should i get a new charger? has charger tech advanced in the last 30 year?

[CarLuver]

i have an old battery charger that i think i got 20 to 30 years ago. if going by the first 2 numbers of the serial , it would be close to 30. it seems to work ok, but it does not desulfate and it seems to cut the charger earlier than full

thinking of picking up a newer one if the tech has advanced quite a bit in the years.

should i get a new one?

 

[joekingcorvette]

Yes with a name CarLuver you are entitled to a new one. There are lots of them to choose from. I have one large charger and several battery maintainers from 1.5 to 4 amps. I never need a charger since cars are fuel injected and always start unless they need a new battery. Many years ago a large fast charger on wheels was almost a necessity.

 

[Cujet]

Many of the current generation "automatic" chargers are actually afraid to charge a battery that it "deems" unworthy.

While my comment is meant as a bit of a joke, there are significant issues with today's chargers. I've been looking for a classic style, non computerized, no button or menu, battery charger. The kind that has 16V at the terminals the instant it's plugged in.
Nearly all chargers today have a nanny feature that prevent it from providing any power until it senses voltage at the terminals. Unfortunately, it's very easy to drive a battery well below this "sense" voltage (which is often 9V) , by leaving a dome light on or dash cam plugged into the cig lighter outlet, and have a charger that won't charge the battery no matter what you do.
And, for those who will make the claim that a battery is ruined by driving it low, that's simply not so. It's ruined by not charging it once it is depleted.

Not even Harbor Freight sells conventional chargers.

With all that said, I like the Battery Tender brand available at WalMart. They just seem to work well and don't overcharge the battery.

 

[jhellwig]

Many of the current generation "automatic" chargers are actually afraid to charge a battery that it "deems" unworthy.

While my comment is meant as a bit of a joke, there are significant issues with today's chargers. I've been looking for a classic style, non computerized, no button or menu, battery charger. The kind that has 16V at the terminals the instant it's plugged in.
Nearly all chargers today have a nanny feature that prevent it from providing any power until it senses voltage at the terminals. Unfortunately, it's very easy to drive a battery well below this "sense" voltage (which is often 9V) , by leaving a dome light on or dash cam plugged into the cig lighter outlet, and have a charger that won't charge the battery no matter what you do.
And, for those who will make the claim that a battery is ruined by driving it low, that's simply not so. It's ruined by not charging it once it is depleted.

Not even Harbor Freight sells conventional chargers.

With all that said, I like the Battery Tender brand available at WalMart. They just seem to work well and don't overcharge the battery.

Harbor Freight has one manual charger.

 

[2010Civic]

Noco battery chargers are on sale on Amazon today. I have the 1 amp and 10 amp models. Very high quality units.

 

[DuckRyder]

Id probably keep that one around but yes get another one.

I'm pretty sure i have an identical on branded "NAPA Balkamp"

 

[Kira]

I've been on my second "6 AMP" transformer In a louvered box, you know, the one with the 6V-12V switch and vinyl strap handle, for 20 years.
Marquette, Sears, Montgomery Ward all sold this one.
My first one fried. A tree hit my friends so I swapped in his guts.
I've been loaning it out to neighbors for years. VG track record.
Bought a NOCO Genius 10.
The blurb claims it messages deeper and has charging selections for differing battery chemistries.

Anyone use their "BOOST" line of starting booster?

 

[DuckRyder]

Anyone use their "BOOST" line of starting booster?

I have several of them.

 

[Kira]

Have they performed adequately?
Do they have obvious limitations like 2 -3 starts before recharge is necessary?
Do they standby well?

 

[DuckRyder]

Have they performed adequately?
Do they have obvious limitations like 2 -3 starts before recharge is necessary?
Do they standby well?

Hate to hijack the battery charger thread, but:

Yes.
No - within reason
Yes.

I have 2 Boost Sport and one of the larger ones. Never an issue.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Noco battery chargers are on sale on Amazon today. I have the 1 amp and 10 amp models. Very high quality units.

Is the 1A enough to trickle charge a full size battery. I would think it would be fine if your not a rush?

 

[brianl703]

Is the 1A enough to trickle charge a full size battery. I would think it would be fine if your not a rush?

The NOCO Genius 1 says it will go into an error state if the battery hasn't fully charged in 24 hours.

Given that a full size battery might be around 70AH, and a 1 amp charger will only add 24 AH to a battery (actually a bit less because the charging process is not 100% efficient)..

...you'll need to unplug and reset the charger after 24 hours to continue charging.

Seems like a stupid limitation.

 

[benjy]

i would like to think my C-Tek 4.3 muse has something to do with my oldest OE battery in my 2013 victory hammer still alive along with other older batteries, BUT of course you must use the charger!! being retired with 3 bikes a car + pickup things rarely driven in Pa winters get boosted EVERY month as my 4wd frontier pickup is my main ride in crappy weather + its not a lot either!!

 

[Dave9]

Many of the current generation "automatic" chargers are actually afraid to charge a battery that it "deems" unworthy.

While my comment is meant as a bit of a joke, there are significant issues with today's chargers. I've been looking for a classic style, non computerized, no button or menu, battery charger. The kind that has 16V at the terminals the instant it's plugged in.

I have one of those, still works at around 40 years old. Also have a newer electronic one that failed and I had to replace a 6 cent transistor in it. Sometimes older is better, I don't need a special charge method if just putting juice in rather than maintaining a battery long term.

What you want can be built in a basic form easily, is just a ~12VAC transformer and one or more diodes to make it DC, though a panel ammeter on the box it's in would be nice to have too, then monitor how hot it is and decide whether the box needs a fan, or limit current below transformer spec... a simple power resistor would do that.

For that matter, an old computer power supply with a power resistor to limit current so the undervoltage protection circuit doesn't shut it off, would bring a battery up enough to use a modern charger or just any old unregulated AC/DC 12V wall wart like on old cordless phones, would just take a lot longer as they're usually only a quarter of an amp or so.

Otherwise, look for used old school chargers at garage sales or craigslist.

 

[brianl703]

I use a variable power supply as a charger when the "smart" charger won't charge the battery. These are the kind known as "lab" or "bench" power supplies. They often feature adjustable current limiting, so you can limit the current to something lower than the max output of the power supply if you want.

 

[meep]

As well built as it is, I would not recommend the noco. For the same reason as the OP went through, I splurged on the 10amp version.

RIGHT NOW. I’ve used a flashlight with a 7amp lead acid battery for an hour and a half. If should be down to about 20% charge remaining. I plugged in into the NOCO and within 30 seconds it’s shifted to trickle/maintain mode, instead of letting the sealed lead acid battery take its fill. the noco charge strategy is conservative at best.

unfortunately, the other really popular competitor to the noco runs hot and has more complaints of dramatic burn-outs. Ctek, I think.

Close has a 20amp beast on Amazon now, Black Friday sale… https://a.co/d/iCBPaVz. Optimate has a couple of recommendations from folks on this forum.

for small maintainers, “motopower” units seem to have some good feedback online.

 

[JHZR2]

Many of the current generation "automatic" chargers are actually afraid to charge a battery that it "deems" unworthy.

While my comment is meant as a bit of a joke, there are significant issues with today's chargers. I've been looking for a classic style, non computerized, no button or menu, battery charger. The kind that has 16V at the terminals the instant it's plugged in.
Nearly all chargers today have a nanny feature that prevent it from providing any power until it senses voltage at the terminals. Unfortunately, it's very easy to drive a battery well below this "sense" voltage (which is often 9V) , by leaving a dome light on or dash cam plugged into the cig lighter outlet, and have a charger that won't charge the battery no matter what you do.
And, for those who will make the claim that a battery is ruined by driving it low, that's simply not so. It's ruined by not charging it once it is depleted.

Not even Harbor Freight sells conventional chargers.

With all that said, I like the Battery Tender brand available at WalMart. They just seem to work well and don't overcharge the battery.

Many of the new chargers have a revive type function to take a very low battery back up. Many will charge from 0/1V. Chargers that have a power supply function can be made to do that by goosing the voltage a bit even when the charger doesnt want to charge. BTDT.

A tiny low amperage maintenance charger doesnt have those functions because its not the intention.

 

[JHZR2]

As well built as it is, I would not recommend the noco. For the same reason as the OP went through, I splurged on the 10amp version.

RIGHT NOW. I’ve used a flashlight with a 7amp lead acid battery for an hour and a half. If should be down to about 20% charge remaining. I plugged in into the NOCO and within 30 seconds it’s shifted to trickle/maintain mode, instead of letting the sealed lead acid battery take its fill. the noco charge strategy is conservative at best.

unfortunately, the other really popular competitor to the noco runs hot and has more complaints of dramatic burn-outs. Ctek, I think.

Close has a 20amp beast on Amazon now, Black Friday sale… https://a.co/d/iCBPaVz. Optimate has a couple of recommendations from folks on this forum.

for small maintainers, “motopower” units seem to have some good feedback online.

That is a good deal, and I like that charger. $66 is a great price, too bad I dont need one!

 

[WobblyElvis]

I have a couple of old wall warts from some old electronics. They say they put out 12 v DC/500ma but a VOM says 15v at rest. I use them to slow charge and desulphate batteries. They will overcharge a battery if left for too many days but I'm always around. Can usually find them for $1 at a thrift shop.

 

[Snagglefoot]

I keep an older battery charger that has a feature to boost a car, say in the winter when it’s week, and also have a modern smart charter.

It basically follows this graph with a bulk and a float charge. There may be higher tech ones but this does a good job. The flat current rate is two amps.