I don't start too often. It trickles the battery with-out an extension cord running across the driveway.

Wes S

Reply to
clutch

Used to have an old "silver beauty" booster/charger at the one shop I ran - would do automatic (timed) high rate, boost, or automatic(variable rate) slow charge. Did 6, 12, or 24 volt systems. Had a Marquette at another shop - did about the same, but I don't think it did variable rate. Both were pretty pricy back in the 'seventies.

I've got a "smart charger" now (here at home)that occaisionally says a battery has a bad (shorted) cell, when I'm sure it does not. Usually restarting it allows the battery to charge fully. So far only lied to me on AGM batteries.

Reply to
clare at snyder.on.ca

Mine lies to me on my deep cycle batteries.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus19127

The last one I bought is a Schumacher 2-amp/10-amp, 6V/12V, sealed/low maint/deep cycle job.

It does a banner job on all the types. I charge my little 7Ah gel cells from it. I charge my 850Ah troller battery. I charge my tractor and car batteries. I charge my lawn mowers.

The only thing it's ever done wrong is, it doesn't seem to know when a battery has a shorted cell. It will overheat a defective battery. But since I check the voltage of my batteries periodically, that's never been a significant problem.

The _best_ battery charger I own is a 36-volt golf cart charger by Textron. It uses a big fat CVT, and it has no 'brains' at all, except a motor-driven mechanical 12-hour timer. My golf cart batteries consistently last 6 years per set, and we drain them down to nuts between charges.

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

Very nice. Thanks.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus19127

And my AGMs are deep cycle. It's a Shinn Fu Power Runner I-7002

2-6 amp, 10-12 amp, and 15 amp charge rates.
Reply to
clare at snyder.on.ca

Here's what I ended up getting.

Schumacher Speedcharge WM-600A 60-30-10-2 amp charger. Charges several kinds of batteries.

$30 plus shipping

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I have a bad feeling now that I just learned that "WM" in it actually stands for WalMart, but perhaps it will be a bit better. I will report on how it works.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus19127

Ignoramus19127 wrote in article ...

That's the latest "big box" ploy to avoid comparison shopping.

"WM" for Wal*Mart, "HD" for Home Depot, etc.

When they invite you to find a lower price on the "same model", well, it will be impossible to find a "WM" model at the Home Depot - even though all the other numbers are exactly the same, so they can weasel out of their "lowest price" guarantee on the "same model".

I have a small, five-cubic-foot freezer in my pantry. It was purchased at Home Depot. Take away the "HD" in front of the model number, and you find this freezer on the manufacturer's website......

......but, find the identical freezer for sale without the "HD", and Home Depot will NOT meet and beat the price by ten percent, since it is NOT the exact same model number - even if it IS the exact same freezer.

Same holds true with the Milwaukee metal shear. My #6850 is identical to the #6852 at Home Depot, but they will NOT honor their advertised "lowest price" guarantee since there is a difference in the model number that is sold in their stores and the one that is sold elsewhere.....even though it is the exact, same tool!

Your new battery charger is, likely, the exact same charger as those without the "WM" in their model number - no better, no worse.

Gotta' love the ethics of the "big box" stores........

Reply to
*

Exactly.

I am afraid that it is worse, that's what I am worried about. 100% agree on the rest.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus19471

Ethics? What's ethics??

Reply to
clare at snyder.on.ca

Ethics to a big box store are closely related to the "Bell's Cathartic" we gave the old milk cow after she got into the grain bin - one good sized dose and the sh*t flew everywhere, including Grandad when he walked behind her to gather eggs. One dose and you are drowned in Bullsh*t. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

Reply to
Gerald Miller

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