Any suggestions re. Battery charger

[Gino]

Hi, I need a 6v-12v battery charger preferably with the ability to trickle charge and stop when battery is loaded. I thank you for any suggestions such as brand names and possible retail outlets. Thank you very much. Oh you know the story, I let a guy use my charger and he toasted it!

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Most battery chargers of quality will have the "automatic shut-off" but you need to define what your true purpose is with the charger. The Battery Tender brand of charger is best if you want to prolong the life of a battery by keeping it on float while the car is not being driven. These are perfect except if you need to charge a battery in a hurry. If you are going to purchase a 6 & 12 volt charger, my suggestion is to look for one that also has the AGM charging ability. Schumacher is one brand that I have that does a good job.

[Rich in Tucson]

Ditto on the Schumacher. I have Schumacher "smart" charger that handles lead-acid, Optimas, and AGMs. This type of charger can detect sulfation and reverse it which greatly prolongs battery life.

Last year I was "gifted" a dead Optima 6V made in 2003 which ~2.3V but would not charge with a regular battery charger or with a trickle charger. After topping it up with distilled water and a week or so of low amp off and on charging/desulfating sessions, it is nearly as good as new and I use it as a bench battery, jump starter, and loaner.

Use it on modern car batteries to prolong their life because alternator charging systems are not good battery maintainers. Now working on a big 12 V DieHard from a Jeep (put in in 2005; removed and sat since 2008) that is up to about 80% load capacity after starting out at ~3 V.

An example is http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SC-...attery+charger

Cannot vouch yet for its longevity (have had one since 2010) however a Schumacher triclke charger I used for several years now fails to charge although it indicated that it is doing so. They are cheap, though.

[ken ct]

Originally Posted by Timothy Kelly

Query - how did you add distilled water to an Optima battery?

To the best of my knowledge, Optima batteries are sealed. Moreover, again to the best of my knowledge, they do not contain liquid acid.

Yea i caught that too! HOW. ken ct.

[Gino]

Here's the story. I drive my Coupe year round, unless it snows ( salt ) or rains. So the Coupe never sits very long without a start. But soon, and I say this with a smile, my 31" pickup will be on the road. I relish the day I have to choose which to drive. I hope this explains the need of a trickle charger, but keep in mind should I need to charge other batteries it would be nice to have The Schumacher handle that as well. Thank you for the advice, I believe you all have me going in the right direction.

[Rich in Tucson]

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There is a removable vent plug on the top of the Optima, partially hidden by a label (there is on this old one, anyway). I added at most a few ml of distilled water with a pipette. Figured that with our heat cycles some evaporation might have occurred and that diffusion would distribute it throughout the battery, eventually.

[SeaSlugs]

yea check around at farm/ag stores if you live near any. they have pretty robust battery chargers and alot of older tractors use 2 6v batteries in series so most of thier chargers can handle 6v...

[Ray in La Mesa]

The is an excellent article in the latest Street Rodder (August 2013) magazine on AGM and VRLA batteries and related chargers. It describes the different requirements of each type.

[ctlikon0712]

Wow, the Amazon reviews on that charger were not good!
http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SC-1200A-SpeedCharge-Charger-Maintainer/dp/B000BQSIWK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1371655294&sr=8-2&keywords=schumacher+battery+charger

[Keith True]

Whenever I see the words,digital,automatic,microprocessor,with the words battery charger I run the other way.I saw a deltran battery tender start a fire,and I had a 'floater' charger not float and blow up batteries.On that one I just thought the first battery was bad and let it go at that.Than I did it again.I hooked it up to another battery and kept an eye on it.In less than an hour I had plumes of smoke coming out of the battery.I have several old chargers with just set rates and plain old switches.They work fine,as I have to keep an eye on them.I have an old 1 amp trickle charger that I use as it is meant to.If you have to keep a tender on the Model A you need to be fixing the car.I park my A's in the fall,start them up in the spring,and drive them away.If I do start them in the winter I run them for at least a half hour,at a high idle.I run generators with EVR's,halogen bulbs,no battery problems.

[roccaas]

If you like the Schumacher, buy it from Sears under the Diehard name and get a 3 year warranty vs. 1 year from Schumacher. I have the microprocessor controlled 6V + 12V maintainer and it works well for all of my old iron.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Ditto what Keith said. I like my 4 and 6 amp Sears 6/12 volt chargers with an amp meter. They just keep working and if I took better care of my batteries I'd connect them to the charger for an hour a month when the cars aren't driven.

BTW, the small Panasonic lawn tractor battery that I got from the recycling yard about 10 years ago is still working fine. I pulled it out of my snowblower and installed a new Menards battery when the snow blower failed to crank one day. I put the battery on the charger for a couple hours a couple months ago, and my Cub Cadet fired right up yesterday with it.

[Hunter]

I have a related question. When charging a 6 V battery what voltage indicates it is fully charged?

6 V, 6.3 V, 7 V ?

The resaon I ask is that when I charge my 6 volt model a battery the highest voltage I can ever obtain is 6.3 volts (measured with an accurate DVM) . Is the charger working correctly?

[Tom Wesenberg]

6.3 is about right. There can be a slight variation, depending on the battery construction. A hydroneter reading would let you know each cell's condition. The quick easy test is: if it starts, go with it. I figure if the battery can set untouched for at least a month and start the car, then it's still OK.

[Hunter]

Thanks Tom!!

[verrece]

dear colleages
What is your opinion about Black & Decker : 6V & 12V Battery Maintainer MODEL # BM3B
You can see here:
http://www.blackanddecker.com/power-tools/BM3B.aspx

thanks Verrece

[ctlikon0712]

Like Rich advised, I really liked the idea of a one charger fits all. To be able to de-sulfate a AGM battery is a increasingly important factor. I just can't get over the negative reviews on the Schumacher. I'll have to look into the Sears version.

[Rich in Tucson]

I just received a new 6 V Optima battery purchased for a customer and noticed that the vent plug through which water could be added (as I described previously) is no longer there; instead, there is a deep vent hole in the side of the top plate which seems to preclude adding water. (Unless one owns and can operate a drill...).

Anyway, this seems to be a physical change implemented since Johnson Controls bought out Optima and in my opinion is a continuation of what I perceive to be a Johnson Controls policy of "planned obsolescence" (seem to recall their acquisition and destruction of other quality battery manufacturers) so I for one will be on the lookout for another manufacturer of 6 V AGM batteries. And I will not care if they come from Antarctica if they provide good value.

Interestingly, out of the box, my battery load tester indicated that there was less than 25% capacity on this new Optima battery with a date code sticker of (6/13) and this value was also seen with two of my Schumacher battery chargers, one of which is working on this Johnson Controls product (hopefully not junk but I fear it is) to restore it. By the way, I am no shill for Schumacher, I have condemned one of their "smart battery maintainers" here for failing after a brief time while it confidently reports that the battery is charged but I have nothing but good to say about the Schumacher SC-600A. For now, anyway. Schumacher may have planned obsolescence down to an art for all that I know and consult with Johnson Controls. Test, don't guess! And as for Sears specs for a product exceeding those of the manufacturer, we ain't in the 1960s anymore!