Trickle Battery Charger

[Dick Webber]

I have never needed a charger. Batteries last 6-8 years, everything stock, always starts. Normal group on batteries from Advance, etc.

[SeaSlugs]

i used to use a maintainer over the winter on my chevette... was until i went to start it one spring and got a few clicks and that was it. battery charger when hooked up would show trickle for awhile then switch to fully charged. apparently was not charging at all...

now i just leave the battery disconnected from the car and charge it on 2a setting with a normal charger for an hour before i start it in the spring. cranks right over just normally.

[eagle]

Get a 6 volt DC 300mA power supply from an old cordless telephone or what have you and use that as a battery maintainer. Put it on the battery once a month for a few days, your battery will stay like new. Make sure you get your polarity correct.

[Richard Lorenz]

Thanks for all the replies. My main need is for a 1995 Buick that sometimes sits for a month or more without being driven. That car has a continuous small battery drain that is used for some of the electronics.

My current thinking is to get a Battery Tender Junior. I think that it is not likely to cause trouble because it is dedicated to 12 volts and delivers a maximum of 0.75 amps. Also claimed to shut down / off when battery charged.

[Bertha]

Battery Tender with battery disconnected thru a voltmeter.
6.2v gets plugged in, 6.7v gets un-plugged. Working very well with a standard Deka battery.


Side note....the 'Script' tar top battery split while sitting on the bench in the basement, no charger involved, just poor construction.


Bob

[Richard Lorenz]

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I found some technical information about the Battery Tender Junior. I imagine that other so-called maintainer chargers work about the same way. For the 12 volt "Junior", the battery is charged to 14.4 volts and then the charger switches automatically to 13.2 float volts. If the voltage drops to 12.6 volts, the charger resumes full charge rate until 14.4 volts when the cycle repeats itself.

The 14.4 volts seems undesirably high to me. I think that I will get one of these, but try to turn it off manually when the voltage gets to 12.5 or so. If I leave it unintentionally longer, the automatic float feature will offer protection.

[Bertha]

Richard,

Our 'Burb is used mostly for towing, it sits quite a bit.
I have 12v Jr connected thru a power port, the BT light shows green & rarely do I see 13v, usually 12.8.

Pretty much the same for the 6v, 'cept it's connected directly to the battery, with the negative cable off. I've seen a max chg voltage of 6.75. Un-plug and start over at 6.2.

Bob

[Wrenchy61]

I have a Schumacher for about $18. I disconnect the battery ground cable, hook up the Schumacher, and fly back to Texas for seven months. The next spring when I return the battery is fully charged. Cranks right up. If the charger is over charging, the top of the battery will be wet and have low electrolyte level.

[kevinmac/toledo]

love my battery butler...five tears and counting.....no problemo

[Paul_nz]

I use a Save a Battery - Vehicle Battery Chargers. 100% automatic. Plug and Play. Features state of the are PULSE technology. SLA. AGM. Dry Cell. Spiral Cell. GEL.

See www.saveabattery.com for more information