Decent battery charger?

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Looking to purchase a reasonably priced battery charger. Mostly to keep on float as needed, as my car is so entires not driven for a couple of weeks at a time. HF has a floater for real cheap, so I may go with this. Any other options?
 
u r fine to keep em sitting for couple weeks.
just use a high amp charger to zap them every 4 weeks or so.
Buy a charger with a regen cycle.
high amp charger will be better for your batteries. plus regen as needed.

a car alternator is not designed to recharge a depleted battery.
 
Don't cheap out on that harbor freight charger it's a dumb charger. Do you really want to risk cooking an expensive battery to save $20? Get one with an actual processor. If you want to stay cheap noco has a good low amp charger and maintainer. It will never over charge or under charge.

http://www.geniuschargers.com/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004LX3AS6?pc_redir=1413881559&robot_redir=1

Personally I'd spring for the 7.2 amp charger which has a desulfation mode, but for regular charging and maintaining the G750 is worth it.


Currently i have a Diehard DH-15A, which is a clone of a Schumaker charger, but i may be getting the larger Noco G7200 or G26000 in the future.

My current Charger does 15/10/2 amp for flooded, gel, or agm. I picked it up at Meijer for $49.99. They also had a nice Diehard DH-6a that did 6/4/2 amp for 12 or 6 volt flooded only. (I wanted to be able to charge AGM/Gel)
http://www.amazon.com/15-10-2A-Battery-Chargr/dp/B004I6FMBO
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Don't cheap out on that harbor freight charger it's a dumb charger. Do you really want to risk cooking an expensive battery to save $20? Get one with an actual processor. If you want to stay cheap noco has a good low amp charger and maintainer. It will never over charge or under charge.

http://www.geniuschargers.com/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004LX3AS6?pc_redir=1413881559&robot_redir=1

Personally I'd spring for the 7.2 amp charger which has a desulfation mode, but for regular charging and maintaining the G750 is worth it.


Currently i have a Diehard DH-15A, which is a clone of a Schumaker charger, but i may be getting the larger Noco G7200 or G26000 in the future.

My current Charger does 15/10/2 amp for flooded, gel, or agm. I picked it up at Meijer for $49.99. They also had a nice Diehard DH-6a that did 6/4/2 amp for 12 or 6 volt flooded only. (I wanted to be able to charge AGM/Gel)
http://www.amazon.com/15-10-2A-Battery-Chargr/dp/B004I6FMBO



Sorry i posted from my Android, the link stinks for desktop use, here is the correct link for viewing the Noco charger at the cheapest place Amazon.

G750
http://www.amazon.com/NOCO-G750-Battery-Charger-Maintainer/dp/B004LX3AS6


Website for all models.

http://www.geniuschargers.com/


Also if you want the best bang for the buck, the G3500 is only $58

http://www.amazon.com/NOCO-G1100-Battery...ords=Noco+G1100
 
Every black friday, sears has a good deal on their charger. I bought one years ago and it has done a great job maintaining my batteries on stored cars and lawn equipment.
 
Originally Posted By: RF Overlord
While not exactly inexpensive, this is the one I've been using on my "summer" car, that basically sits from Thanksgiving until April.


Endorsement#2. I use the exact same charger on my Mustang, which has the exact same parking schedule. One heck of a nice charger, and is a great value IMO. I paid $52. for mine on Amazon when I bought it.
 
Originally Posted By: mattwithcats
My choice for keeping a battery up, on a infrequently driven car...

http://batterytender.com/waterproof-800-usa-western-hemisphere.html

It comes with a quick disconnect, so you can remove it.

Cut the connector that attaches to the battery with a dremel cutoff wheel, from a "O" to a "C", then it will slide under the battery terminal lugs.


I've been using these for some years. One each on 2 tractors and one on
motorcycle. Works fine. Have also used an el cheapo HF floater on a tractor with no
problems.
 
If you want a float charger then Battery Minder or Battery Tender. I have 3 Battery Minders.

But if you want something to charge a dead battery I would get a Speed Charger from Schumacher. I have a 15a one (maybe its 12a).
 
be careful with the harbor freight $5 float chargers,
I've bought a few over the years and 50% of them were dead out of the box, you wouldn't know it unless you used them on a good battery and used a volt meter to make sure they held at 13v or higher.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
If you want a float charger then Battery Minder or Battery Tender. I have 3 Battery Minders.

But if you want something to charge a dead battery I would get a Speed Charger from Schumacher. I have a 15a one (maybe its 12a).


That's one reason why the Noco chargers are a good value, they can easily charge a dead battery (G750 recommend up to 30 ah battery) but also maintain it.

The G3500 is recommend for up to 120 ah batteries.
 
Originally Posted By: 1 FMF
be careful with the harbor freight $5 float chargers,
I've bought a few over the years and 50% of them were dead out of the box, you wouldn't know it unless you used them on a good battery and used a volt meter to make sure they held at 13v or higher.

I bought three of them. Not sure why, but it was a $5 coupon special. They were also all different, with different part numbers, different packaging (plastic vs cardboard), and different power supplies. The box regulating the output seemed to be the common part. I think those are also extremely weak - maybe a 0.6A output and probably not something complex like a pulse charge. They say don't hook it up except for a known fully charged battery.

You can use something like a Schumacher 1.5A maintainer to charge a battery. The older ones don't care, but I heard the newer ones (like mine) will time out if it doesn't reach green after 24 hours or some other set time. I do prefer my SpeedCharge SC-1200. I'll just set it to 3A and leave it there until it's done.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Battery tender makes some nice stuff too, but noco wins with more features per dollar.


Agreed, I have 2 G7200 NOCO chargers, and a NOCO 4 bank MARINE charger on my electric golf cart... really good units, excellent charge algorithms and steps. I would recommend their ON BOARD chargers for in vehicle battery maintenance.
 
Originally Posted By: zpinch
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Battery tender makes some nice stuff too, but noco wins with more features per dollar.


Agreed, I have 2 G7200 NOCO chargers, and a NOCO 4 bank MARINE charger on my electric golf cart... really good units, excellent charge algorithms and steps. I would recommend their ON BOARD chargers for in vehicle battery maintenance.


I really like the G7200 since it's their cheapest model that has desulfation mode and you can use the power supply mode for other stuff too, like changing batteries without losing radio code. The supply mode is mostly useful for bringing batteries up to enough voltage for the charger to recognize it.
 
Yeah, they are good stuff. The PS mode is very handy indeed.

Their multi bank chargers are fantastic, been treating my golf cart full of Optima yellow tops very nice, batteries from 2007 year of manufacturer, when they were still made in USA. I have had the multi bank for 18 months now.
 
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