Originally Posted By: wrcsixeight
The Ideal maintainer would be applied to a battery 100% fully charged already, not asked to recharge it from some unknown state of charge to full.
The Ideal maintainer would compensate for battery temperature, requiring a sensor on the battery, not ambient temperature where the maintainer is located/plugged into a wall outlet.
The Ideal maintainer would have an AGM or flooded/wet setting as most flooded batteries, at 77F, list a 13.2 float voltage. Most AGM batteries list 13.6 to 13.8v float voltage.
Any charging source is seeking to bring a battery to a certain voltage. When applied to a depleted battery, they make all the amperage they can until this voltage is attained, at which point the amperage needed to maintain this voltage declines.
The amperage needed to hold a new battery at 13.2v is different than that required by an aged battery to hold 13.2v, so voltage regulation is better than hoping an allotted amperage maintains an acceptable voltage on any particular battery.
Trickle chargers might apply to any charger of 2 amps or less. Some trickle chargers will never seek voltages over 13.6v. Some batteries cannot be fully charged, no matter how long 13.6v is held. They might need 14.4 volts, they might need it to be held for 4 hours, or 8 hours, before 100% charge is attained. If abused, they might even need 16 volts.
So you can believe all the product marketing you want, have as much faith in any product as you want, and even make claims of just fine, as loud as you want, BUT
With lead acid batteries returning to 100% charged ASAP is ideal. Most chargers are well less than ideal at achieving this benchmark.
Maintaining a battery at full requires a certain voltage and that voltage is temperature dependent.
So without the ability to ensure the battery is 100% charged (do you have a hydrometer, if not, you are guessing) and without knowing who made your battery and what their recommended float voltage is, you can't hope to meet it, and achieve ideal.
The Ideal float voltage listed by battery manufacturers, is for a battery temperature of 77F or in some cases 80F.
Say battery A at 80F, ideal float voltage is 13.2v
At 70F battery temp, ideal float voltage is 13.368
At 60F====================================== 13.536
At 50F---------------------------------------13.704
at 40F---------------------------------------13.872
at 30f---------------------------------------14.04
So Ideal, is not really so subjective, as I don't see any models which account for battery temperature.
Good enough? Well go crazy yell 'just fine' at the top of you lungs from the hillside if it gives you the warm and fuzzies. Perhaps it will help one to believe it, since it requires tools to actually prove it.
I float my battery according to actual battery temperature with an adjustable voltage power supply, which is capable of supplying upto 40 amps.
Which of course is one kick burro charging source for a deeply cycled battery too.
But it has no marketing department to plaster it with buttons and flashing green lights and other graphics and flowery documentation proving superiority to soothe the human soul.
It is just overwhelmingly competent at its task, which I am sure a good percentage of readers here, can appreciate.
But it is not automatic, which freaks out most people in this day and age where any thought or effort required in any task, is to be looked down upon and derided.
You aren't describing a "maintainer or trickle charger."
Look again on the temp sensing - The Ctek 2500 has a temp probe built into its positive clamp and its a 25 amp charger/maintainer reconditioner, and the smaller ctek7002 and optimate 6 are designed to be placed onto of the battery being charged and use an ambient heat sensor - not as good as a probe or clamp for sure
My Outback Inverter/charger allows one to tailor its charge profile exactly to the batteries you put in it. Max voltage, temp, absorb limit / time at temp, and time at float voltage, when to refloat etc - all automatically.
But it isn't a maintainer/ trickle charger.
I believe it is superior to a completely manual process you describe as it isn't subject to human error outside of incorrect programming.
I do not deride or look down upon completely manual charging - at all. Most guys don't know batteries. I know I replace 50-100 a year for them.
Part of my household income depends on batteries to make its living (like my wife is a pet groomer with a sprinter van) so I spend the money for something comprehensive like a fully programmable unit with a temp probe so I don't have to babysit the process daily.
UD