A decent battery charger for sub $50?

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All the reviews I'm seeing are questionable at best

Anybody buy anything they can recommend?

I've got the internet, Home Depot/Lowes, and AAP/AZ, at my disposal, even a HF

It doesn't need to be uber fancy, I don't currently have any AGM or 6V batteries to service, just good old fashioned lead acid 12V

Just functional, and durable
 
Are you looking for a small trickle charger ONLY or a large roll-a-round that is capable of charging a dead battery in ~ 2 hrs and JUMP STARTING? HF has a decent bench top unit capable of charging/jumping for ~ $44 + Tax & after 20% off coupon. It's a Cen-Tech brand and should be OK

OR are you just looking for a battery maintainer/TENDER?
 
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Second what Char Baby says - it depends on what you want to do with it.

Also, most modern chargers are AGM compatible by default, so that's not often a concern any more, should you find yourself suddenly using an AGM battery.
 
I have this Harbor Frieght clone and it works great at home for the M cars. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QPSNZPP/ref=twister_B07T9B4TW7?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

THe 8 amp one posted above is a fantastic deal if you keep your eyes on the charger and disconnect when its done. For something with a little more oomph, I bought this Schumacher Rancher that will do 40 amps, but normally hangs in the 25-30 amp range, so it gets a battery back in 2 hours.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07894K3R9/ref=twister_B07VXSBX71?_encoding=UTF8&th=1
 
Just got an email today from HF with a super coupon for a 2/10/50 amp charger for $29.99. Benchtop unit. Extend the warranty and your still good.
 
Originally Posted by vwmaniaman
Just got an email today from HF with a super coupon for a 2/10/50 amp charger for $29.99. Benchtop unit. Extend the warranty and your still good.

several guys i fix stuff for had them fail.
the board isnt conformal coated.if it gets wet you have trouble.
and the clips are crimped to the wires not soldered.
i solder every battery clip i see as this is a big fail point on them.
dont get it wet or shoot the board with conformal coating.
 
I have a 10 amp 40+ year old Sears charger that serves me well. I think it was $5 at a garage sale.

During the winter months it is connected though a Christmas light type timer to charge my car that is stored. 1/2 an hour a day works well, I typically get 8 -10 years out of a battery.
 
I try to have a smart charger/maintainer and some sort of "dumb" charger that won't shut off if it detects a battery towards the end of it's life. Some of the smart chargers are too sensitive and say the battery is bad when it might not be.

People really like the Battery Tender as it will charge and "maintain" a battery. They are typically on the slower side and will take several hours to top off a battery.
 
Originally Posted by Char Baby
Are you looking for a small trickle charger ONLY or a large roll-a-round that is capable of charging a dead battery in ~ 2 hrs and JUMP STARTING? HF has a decent bench top unit capable of charging/jumping for ~ $44 + Tax & after 20% off coupon. It's a Cen-Tech brand and should be OK

OR are you just looking for a battery maintainer/TENDER?


My bad, an actual charger is what I need, something to let sit on a battery for the day if it won't crank something

I already have a Battery Tender Jr (needs warrantied), and a few of the cheap HF battery maintainers for cars that sit around doing nothing

That HF deal looks pretty good, the Schumacher unit is only rated for 2A output, that would probably take a while
 
The one I mentioned before is an 8 amp charger. You don't really want more than 10-12 amps as low current charges are better than high current ones. I used it to charge up my H8 battery which was about 95 amp hours and it was charged up after about 5-6 hours. Thought it would take longer as I left the lights on and it was drained down but I guess not completely dead.
 
Originally Posted by Wolf359
The one I mentioned before is an 8 amp charger. You don't really want more than 10-12 amps as low current charges are better than high current ones. I used it to charge up my H8 battery which was about 95 amp hours and it was charged up after about 5-6 hours. Thought it would take longer as I left the lights on and it was drained down but I guess not completely dead.


Yeah they say you want 10% of the amp-hour capacity for a standard charge, so that's right in the sweet spot for most normal car batteries.
 
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