I'm looking to purchase a battery charger or smart charger, since I only drive my car a few times a week. Can somebody recommend me one? To use on an as needed basis. Thank you!!
Battery Charger.
- Thread starter Scott S
- Start date
these are my favorite. they hold 13.6V float even with a decent amount of parasitic draw. I have 6 of them. you might be able to get them a bit cheaper on aliexpress, but for 25 bucks you cant lose.
Amazon.com: IEIK 12V 8Amp 24V 4Amp Automotive Smart Battery Charger Maintainer for Car, Truck, Boat, Motorcycle, Lawn Mower, Truck, SUV, RV, ATV and More (Yellow) : Automotive
Buy IEIK 12V 8Amp 24V 4Amp Automotive Smart Battery Charger Maintainer for Car, Truck, Boat, Motorcycle, Lawn Mower, Truck, SUV, RV, ATV and More (Yellow): Battery Chargers - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com
I would second the NOCO Genius. I have a 1 and a 10, and they work great. I've had store-brand smart chargers/maintainers in the past which would boil batteries for an extended period of time without shutting themselves off.
NOCO also offers a decent range of accessories if you're inclined to install their ring terminal setup onto the vehicle so you can just plug the harness from the charger into the terminal connector rather than using the clamps. I did this with my F-150 that doesn't get driven much, and it makes it easy to keep the battery topped up.
no.co
NOCO also offers a decent range of accessories if you're inclined to install their ring terminal setup onto the vehicle so you can just plug the harness from the charger into the terminal connector rather than using the clamps. I did this with my F-150 that doesn't get driven much, and it makes it easy to keep the battery topped up.
NOCO - X-Connect Eyelet Terminal - GC002
Permanently mount a battery connection on your motorcycle, ATV, snowmobile, lawn mower or any other vehicle for easy battery charging. Just plug-n-play.
no.co
Not trying to be a D**K but Really??? Search "Battery Charger" and 7 pages came up......
Again not trying but maybe succeeding. Haven't seen this thread in like 20 minutes.
Again not trying but maybe succeeding. Haven't seen this thread in like 20 minutes.
I did but I figured it might be some new technology, since January 21..Not trying to be a D**K but Really??? Search "Battery Charger" and 7 pages came up......
Again not trying but maybe succeeding.
I would second the NOCO Genius. I have a 1 and a 10, and they work great. I've had store-brand smart chargers/maintainers in the past which would boil batteries for an extended period of time without shutting themselves off.
NOCO also offers a decent range of accessories if you're inclined to install their ring terminal setup onto the vehicle so you can just plug the harness from the charger into the terminal connector rather than using the clamps. I did this with my F-150 that doesn't get driven much, and it makes it easy to keep the battery topped up.
NOCO - X-Connect Eyelet Terminal - GC002
Permanently mount a battery connection on your motorcycle, ATV, snowmobile, lawn mower or any other vehicle for easy battery charging. Just plug-n-play.
I like them I, I can hook them right to my battery, and every so often, just hook the charger right to it.. that way you know you got a good connection and everything..
I have the Clore PL2320 and have been happy with it.
If I was to have only one battery charger, this would be it. Appears to do everything from battery maintaining, alternator and battery testing to a 100 amp boost to get you going.
Schumacher SC1564 2/6/30/100-Amp
$72 at WalmartThings haven't really changed except the price of car battery chargers have gone up. I got this 8 amp charger years ago, used to be $20-$25, now up to $35. Ideally you're looking for a charger that is 10 amps or less. Some of the smaller chargers are even cheaper, but at only 2 amps, it will take 4x as long to charge as an 8 amp charger. No really good price on a 10 amp charger, for higher amperage, the price jumps up a bit.
Amazon.com: Schumacher SC1279 8A 12V Rapid Charger: Automotive
Buy Schumacher SC1279 8A 12V Rapid Charger: Battery Chargers - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com
Not too bad 8 amp charger for $35.. is a slow charge or a trickle charge better?
before you buy anything go read some of wrcsixeight's posts he explains battery charging in great detail. in your use case the most important thing to look for is a charger that will hold 13.6V in perpetuity while connected to your vehicle, and very few actually do that in my experience. and its really nice if it displays charging voltage & amps, so you know what its doing. the blinking LED types are not very informative.
I'm sorry I'm not extremely savvy on all this, what does he actually recommend?
A slow charger is just whatever is under 10 amps. A trickle charger is 2 amps or less. What battery do you have? Typically most batteries are anywhere from 60-100 amp hours. The lower the current the longer it will take to charge up a battery. There are some line losses and other losses so an 8 amp hour charger isn't going to put in 8 amp hours into a battery. But a 8 amp charger will probably take 1/4 the time of a 2 amp hour charger. Basically if your battery is dead, the 8 amp charger can charge it up overnight. If you're in a bigger hurry, then those 30-80 amp hour chargers may do it in under an hour to an hour or two but it's not that good for the battery, standard recommendation is to charge it at 10 amps or less. The trickle charger is mostly to maintain the voltage of the battery if you're around for a while. But I've heard of many trickle chargers failing and when they fail, they either don't charge the battery or keep charging the battery and screw it up. That's why it's best to just get a basic charger and charge it up when the battery is dead or just charge it up a couple times a year. Sometimes the alternator doesn't do enough to fully charge the battery and a fully charged battery lasts longer than one that doesn't get fully charged.
he'd tell you to use an adjustable power supply and charge it manually. but you're not going to do that. so the short version is battery charging is a 3 stage process. pretty much all modern chargers are 3-stage (or multi-stage). but since you're mostly concerned with keeping your battery topped up while your car sits idle your main concern is the 3rd/last stage --- float (aka maintenance) charging. it's not trickle charging anymore, thats old school. most modern chargers either hold a constant float voltage (13.2 - 13.6v) or shut off and monitor the battery voltage and kick back on momentarily if the voltage drops below about 12.7v or so. holding at 13.6V is best for various reasons. I own at least 20 chargers of varying brands/types. the only one that reliably holds 13.6V when connected to a vehicle that's drawing significant parasitic draw is the one I linked above. so I bought 6 of them and they work great. they are cheap Chinese knock offs with cheap clamps, but they work. i have a Noco 750 and perhaps its defective, but it can't float charge worth a crap. that 8A Schumacher might be good, if it holds at least 13.2v with the battery in the vehicle maybe wolf359 can chime in on that.
Thank you.. maybe wolf359 will let us know.. do you know anything about this charger?
Clore Automotive PL2310 10-Amp Fully-Automatic Smart Charger, 6V and 12V Battery Charger, Battery Maintainer, and Battery Desulfator with Temperature Compensation https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P7ABE6/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_QSEE79HYTV36EBVPK3N0
no, but $63 is way more than you need to spend for what you're trying to do.
Thank you
I really appreciate your honesty.. I'm on a fixed income, And just trying to keep a new battery going in these cold temps.. While trying to save for brakes and rotors..
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
Noco for sure. I have a 1A that my Jeep has been sitting on since August. Used it off and on for it and the 1970 Beetle, and my ATV before that. Have a 10A that I use for faster charging when needed. I plug in my 14’ Grand Cherokee once a month too just for the heck of it.
These:
These:
