15 amp Chgr - Hrs to charge

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: JamesBond
Originally Posted By: CarlGR
If I was to replace the circa 70's charger, what 15 amp auto charger (medium grade)with approx 50A starting ability would you look to buy. The schumacher sc1359A for $51.52 look good but I'm reading quite a bit bad info on that maker.


Keep your old charger and get a cheap lower amp smart charger. Use the old charger for a few hours then switch it over to the smart charger. Your old charger will probably outlast any consumer grade charger you can buy these days. If all that you're doing is charging your car every once in a while most will work fine.

I've had one for five years and it's been bulletproof. Certainly it's lightweight using a switching power supply rather than heavy transformer coils, but I've found such power supplies to be extremely reliable. I've got power supplies like that that still work after 16 years.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Snagglefoot
Originally Posted By: tmorris1
Originally Posted By: Snagglefoot
Chargers are a bit better now than 40 years ago. Maybe ask for one for your birthday!.

Not really for lead acid. Supplying current to a battery is pretty much the same now as 40 years ago.


Smart chargers are worth the money. That 70’s charger belongs with the platform shoes. Not to be unkind.

Yeah - a smart charger with desulfation, pulse charging, reverse hookup detection, etc. does things way differently and mostly importantly more safely even compared to older "automatic" car battery chargers. I guess the most important safety feature is that shorting the clamps won't do anything since most will check for voltage from a battery first and refuse to start until that's found.

However, it doesn't really do things that much differently than even modern manual chargers. I'm not quite sure who still uses them, but there are still several for sale.