Seeking Battery Charger Advice

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lancerplayer

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I am seeing advice for purchasing a new battery charger. I already have a Battery Tender Junior that I use for ATV's and motorcycles, but I was told by the manufacturer they do not recommend the Junior model for vehicle batteries.

I will be charging vehicle batteries for a Toyota Camry, Toyota RAV4, and possible a 1/2 ton or 3/4 pick up truck.

I would like a battery that can handle those applications with no issues. Charge time isn't a big concern for me as these are for personal use only.

Would this one from Harbor Freight get the job done? https://www.harborfreight.com/4-amp...led-battery-chargermaintainer-63350.html

Hoping to keep it under $50
 
This topic is beat to death on here. Others can weigh in on the HF one, but my gut says that's not what you want.

The ATV could do with 2-4amp charger.
The small-midsize vehicles probably need ~6amp charger. The trucks probably need 10amp min.

Some that are often mentioned around here in order of price, the first one will probably suit your needs just fine for the price.
Prologix PL2310 ~$50
CTEK ~$75
Optimate ~$100
 
I have a couple of those HF chargers you mentioned on my deep cycle boat batteries and I've been very pleased with them. You don't need a 10amp charger if you're not in a hurry.. They have them on sale for $25 pretty regularly.
 
My old Schumacher ends up at final charge around 16V, which my understanding is not very good for a battery.
Maybe they've changed the charging routine, but the other brands i mentioned either publish exactly what their charging routine is (and it is technically sound) or have been tested by members of the forum.

Seems like someone should just write an article on this because it comes up weekly.
 
A battery tender is not a charger. Sure it "can" charge a battery but it will take days. Trust me, I've tried it.
 
Originally Posted by Anduril
A battery tender is not a charger. Sure it "can" charge a battery but it will take days. Trust me, I've tried it.

Low and slow gives you the highest "quality" of charge meaning it will take longer to fully discharge and will give a longer battery life vs fast chargers.

Just depends on the application.
 
I have a Sears 2,10,75 50ish bucks 90% I use it on 2 amps overnight. My new routine has me doing 100 miles a week on the fridge,so I haven't been using the 1/2 Amp HF floaters. Should put 'em on the OPE.
grin2.gif
 
Originally Posted by ad244
Originally Posted by Wolf359
What about this Schumacher 8amp charger? Gets decent reviews and only $25.78 which is less than $50... I got one before when it was under $20 and it charged up my AGM battery with no issues.

https://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SC1279-12V-Rapid-Charger/dp/B07DM22XTN



Thank you for the recommendation, Ordered


I avoid those as they hit very high voltage.

Originally Posted by SVTCobra

Low and slow gives you the highest "quality" of charge meaning it will take longer to fully discharge and will give a longer battery life vs fast chargers.


Not sure thats true.. although there is some room what is slow and what is fast?

Is 2amp slow? 6amp slow? 10amp is fast? 50amp fast? etc.

For a normal sized car battery a 6 or even 10amp smart charger is pretty slow IMO.

Now trying to shove 20amps into an atv sized battery is bad.. no question.
 
Rand the example in my mind was I use a 1.5 amp trickle charger but also have a 10 amp charger. A battery that is used but not charged otherwise would last longer between charges on 1.5 A vs 10 A. How much I don't know but since I tend to leave batteries charging for a while I use a good maintenance charger to prevent overcharging.
 
Last edited:
Please read this article:
https://batteryuniversity.com/index.php/learn/article/charging_the_lead_acid_battery

Specifically it recommends charge voltage from 2.30V - 2.45V per cell (13.8-14.7V for 12V battery), so you could see where 16V is problematic.
If you follow the voltage that your alternator puts out it is usually max 14.4-14.7V, so it seems car manufacturers are following this good practice.
I would not purchase a charger where I couldn't confirm this aspect. You may end up doing more harm than good.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Rand
Originally Posted by ad244
Originally Posted by Wolf359
What about this Schumacher 8amp charger? Gets decent reviews and only $25.78 which is less than $50... I got one before when it was under $20 and it charged up my AGM battery with no issues.

https://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SC1279-12V-Rapid-Charger/dp/B07DM22XTN



Thank you for the recommendation, Ordered


I avoid those as they hit very high voltage.

Originally Posted by SVTCobra

Low and slow gives you the highest "quality" of charge meaning it will take longer to fully discharge and will give a longer battery life vs fast chargers.


Not sure thats true.. although there is some room what is slow and what is fast?

Is 2amp slow? 6amp slow? 10amp is fast? 50amp fast? etc.

For a normal sized car battery a 6 or even 10amp smart charger is pretty slow IMO.

Now trying to shove 20amps into an atv sized battery is bad.. no question.


I've seen some claims of that, but I think some people are measuring the voltage without a load which is kinda hard to do. Had no issues with mine and I checked the voltage when it was connected to the battery.

As for low and slow, generally anything under 10 amps is considered low and it will take a while to charge up.
 
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