Good inexpensive smart charger?

[dvancleve]

Update: I just ran a full charge/recondition on the battery in my Subaru, made it to the green step 7, so yay! This battery was tested as not good by Firestone a year or so ago, and wouldn't take a full charge on my ancient dumb charger, but continue to start the car OK. I don't drive the Subaru very much, and I just got clicks yesterday when I went to drive it. It's a Costco battery, so I was torn about trying to warrantee it vs. save it. I found the receipt and the warranty was up over a year ago, so I'm pretty happy it appears to have taken a full recondition charge. We will see how long that last… On another note, is there ever a good reason to use a big old (I'm guessing late 70s to early 80s) battery charger now that I have the Ctek?

 

[dvancleve]

Originally Posted by dvancleve

Update: I just ran a full charge/recondition on the battery in my Subaru, made it to the green step 7, so yay! This battery was tested as not good by Firestone a year or so ago, and wouldn't take a full charge on my ancient dumb charger, but continue to start the car OK. I don't drive the Subaru very much, and I just got clicks yesterday when I went to drive it. It's a Costco battery, so I was torn about trying to warrantee it vs. save it. I found the receipt and the warranty was up over a year ago, so I'm pretty happy it appears to have taken a full recondition charge. We will see how long that last…

Well that was a short lived celebration, the car barely started last night and all my radio presets were gone. Guess it is time for a new battery...

 

[UncleDave]

Originally Posted by dvancleve

Originally Posted by UncleDave

solid choice - you'll be happy with it. no. Dont use the recondition setting while the battery is connected to the vehicle. it probably won't go into recon mode mode to begin with (an optimate wont) and you risk blowing electronics as recon usually spikes voltage for periods of time.

Thanks UncleDave! Just to clarify, running the recon mode on my "good" batteries is a good idea, but they need to be out of the cars? The battery in my Subaru, in particular, tested out as not good but has continued to start the car okay. I'm hoping to nurse it along as long as possible. Any thoughts on whether reconditioning the AGM 12v batteries in EVs is a good idea (Fiat 500e and Chevy Volt)? Doug

Sorry to catch this late - I would only run recon if the charger cant fully charge the battery normally. Did you see if the CTEK would charge it before trying recon mode? Hold onto the old charger - smart chargers are notorious for failing to start a charge on a battery below "X volts" The dumb charger can be used to get around this "hump" then a smart charger can take over. Some guys will hardwire a good battery to the low one to do this as well. Between the CTEK and the optimate - model per model the optimate almost always has a lower recovery voltage allowing the dumb charger to stay on the shelf more often. UD