maintainer

[ScubaChief60]

Great post! The timing is good too since I just replaced my solar panels on the roof for just this reason:

Solar panel #1 is a 20 Watt 12 V with a charge controller/maintainer to keep my diesel home generator battery at peak charge.
Solar panel #2 is a 6 Watt 6 V with a charge controller/maintainer to keep my 1935's 6 volt battery at peak charge. Both seem to be working great.

Found this as well:
A battery maintainer is essentially a "smart" trickle charger, meaning it automatically monitors a battery's charge level and only provides a trickle charge when needed, preventing overcharging, while a basic trickle charger continuously charges at a low rate and may require manual disconnection once the battery is full; in short, a maintainer is designed to be left connected long-term to maintain a battery's charge, while a trickle charger is primarily used to slowly recharge a depleted battery that needs to be monitored.

[tubman]

I find the timers have a much better memory that I do, as well as being more consistent and reliable. And they don't go on vacation.

[V8 Bob]

Originally Posted by bobsmanstuff

I live in a cold winter climate so my 53 Ford sits for a few months. If I out a battery maintainer on it can you leave it hooked up all winter? Thanks

I'm uncomfortable leaving maintainers connected full time on cold storage vehicles/machines in the winter. I've learned over the years that occasionally checking battery voltages only requires about 24 hr. maintainer usage about once a month to restore voltage on several sealed/wet and Optima batteries.


I would use timers as some have stated if I were away for extended periods of time, or at least store the battery(s) in a warmer location.