Battery Charger Recommendations

[Trav]

This past Friday night we had a bad storm here and my small charger that was in use on the lawn tractor got knocked out. I have a wheeled charger but its not very convenient to move it around outside.

I am interested primarily in these two, the problem with the PL2520 Pro-Logix is the very short warranty and no handle, other than that it seems to fit the needs. The Schumacher SC-10030A has a 5 yr warranty 30A vs 20A and online price are about $30 cheaper and has a handle. The problem is the Schumacher brand isn't what it use to be but from reviews this one seems to rate good.
I tried a Noco Genius but it didn't work well, the electricity here fluctuates like a fiddlers elbow and it reset constantly (not the products fault), real third world electric grid.
Any opinions or alternatives are greatly appreciated.

https://www.amazon.com/SOLAR-PL2520-Pro-Logix-Battery-Charger/dp/B009RXYU4I?th=1#Ask

https://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SC-10030A-SpeedCharge-Automatic-Maintainer/dp/B001MYWBF0

 

[4WD]

I have chargers in three locations - various ages up to 9 years - all Schumacher ... Never fail me like the batteries do !

 

[Doog]

I have a Sears 50/10/2 battery charger that is 30 years old and works great. They make a Die Hard version sold on Walmart.com for $50 which is 75/10/2.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

There is only one brand I would ever recommend ... CTEK. You won't regret it.

 

[46Harry]

I bought the Solar Pro Logix 10 amp charger about 2 years ago and it is my go to charger as it will charge flooded cell, agm and gel cell batteries at either 6 or 12 volts at 2,6 or 10 amps with auto shut off and float charger so the charger doesn't have to be disconnected after the battery is fully charged.

 

[RooflessVW]

Do you need a charger or just a float maintainer?

Maintainer - Battery Tender brand by Deltran.
Charger - CTEK

 

[Trav]

I need a portable charger with jump start and 15-30 amp charge rate. I have maintainers and small chargers. The CTEK is nice but not over $300 nice.

 

[spackard]

Probably get this:
Then plug in whatever 15A max charger you want.
If you want to use the charger as a jump start then bypass the constant voltage transformer
for the duration. CV transformers tend to put out heat, so don't plan on using it 24/7.

 

[Ducked]

I sometimes use a motorcycle with jump leads for charging around. Moves quite fast for a charger, is OK for jump-starting (at least for my small car) and can itself be kick started to get going. About 200 USD used.

I have a "smart" charger for more delicate static operations which was the same type as a local battery shop was using. It seems OK but its a Taiwanese brand so probably not of any interest.

 

[danthaman1980]

I have that model Pro-Logix. My opinion is that it works great as a charger but is a mediocre maintainer. I've owned three schumachers, and two out of three were mediocre maintainers as well.

The Pro-Logix will work well for your charging needs, but as a maintainer, you might be better served with a BatteryMINDer or a CTEK. I have a CTEK and a BatteryMINDer; I think BatteryMINDers are better, but CTEKs are very good also.

 

[Nitronoise]

Schumacher makes a great battery tender to keep your battery topped up and not over charged , I have 2 of them for the bike and my buick

I don't know if they work over in your part of the world but an email to them will be answered quickly

 

[JHZR2]

I own a charger from each manufacturer... Schumacher, Solar Pro-Logic, CTEK, BatteryTender, and BatteryMinder.

I don't get at all why people swoon over CTEK so much - it isn't appropriately thermally compensated, the connection are neither SAE two barrel standard, nor any more robust than that, and the actual unit, while compact and seemingly tightly sealed, doesn't have good LEDs and the status isn't as clear.

Schumacher - Ive had two - will take the voltage too high repeatedly... High voltage is useful for a balancing charge, but you don't necessarily want to do a balancing charge all the time...

Battery Tender is compact and has a metal case, but no voltage indicators at least on the unit I own.

Battery Minder doesn't give a voltage number but the models have great LED based displays and lots of options

Pro-Logix works well and doesn't routinely take the voltage so high.

So then the question becomes if this is used to invigorate dead cars or to maintenance charge. If maintenance, and you need a more rapid charge (which it seems you do), Id look at the BatteryMinder 12248. It is 12A, which Ive found to be fairly sufficient.

Otherwise Id go with the Pro Logix, which gives you an SOC % and a voltage readout, some decent options to select to customize the charge, and can do a decent amount of current...

 

[Donald]

Look at BatteryMinder products.

 

[wrcsixeight]

The batteryminder 12248 is a 12 volt 2 4 or 8 amp charger, no engine start assist.

I have an schumacher sc2500a, no longer offered since 2008, and it routinely will seek 16.4v at full output, except on AGm setting

It is also very noisy electrically. I snapped a ferrite over one lead and the charger started buzzing loudly.

A State of charge readout is voltage based and not very accurate, but gives warm and fuzzies, and that sells.

I have no recommendations on automatic underchargers. I deeply cycle batteries and none of them actually would get the battery to 1.280 specific gravity the first time the unit would flash the green light and drop to float voltage. The schumacher could not be trusted to push right past 14.5v upto 16.4v at full amperage output, which is very abusive to the battery.

I use a 40 amp adjustable voltage power supply as a manual charger, and have an Ammeter/voltmeter attached on the outputs to tell me when the battery acceptance level drops to a certain point.

I could use it on an intermatic spring wound timer and have it outperform any smartcharger automatically

But it does not come in a sexy plastic case with blinking green lights.

Right now it is holding my AGM at 14.7v and requiring 11.7 amps to do so. When amps taper to 0.3a at 14.7v I'll turn it off or lower voltage to 13.6.

Over 400 deep cycles on this battery

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: wrcsixeight
The batteryminder 12248 is a 12 volt 2 4 or 8 amp charger, no engine start assist.

I have an schumacher sc2500a, no longer offered since 2008, and it routinely will seek 16.4v at full output, except on AGm setting

It is also very noisy electrically. I snapped a ferrite over one lead and the charger started buzzing loudly.

A State of charge readout is voltage based and not very accurate, but gives warm and fuzzies, and that sells.

I have no recommendations on automatic underchargers. I deeply cycle batteries and none of them actually would get the battery to 1.280 specific gravity the first time the unit would flash the green light and drop to float voltage. The schumacher could not be trusted to push right past 14.5v upto 16.4v at full amperage output, which is very abusive to the battery.

I use a 40 amp adjustable voltage power supply as a manual charger, and have an Ammeter/voltmeter attached on the outputs to tell me when the battery acceptance level drops to a certain point.

I could use it on an intermatic spring wound timer and have it outperform any smartcharger automatically

But it does not come in a sexy plastic case with blinking green lights.

Right now it is holding my AGM at 14.7v and requiring 11.7 amps to do so. When amps taper to 0.3a at 14.7v I'll turn it off or lower voltage to 13.6.

Over 400 deep cycles on this battery


Most people don't want something that has the level of personal involvement that yours does. Have you done a great thing? Yes, is it for everyone? No.

In the land of real charging systems, there are more advanced means of defining full state of charge and battery performance. Also, systems where any specific logic can be implemented...

Im not sure we can absolutely say that the SOC values are only voltage based. SOC can be better evaluated by the actual current accepted at a given overpotential, which will naturally decay. That is not hard to implement even on a Schumacher charger...

But other than a balancing charge, the 16V+ is scary...

 

[wrcsixeight]

If the smart charger asked for the capacity of the battery, then I'd perhaps put some credence into their SOC reading during charging.

But when first hooked upto a battery and it says 68% charged, it has to be voltage based.

And While batteries are generally fully charged at 12.8v, this varies 0.4v among brands.

For example, My Northstar AGM rests fully charged at 13.06v. A 12.8v reading would have a charger SOC display say this battery is fully charged, instead of an actual ~90% charged.

But a charger for a starting battery need not be perfect anyway.
The actual performance of a battery charger will be shown as effective or not, when the battery is deeply cycled day in and day out, and none of the smartchargers marketed toward the population is meant for this service.

I just get annoyed at the smartchargers flashing a green light at 92% charged and dropping to float voltage, when that 8% to reach 100% takes another 2 hours held at absorption voltage, and one has to trick the smart charger over and over to get that last 8% into the battery.

Without sticking a hydrometer into a wet/flooded battery with removable caps, the only real way to guess at full charge is by amperage acceptance at absorption voltage, and resting voltage, if the fully charged resting voltage had already been established on that particular battery before as a basis for comparison.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Are you into car audio and trying to get your amplifier past 14.4V for more watts? wrcsixeight


Kind of on topic, but what is happening when water starts boiling out of the battery when on a charger (6amp IIRC I had it on)? Is that a sign meaning you have reached its full voltage?

 

[wrcsixeight]

Sulfuric acid does not boil until 638F or so. Not sure what the diluted SA in batteries would actually boil at. I'll guess somewhere in the 230F range.

Electrolysis causes the gassing/ bubbling, and generally when charging at a medium rate, starts in the 14.2v range and occurs as long as this voltage is held or exceeded.

I am not into car audio. My cycling of a battery has more to do with a portable power supply away from the grid during some hours. Then getting the battery back to 100% charged on grid power, I found the best solution was the adjustable voltage power supply, rather than worrying about a smart charger shutting down prematurely and having to trick it and restart it over and over and over again to reach the actual 100% State of charge level which keeps a battery happy.

A lead acid battery is like a balloon that should be quickly re inflated to its maximum after every depletion. If not the skin gets less elastic, crusty and full of small pinholes. 92% is not good enough on a regularly deep cycled battery. It is like throwing away money, and most smartchargers, when they flash the green light and tell you the battery is fully charged, are more like 92 to 95% charged.

If one bothered to check with a hydrometer, they would confirm this for themselves.

But a car starting battery it is much less important. Most people get new batteries when the starting battery capacity has declined to well under 50% of what it was when new, and had no idea its capacity, and CCA, was/were actually declining the whole time. It works until it does not. Premature battery failure mostly occurs from the battery living its life well under 100% recharged, and the average state of charge at which it lives has way more to do with battery longevity than the Sticker on its casing.

High average temperatures also makes the Sulfuric acid eat the lead plates much faster too.

Recharging to a true 100% State of charge slows the rate at which capacity declines. I just find these well marketed 8 stage whizz bang smart chargers flashing green lights in the 92% charged range to be dishonest, but hey, its good for the economy, and ignorance is bliss.

92% is obviously better than 30%, and good enough for most, as long as the car starts right?. But on an anal retentive maintenance website like this one, 92% is only half as good as 100%.

So get the OTC4619 Hydrometer or similar, and dip the cells when the Smart charger first flashes the green light indicating full charge, and see for yourself Specific gravity will not be in the 1.280 range, but likely 1.265 or so, and getting it to ~1.280 from 1.265 will take another 2 hours held in the mid 14v range.

Your smart charger is likely lying to you, and mocking yo, but better to have and use it regularly, than to not, and rely on jumpstarting and the alternator instead.

Getting a lead acid battery from 80% charged to an actual 100% charged takes no less than 3.5 hours under ideal conditions, no matter how powerful the charging source. Getting it to 80% from the point where it required a jumpstart could take several hours too, but generally under 80% they can and will accept high amperage as long as the voltage regulator of charging source is allowing it to seek the mid 14 range, and most voltage regulators in vehicles drop to the mid to high 13's not long after engine starting, significantly slowing charging.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: wrcsixeight

But a car starting battery it is much less important. Most people get new batteries when the starting battery capacity has declined to well under 50% of what it was when new, and had no idea its capacity, and CCA, was/were actually declining the whole time. It works until it does not. Premature battery failure mostly occurs from the battery living its life well under 100% recharged, and the average state of charge at which it lives has way more to do with battery longevity than the Sticker on its casing.


Which is precisely why the chargers out there do what they do - they are NOT mission-critical UPS or deep cycle off-grid power supplies. People who need those things use far superior and far more expensive chargers... With certifications and rigorous qualifications... Which is also NOT your home-grown stuff, but that follows a profile much more like that, where it is not "100%" until at a set-thermally compensated voltage, the current is less than 0.05C or some other semi-arbitrary value.

And even with those fancy things,, high end lead batteries do dry out and do thermally run away. And lead battery fires are not pleasant.

Which is precisely why for automotive use, the 92% or whatever you claim is far better than what a 6-pulse rectifier on an alternator provides, and is good enough. Nobody is stretching to get 20 year life out of a car battery the way that a big UPS is trying to get out of monobloc UPS batteries.

 

[Trav]

JHZR2 for what I am looking for is your recommendation is the Pro Logix? The info about the other delivering 16v has me thinking its not the one that would be best for my needs.