Battery chargers

[Weasel]

I need a new charger for my batteries, nearly all are AGM styles. After quite a bit of research I'm looking at getting a Batteryminder unit. They have good rating, make aviation specific chargers that I see on quite a few aircraft supply houses that seem to indicate they are good quality.

This is the unit: https://www.batteryminders.com/2012a...acid-batteries

Anyone have one, comments?

The main issue I'm having with my older fancy charger is if the battery gets in a low state it throws a code and won't charge. If I equalize it with a good battery it will take off and charge no problem.

 

[redheep]

I bought this cheap Stanley battery charger a few years ago because I needed something that would vary the charging rate while I was troubleshooting/coding german cars. It works well, charges at 25 amps and drops down to float.

And it's cheap. You can spend a ton of money on a good battery charger.

https://www.amazon.com/STANLEY-BC25B...5-4be35d7258cc

 

[OHV Wildcat]

I bought this cheap Stanley battery charger a few years ago because I needed something that would vary the charging rate while I was troubleshooting/coding german cars. It works well, charges at 25 amps and drops down to float.

And it's cheap. You can spend a ton of money on a good battery charger.

https://www.amazon.com/STANLEY-BC25B...5-4be35d7258cc

Funny how hit our miss this stuff is. I bought the same unit with a black & Decker label and it's been a pos.

 

[Weasel]

That's why I'm leaning towards the above unit, they seem to hit the mark consistently. I've the same hit or miss issues on cheaper units.

I figure if they can be certified for airplane batteries they might make a decent automotive product.

 

[redheep]

Don't know. My brother bought the same one and it works just like mine does.

I've had a lot of success with the Battery Tender brand of maintainers for my road king and my expedition trailer. $105 seems pretty steep for a 2 amp maintainer.

 

[Weasel]

Don't know. My brother bought the same one and it works just like mine does.

I've had a lot of success with the Battery Tender brand of maintainers for my road king and my expedition trailer. $105 seems pretty steep for a 2 amp maintainer.

true but I've already been through 3 cheaper ones and that's cost me well over that. It does have a few extra features, desulfate, temp sensor for correct charges, bad cell sensors. They have a version that has the AGM setup plus 2/4/8 amp charges for a few bucks more.

 

[Weasel]

I'll look at Battery Tenders as well, I was trying to remember the other brands I've seen alot and that's it.

 

[ridenby]

https://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us/battery-charger I use the 400 model. No complaints.

 

[dnsfailure]

I'll look at Battery Tenders as well, I was trying to remember the other brands I've seen alot and that's it.

the 'battery tender' brand seems to be good quality. I've got 2 of them, haen't had problems with them at all. My other main charger is an old Schumacher charger that is probably 30 years old. I don't know if their new stuff is good quality or not, but the old chargers seem to be.

 

[Weasel]

https://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us/battery-charger I use the 400 model. No complaints.

shops has one of them as well, haven't had good luck with it on any Optima's. Although reading up on charging rates it might take a few days to bring back really dead batteries and the guys typically unhook them after a day.

 

[ridenby]

shops has one of them as well, haven't had good luck with it on any Optima's. Although reading up on charging rates it might take a few days to bring back really dead batteries and the guys typically unhook them after a day.

I let it do its thing. It is slow.

 

[Toreadorranger]

I've run an optimate 3 for a few years now, with 0 issues.

https://optimate1.com/om3/

 

[Pt_Ranger_v8]

bumping this back up, thinking about getting the larger one from harbor freight. Anyone have any experience with them?

 

[87manche]

I bought this cheap Stanley battery charger a few years ago because I needed something that would vary the charging rate while I was troubleshooting/coding german cars. It works well, charges at 25 amps and drops down to float.

And it's cheap. You can spend a ton of money on a good battery charger.

https://www.amazon.com/STANLEY-BC25B...5-4be35d7258cc

I've been using this one to program my car with.

holds 25 amps for hours.
doesn't freak out running ignition loads.

 

[Weasel]

So I went back and forth quite a bit and switched model and went with BatteryMINDer® Model 128CEC1. Northern Tool, Amazon, and other places have them.

Working great. Fully charged 4 batteries that the other chargers wouldn't do anything with it.