Car Chargers

Sadly my old one died and now my Miata sits waiting for me to get a new charger. So before I run our and drop the cash I wanted to turn to the smart folks on this forum.

I just need a simple charger that will work on my cars, F350 and my JD lawn mower.

Any input would be great.

Thanks. Rick

I have been using my old RC battery charger rig to keep my PSD batteries up. It is just an old $20 6v/12v charger with a 4way bridge installed. My personal preference is 10amp minimum charging. but I really want the $200 250amp deal from Napa.

I've had a Craftsman 6/12v charger for a few years that works fine on my Miata and the lawnmower. I think it is this one it has similar specs, although there isn't a picture to be sure.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_02871242000P?prdNo=16&blockNo=16&blockType=L16

The only ones I personally like are Battery Tenders. I've used 'em for years, and they're totally trustworthy. I use the motorcycle/PWC chargers for everything, and aside from a DEAD battery, they do the job with aplomb. No bells and whistles, just plug it into the wall and attach it to the battery. My only gripe is no jump-start feature, but that's what the jump box is for.

alex wrote: The only ones I personally like are Battery Tenders. I've used 'em for years, and they're totally trustworthy.

I have a Battery Tender; I put it on my car a few winters back when it went into storage, and in the spring I discovered the dang thing had boiled the battery dry.

So, at least one of them wasn't trustworthy.

I bought one at HF for like $30 on sale at the time. It has come in handy many times and has done so very recently after I wore down my battery trying to start my dino-oiled diesel in sub zero weather. I need to switch to synthetic. But until then, the charger is my friend.

I also used it to "jump" the power window wiring on the same car after there was a break in the wiring somewhere. Took off the furniture, cut the wires, connected the clamps, powered on, and up it went.

This is the charger I use:

http://www.harborfreight.com/10-2-55-amp-6-12-volt-battery-charger-engine-starter-66783.html

I have a friend who grew up in the Soviet union, where you couldn't just get a new battery when you need one. He told me battery tenders are great... at shortening the life of your battery.

I don't know how true it is, but I don't feel compelled to use one.

As I have heard its fast charge equals fast loss of charge. Long slow charge restores a good battery. I may be wrong.

Be sure to get an automatic charger. It will shut off before boiling the battery dry. Manual chargers don't know when to shut off. Battery tenders come in either variety, too.

I use the 2/15/100 charger by solar these days. I dropped our old one and broke the switch. It does the job I ask of it. Which is mostly to start cars with dead batteries that I had towed in and am taking too long to fix.

ZW, Ruskies are known to produce some good stuff. Not pretty, but serviceable and very tough. For example, Mosin-Nagants, SKS, AKM, ammo, etc. Somehow, I don't ever recall seeing a Russian electronics export collection. I'm kinda leaning towards "a Russian battery tender may not be the best thing in the world." Better to stick with a Chinese battery tender. The Chinese have been known for a large electronics export collection lately, as we don't make anything here anymore. The Chinese are also known for top functional quality but not pretty items like the SKS, AKM (MAK-90), etc., but we don't import them anymore since Uncle Bill banned them.

I've got about 5 HF battery tenders plugged in now on various things, plus one HF solar powered tender on my Truck. A couple decades ago, the US Army installed solar battery tenders on our M1 tank fleet and dropped the costs of replacing dead batteries tremendously. Remember that until recently, tanks mostly sat around parking lots. Maybe they still mostly do, I dunno.

http://www.amazon.com/12-Volt-Jump-Start-Compressor/dp/B000O0L8VG
Something like this has been my answer for Miata storage over the past 10 years. I recieved a nice professional version as a gift about ten years ago.
The Miata goes into the garage for the winter slumber and come summer I hit it once with this jumped and off I go.
A couple of years ago I was traveling by plane a lot. Especially in the winter months, I got in the habit of keeping this in the back seat of my Volvo 850 just in case it gave me any trouble after sitting in the cold airport parking lot for 3-4 days.

I know what you're saying, but this guy is our PLC and electronics specialist, and used to build his own electronic chargers that would go through charge/discharge cycles to bring old batteries back from the dead.

I agree that they're better than not having if the battery only gets used a few times a year, but don't think they're necessary for winter storage, or short downtimes.

Kramer wrote: Battery tenders come in either variety, too.

I did not know that. I've always encountered the automatics, then. Set it and forget it.

jrw1621 wrote:

I bought the jump box pictured from HF, and it's probably the single biggest piece of crap I've ever spent money on. YMMV, I suppose. A real pro-level jump box is worth having. When you need it, you're counting on it. And when you're counting on it...well, it probably shouldn't have come from Harbor Freight, sorry to say.

On top of all that, it's really awkward as a hammer.

http://www.toolrage.com/prodview.asp?sku=KKC-4000
This is the one I have. 1100 peak-amp. Always does the job.
Also mine does not pretend to be anything else. Not a flash light, not an air compressor, etc.

A discharged battery can freeze if it gets cold enough.

H2SO4 is very close to H2O. When discharged, it's even closer to H2O. If overcharged, the H2O boils out. Old farts remember when you had to maintain batteries by adding distilled (very pure) H2O.

Battery science any more in-depth than this is above me. And right now, I don't have the desire to google it.

In reply to Kramer:

The batteries I buy, I still have to add distilled H2O. I've promised myself the next battery I buy will be an Optima.

On a related note, does the solar powered unit work well at all, Dr. Hess? I was looking at one of those the last time I was in HF.

Well, Brett, all I can say is that I've had the same one, slightly different (smaller) than the current model, on my Truck for about the last 9 years. For the first 2 years of that, I drove my other Truck mostly, so that truck got very little use, which is why I put it on. I think I have replaced the battery once in that time, but my service log says I'm using the same battery since 2/2001, when I put a 6 month old battery in.

I bought another HF solar tender a few months ago for my generator, but I haven't got to installing it yet. I have the cheap HF plug in tender on it now.