trickle chargers/battery minders

[grumpyvette]

most modern cars have a great deal of electronic controls and in most cases a car must be driven at least every few days for the battery to remain fully charged, obviously in some cases or cars are not used as daily transportation and they don,t get driven on a consistent basis.
failure to do so results in a car that won,t start in some cases in only 3-4 days of sitting unless the battery charge is maintained.
first check your shop manual for the fuse and fuse able link locations
fuses are located in several locations and fuse-able links near the battery

This frequently leads to low charge conditions which require the battery be recharged, the better battery chargers have a TRICKLE setting that allows the battery to be fully charged slowly over night, without high stress, but theres other small chargers designed to maintain the battery at full charge that use solar panels or small chargers that plug into cigarette lighters etc., obviously you can,t jump start a car as effectively with a trickle charger, but you can in many case avoid the low battery condition thru their use when the cars parked for days at a time.
obviously solar chargers are not much use if the charger is in a dark garage so you'll want to either move the solar panel to a window or use a trickle charger run off house current in some cases.
if your car sits for days at a time you need a trickle charger
http://www.harborfreight.com/automatic- ... ader-42292

I bought 4 for $5 each when they were on sale a few years ago, two still work fine and two crapped out , and stopped working in that time.
still at the price no real complaints
keep in mind many BATTERY problems are due to BAD CONNECTIONS or lack of consistent use or maintenance

SOME RELATED LINKS


Ive used an older version of this sears charger for years with good results

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1260 ... 000P?mv=rr

http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-02 ... 53&sr=1-22

http://www.corvettefever.com/techarticl ... index.html

http://www.madelectrical.com/electrical ... ging.shtml

http://www.virtualvillage.com/12v-solar ... %20Charger

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/ ... _200305091

http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-C ... arger-DIY/

http://www.nextag.com/solar-car-battery ... tores-html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickle_charging

http://store.schumachermart.com/se-1-12s.html

http://www.batteryminders.com/batterych ... 1-c-3.html

http://www.batterytender.com/

http://www.engineersedge.com/battery/tr ... arging.htm

http://www.carbuyingtips.com/jumpstart.htm

http://www.battery-chargers.com/chargin ... ctions.htm

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=928

 

[grumpyvette]

btw on of the common problems is jumping in the car that was running just fine and hitting the key and getting a single click, the head or dash lights may be able to work dimly but theres no clicking from the starter like with a dead or weak battery

If the battery is good ,chances are very good that its a bad battery connection, or ground that needs cleaning and re-tightening, try jumping the car and checking the connections after cleaning and re-tightening them as that's frequently the source of that symptom/problem, the bolt to battery or bolt to cable connection on the side post battery design SUCKS in this area. as its MORE prone to this than the older post/clamp design on the top of the battery design.

if you need a new battery you can go the cheaper route and visit wal-mart and get the 5-7 year battery that's replaced free for up to 3 years, they generally only last about 3 years in my experience but the price is not bad considering the fairly low hassle replacement (ZEROX YOUR RECEIPTS) as they are printed ON PURPOSE on paper that RAPIDLY FADES OVER TIME and without the receipt theres occasionally a problem getting it replaced

BTW its a good idea to disconnect the cheap trickle charger's, from the battery, while starting a car with what might be a low battery charge UNLIKE a full size battery charger designed to be used to provide the required electrical loads to start a car,the battery and cars electrical system, won,t see a significant difference in the volts and amps available to spin the engine on the starter,if you leave the charger hooked up while starting the car,simply because the voltage they provide is LESS than the alternator puts out, but depending on the trickle charger used , its a good idea to disconnect the trickle charger once the cars being started as the AMPS the starter pulls and the VOLTAGE level the alternator puts out can both cause the trickle charger to fail on the less expensive versions that don,t have a with the capacity to handle the increase surge loads /diode forcing D.C. to flow in only one direction, yeah! it may not hurt a darn thing to leave it connected but Ive seen several cheap versions fail slightly after use that way, so you make the call, a couple seconds to disconnect it may keep it fully functional.

if you want a better quality battery, do some research, but Ive found the optima battery's work ok.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/automot ... 13127.html

http://www.galttech.com/research/cars/b ... attery.php

http://www.madelectrical.com/electrical ... ging.shtml

http://www.1st-optima-batteries.com/?gc ... nAodewPXrg

http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-02 ... 53&sr=1-22

http://www.arizonatools.com/tools/searc ... nAodaQPAJQ

Keep in mind youll want to make good connections and not leave the car charging for days at a time in most cases, the quality of the battery and its connections also needs to be looked at carefully,
its IMPORTANT to get a decent charger that stops charging and only trickle charges once the batteries nearly fully charged
simply because over charging a battery tends to drastically reduce its life expectancy and it could potentially in rare cases be a fire hazard

http://www.batterytender.com/

Ive never personally used that brand but I have a couple friends that have, and so far everyone's been happy with the results, but Id point out that most if not all of these guys bought the larger size.
at about $70, its certainly not dirt cheap but its a bargain compared to replacing dead batteries almost yearly if you seldom drive your vette

RELATED THREADS

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viewtopic.php?f=70&t=3901&p=10343&hilit=multi+meter#p10343

viewtopic.php?f=48&t=5144&p=14905#p14905

 

[bob]

Why can,t someone make a decent battery charger?
every battery charger I've ever owned eventually stopped working or started charging incorrectly, some just don,t charge, some short out some go dead, some burn up internally, most seem to work fine for 1-3 years but all of them seem to be subject to internal electrical damage from even minor rain showers, being bumped, dropped or just sitting for extended period without being used.

Ive purchased the cheaper $40-$70 auto store versions

and the $165 professional looking ones

Ive yet to have one last more than about 5 years tops, most self destruct in under 3 years, even if carefully stored never dropped or subjected to a brief rain shower ...but put one in a car trunk and drive down a rough road or just allow the least bit of moisture and they are usually malfunctioning within hours even if carefully dried , even when it looks like they were never wet internally or dropped

 

[grumpyvette]

I've noticed the same P.I.T.A. cycle of failures, now Ive had one sears professional battery charger last 8 years, but most last less than two years under frequent use.
what really tends to make you crazy is most battery chargers sit on a shelf for months or years and you only use them when you have a dead battery or the cars been sitting for several weeks , and then your already in trouble , so to have that charger not work when its needed just is icing on the cake, it really pisses you off!

 

[mathd]

My dad had a automatic "motomaster" i think, i am not sure about that, but it did last for at leats 15 years(they dont make them anymore). It did rain and snow inside the unit at least once a years. Stored on ice cold temp and it did its work each time. Sold it because he didnt need it anymore at that time too bad.

I did buy one 3 years ago, i choosed the same brand , so far its still work really well and it see use fairly often as am using it to feed a 12v water pump the summer .

 

[grumpyvette]

I really don,t see how anyone can pass on this deal,
in the November 2011 super Chevy magazine on page 38
is a harbor freight coupon to buy a trickle charger battery minder for $5 part #42292 even if it only works for a few months its hard to see where your loosing much buying one or two of them to keep your battery charged ,if your car sits for days at a time you need a trickle charger, Ive purchased several about a year ago on sale for $5 and after about a year about 1/2 of them still work fine , now a 50% fail rate may not seem impressive but I bought a well known name brand battery minder for over $49, and it failed after only 5 months, so these things don,t last forever, at that cost, a $5 HF seems a bargain.
http://www.harborfreight.com/automatic- ... ader-42292

http://www.madelectrical.com/electrical ... ging.shtml

I bought 4 for $5 each when they were on sale a few years ago, two still work fine and two crapped out , and stopped working in that time.
still at the price no real complaints
keep in mind this is NOT a trickle charger , thats going to recharge a battery in three hours, its intended to prevent the battery charge from depleting over a few weeks time or more, so its producing 13-14 volts and about .2 amps, so its hardly going to recharge a battery quickly, even if left running over night, but it will usually prevent the battery in your car from gradually loosing its charge UNLESS you have ELECTRICAL ISSUES other than a normal slow drain like the computer memory or dash clock produces , if you leave the interior lights on the battery's still very likely to be dead in the morning, but if your cars in good working order electrically and you park it for three weeks between trips its far less likely to need a new battery or a jump start to get running

http://www.harborfreight.com/automatic-battery-float-charger-42292.html
works very well
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GXQ2E5E?tag=vs-auto-convert-amazon-20


works ok
http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-Ton-Hydr...mping-Tool-9-Dies-L8-/282186578679?rmvSB=true
I bought 5 of these when they were on sale for $5 each, its been over a year and 3 of the 5 have failed, but at only $5 , I think its, worth it , I have purchased several far more expensive trickle chargers or battery minders , in the past, and in a few cases they lasted a few years but Ive yet to have any last over 3 years
http://www.harborfreight.com/automatic- ... 42292.html

http://www.corvettefever.com/techarticl ... placement/
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=8493&p=29779#p29779

BTW IF YOUR GOING TO STORE THE CAR OVER THE WINTER IN AN UNHEATED GARAGE....read the linked info below
http://mathscinotes.wordpress.com/2013/ ... zing-math/

Lead-acid batteries contain a solution of sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and water — the solution is referred to as the battery’s electrolyte. Adding a solute (in this case, H2SO4) to a solvent (in this case, H2O) will lower the freezing point of a solution. A fully charged battery has more H2SO4 than a discharged battery. The additional H2SO4 depresses the freezing point of the batteries electrolyte to around -70 °C. This is a temperature we do not see in Minnesota. However, a discharged battery’s freezing point rises to ~-10 °C. Unfortunately, the temperature in Minnesota frequently drops below -10 °C.

 

[grumpyvette]

yes your dealing with less than top quality , products here!
the part number on the newer version of HF battery minder , is still part # 42292, list price $13.99 but on sale $5.99 with a discount coupon
the newer version looks a bit different.
I purchased two more because two of the originals failed over time, but two of the originals are still working fine and at the price you can afford to throw a few that fail in the trash, I paid $35 for a different brand at a local auto parts store and it failed after 4 months so I look at the HF versions as a better bargain

 

[87vette81big]

I have a Snap On trickle charger - battery maintance charger I really like.
Charges 6 & 12 volt batteries. Lead acid wet cell, Gel batteries, & AGM high performance output batteries.
Have been using it for almost 4 years now. Never crapped out.
Made by Pantene electronics for Snap On.
Not inexpensive @ $98.00 when I bought from the local tool guy in white & red truck.
Highly recommend.

Also have a 1980's built SOLAR brand portable battery charger.
Built heavy duty.
Use it for charging large truck style batteries near discharged dead.

Best battery chargers had SELENIUM RECTIFIER for converting 110-120 VAC current to Half Wave DC.
Made in 1950's-1970's.
Unique current Ramp characteristics of Selenium Rectifier can not be matched with Solid state silicon rectifier diodes used in modern battery chargers.
Silicon cheaper.
Selenium phased out.
So crap battery chargers made in China everywhere.

 

[87vette81big]

This Is Real Good Stuff Grumpy..........Not a Crap POS that will NOT Piss You Off anytime soon.