Car Battery Charger with Current Display?

Quattro Pete

Quattro Pete

Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
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Location
Great Lakes
Is there a decent car battery charger out there that displays actual (real-time) charging current and that does not cost an arm and a leg?

Sure, I could just use a clamp meter to check current, but I thought it'd be convenient if the charger could just display this information instead.

So far, I've found something like this:

Amazon.com: Car Battery Charger 12V/8A 24V/4A Automatic Smart Battery Charger/Maintainer with LCD Display Pulse Repair Charger Pack for Car, Lawn Mower, Motorcycle, Boat, SUV and More: Automotive

Buy Car Battery Charger 12V/8A 24V/4A Automatic Smart Battery Charger/Maintainer with LCD Display Pulse Repair Charger Pack for Car, Lawn Mower, Motorcycle, Boat, SUV and More: Battery Chargers - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com

There are many of them on Amazon under various brand names, but it looks like it's the exact same charger underneath. But because it's "no name," I'm a bit weary of its overall safety. Plus, it's got a fan that runs non-stop, so if that fan dies, there goes the charger.

Thanks!
 
Quattro Pete said:
Is there a decent car battery charger out there that displays actual (real-time) charging current and that does not cost an arm and a leg?

Sure, I could just use a clamp meter to check current, but I thought it'd be convenient if the charger could just display this information instead.

So far, I've found something like this:

Amazon.com: Car Battery Charger 12V/8A 24V/4A Automatic Smart Battery Charger/Maintainer with LCD Display Pulse Repair Charger Pack for Car, Lawn Mower, Motorcycle, Boat, SUV and More: Automotive

Buy Car Battery Charger 12V/8A 24V/4A Automatic Smart Battery Charger/Maintainer with LCD Display Pulse Repair Charger Pack for Car, Lawn Mower, Motorcycle, Boat, SUV and More: Battery Chargers - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com

There are many of them on Amazon under various brand names, but it looks like it's the exact same charger underneath. But because it's "no name," I'm a bit weary of its overall safety. Plus, it's got a fan that runs non-stop, so if that fan dies, there goes the charger.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I am very happy with my Duracell Ultra Car and Truck Smart Charger it brought back a totally dead battery (no dash lights, no dome light dead) to working the way it should. It has state of charge lights but no output in amps indicator or a display. I have never had a charger work as good as this has. This one is kind of pricy and I feel it's worth it. SLC10004 Duracell Ultra
 
Quattro Pete said:
Thanks! Looks pretty good, other than some Amazon reviewers having issues with the display crapping out.

How long have you owned yours? Any issues?
Click to expand...

i actually have 2 of them. One is a little newer than the other but I think the oldest one is about 5 years. No problems with either one...

It does not have a LiPo setting though like some of the newer stuff.

Someone here did a video a while back on it...

Also, there is a larger one (more expensive) but i don't think that is what you are looking for.
 
Quattro Pete said:
Yes, already have one of those. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I guess why do you care? Its a smart charger and it determines the best voltage and current. When the light that indicates fully charged comes on its fully charged.

And if it did have one then you would need to know the design characteristics of the charger for each phase based upon the condition of the battery. If my BatteryMinder is on phase 2 I know I probably have a long way to go. Phase 3 is pretty quick and phase 4 is maintain. Almost never see phase 1.
 
There are lots of chargers for R/C batteries that will charge PB batteries and display current and voltage. AC/DC ones can be found for less than $40 but might be too low power for your needs.
 
Donald said:
I guess why do you care?
Click to expand...
Why do you care that I care? I am well aware of how battery chargers work and the typical main CC and CV phases. I don't HAVE to know the current. I just WANT some more visibility into how much current is actually being pushed to the battery as the charger is doing its thing. It's a "nice to have" feature, IMO.


Its a smart charger and it determines the best voltage and current. When the light that indicates fully charged comes on its fully charged.
Click to expand...
Right, so following this logic, everyone should just be happy with nothing else but a single "fully charged" light. Everything else is completely unnecessary and will just further confuse the user. :D
 
I guess its personal preference. I'd like to see "how many minutes till fully charged". Not really sure I care about how many amps are flowing at any point in time.
 
I still like the older,(probably much older) chargers that weren't "smart " chargers. I still use an old Schumaker 6 amp charger that of course has a gauge on it showing how many amps it is delivering. Used to have a 1950s large wheeled charger that had starting and various charging modes. Very simple and did the job well. Made the mistake when I moved to a place with a smaller garage, and I was trying to save floor space. But my small one has worked fine for me luckily. Check for used ones on Craigs list or similar places. I sold mine for $50
 
Donald said:
I guess its personal preference. I'd like to see "how many minutes till fully charged". Not really sure I care about how many amps are flowing at any point in time.
Click to expand...
Yes, minutes would be nice as well, but I'm not sure how accurately that could be estimated.

Knowing both voltage and current is useful sometimes. Too much current with too high voltage could be bad for the battery. But just higher voltage with low current isn't as much of a problem. Sometimes I'll see some of my other chargers go above 15V, but when I check the current - it's usually pretty low.

What I'm trying to say is that one shouldn't just blindly trust that a so called 'smart' charger is doing smart things, so the more info that's provided, the better, IMO.
 
Last edited:
If you are willing to charge manually, this is a $60 option:


As I recall, this is the unit that forum member "circuitsmith" uses for battery charging.
 
SubLGT said:
If you are willing to charge manually, this is a $60 option:


As I recall, this is the unit that forum member "circuitsmith" uses for battery charging.
Click to expand...
Thanks. No, I'm looking for automatic. The reason for current display was mainly to see that the charger is handling the CV phase correctly by slowly reducing charging current.
 
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