What battery charger?

[smo]

As not all chargers are equal, and range from pretty carp, to super amazin and very clever - what would you recommed?

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

As not all chargers are equal, and range from pretty carp, to super amazin and very clever - what would you recommed?

Accumate

Charger and Conditioner*

(*Cos your worth it )

Superb bit of kit that often seems to bring back batteries from the dead, charges and aren't expensive either

Nige

[rtbarton]

I have an Absaar 8 Amp charger, although the meter goes up to 12 amps. It has two switches, a) 6/12 volts and B) car/motorcycle.

I reckon it has cooked a couple of my batteries on the 12v/Car setting, but is OK on the 12v/motorcycle setting.

I have looked at the Ring RC16 intelligent charger with a view to running through a timeswitch to top my battery up on Economy7 and got this reply to an email from Ring themselves

In reply to your Email concerning the Smartcharger 16. If you leave the charger on a timer as mentioned it will start charging and run at the default setting of 2amp. You can leave the charger connected whilst under load.

The Ring charger can be got from Towsure, their website lists a few different types, as does the Ring website.

This wouldn't be much good for me as I use a deep-cycle battery to work some lamps and a fan so 2A x 7 hours wouldn't replace the electricity I use during the day.

[rtbarton]

If you battery charging was simple............

Battery Charging

[istruggle2gate11]

I dont pretend to understand the science behine them all, I have one of these from Halfrauds and it seems fine to me, often leave it connected for days on end with no problems. It has charge and maintenance modes etc.

[general-confusion]

This every time http://www.accumate.co.uk/it010004.htm it has all the clever benefits of the accumate but rated at 7 Amps at 12 v

or 3.5 Amps at 24 V

[ThreeSheds]

I dont pretend to understand the science behine them all, I have one of these from Halfrauds and it seems fine to me, often leave it connected for days on end with no problems. It has charge and maintenance modes etc.

Another vote for the Halfords item - it has motorcycle/car, sealed/normal switches and has done a great job on my RRC battery over the last couple of years... I don't leave it connected all the time because I don't have always-on power in the garage - I just connect it up when I am working out there, when it charges for a minute or so then goes into maintenance mode.

No idea how it compares on cost though...

[Outrage]

Another vote for the Halfords item - it has motorcycle/car, sealed/normal switches and has done a great job on my RRC battery over the last couple of years... I don't leave it connected all the time because I don't have always-on power in the garage - I just connect it up when I am working out there, when it charges for a minute or so then goes into maintenance mode.

No idea how it compares on cost though...

A thumbs up to both the Halfords item which i use at home which has worked really well for my Landrover batteries and also for the optimate/accumate chargers which I use at work to maintain the batteries on our emergency medical trailers - these are left on maintaining the batteries 24/7 and the batteries are in good working order for well over 2 years.

Cheers,

Lee

[rtbarton]

I'm tempted by the Accumate, would seem to be more compatible with my time-switch and a bit cheaper than the Ring.

[David Sparkes]

For several years now I've been using a Gunsons Multistage Model 4138.

It was chosen on the basis that it provided both a 'recharge' facility and a maintenance trickle charge facility, switching automatically between the two. The combination was unusual at the time. This was to be useful to keep the Workshop battery maintained, and liven up the battery in the car, when required.

At the time of purchase it was cheaper than the Accumate then widely available, praised for it's maintenance facility.

Time moves on.

The Gunson firm has been sold on, and while the unit is still available, the price now seems to match the others, at just under £50.

The recharge setting is 4 amps, and it does take it's time to fully recharge a severly discharged big battery, having a stated limit of 65Ah, although I use it quite happily on the 38A battery of 107Ah.

Of the pages found while searching

http://www.minimag.co.uk/resources/minimag/chargerstest.pdf has no date on it, so not clear how current it is. Note the price conflict in the Gunson box, I'd assume the higher one was more accurate.

http://www.tayna.co.uk/4138-Gunson-Automat...arger-P967.html is a current ad, but watch the £8 delivery, although they do price matching.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/prod...stage_4138.html is an Auto Express test, but note it's 2005, and classed as a Conditioner, not a Charger.

http://www.gunsons.co.uk/ is Gunsons Home page

http://www.gunsons.co.uk/product.asp?lot=2...1&deptid=12 is the specific Charger.

Of the others, I still want the Automatic Combined Recharge and Maintenance facility, and if the Halfords one provides that, then the price is right. Otherwise I'd be seduced by the 7A output and the advanced 'future proof' tech spec of the Accumate, except I like the small Ctek, but is at a charger as well as a Conditioner? Even www.ctek.com seem a little vague in their Question and answer spot

OOPS Nearly missed it.

www.halfords.com no longer show the Automatic model, except in a Product Recall notice, which says it will be exchanged, but for what, I wonder?

Sorry to rock the boat!!

[Steve Warman]

I'm very interested in peoples views on chargers as I'm in the market for one but I like the idea of having one that has a jump start capability as well.

I've seen this one from black and decker

as it does jump starts as well as charging and "battery maintainence"

What am I looking for when looking at chargers?

Thanks

[David Sparkes]

It depends what you are looking for. If you want that very fast charge facility then is it worth £30 to you?

All the others are around the 45 to 50 pounds, Google BDV1085 and the price varies between 70 and 80 pounds.

I do find that facility useful, and I get from my motor - generator set, but I can't recommend you make one. You can probably earn that £30 in less time than it takes to build a set, never mind if you have to buy any parts.

I'd say you are looking for the capacity to charge as many different types as possible, and you are looking for a multistage charge process.

Read through the link posted by rtbarton in post 4, and cross refer to the qualities claimed for your BDV1085.

That said, even I regard this article as a bit OTT!!

Read all the FAQs (Questions, split into about 4 subsets) on the www.ctek.com site. Again, see how many ticks the BDV1085 gets.

You might find http://www.sterling-power.com/support-faq-1.htm easy to follow.

HTH

[Matthew]

Hi Smo...

How much you looking to spend?

What type of battery would you like to charge? (Lead acid/Gel/AGM/Li-ion)

What voltage is the battery? (6/12/24)

What capacity is the battery? (A/H)

Would you require an equalisation/service charge?

Thanks,

matt

[Matthew]

You might find http://www.sterling-power.com/support-faq-1.htm easy to follow.

HTH

Sorry David;

DO NOT buy anything from stirling!!!!!!!!!!

they have all their products designed and manufactured in china, quailty is less than poor!!!!! I have seen customers boats that have caught fire with these products on...not what i want in my garage!!!!!!!

Thanks,

Matt

[BogMonster]

I use a little Maypole automatic one which charges (but doesn't boil - peaks at about 14.5V) the battery, and has an automatic mode which keeps the battery at about 12.85v indefinitely. The only drawback is that it is rated at 6A but more often only puts out about 2A if you measure if, so if you have a deeply discharged heavy duty battery it takes a day or two to bring it right back up. No good if you are in a hurry, but if I am in a hurry there is a 40 amp one at work which does the trick

[David Sparkes]

OK Matt, I'm not going to fight his corner for him.

OTOH, I've had a alternator controller on my car for some years now, obviously without problem.

I also think you are in dicey ground by criticising 'Made in China', a hell of a lot of equipment, of all sorts, is now made in China. Without it quality of life would be a lot lower.

As for designed in China, read http://www.sterling-power.com/about.htm and see what you think.

Cheers.

Sorry David;

DO NOT buy anything from stirling!!!!!!!!!!

they have all their products designed and manufactured in china, quailty is less than poor!!!!! I have seen customers boats that have caught fire with these products on...not what i want in my garage!!!!!!!

Thanks,

Matt

[rtbarton]

I think the biggest business opportunity related to Chinese goods is printing recall notices for Netto!

[Steve Warman]

It depends what you are looking for. If you want that very fast charge facility then is it worth £30 to you?

All the others are around the 45 to 50 pounds, Google BDV1085 and the price varies between 70 and 80 pounds.

I do find that facility useful, and I get from my motor - generator set, but I can't recommend you make one. You can probably earn that £30 in less time than it takes to build a set, never mind if you have to buy any parts.

I'd say you are looking for the capacity to charge as many different types as possible, and you are looking for a multistage charge process.

Read through the link posted by rtbarton in post 4, and cross refer to the qualities claimed for your BDV1085.

That said, even I regard this article as a bit OTT!!

Read all the FAQs (Questions, split into about 4 subsets) on the www.ctek.com site. Again, see how many ticks the BDV1085 gets.

You might find http://www.sterling-power.com/support-faq-1.htm easy to follow.

HTH

Thanks David.

It has multistage charging and, yes, I like the idea of the faster charging.

The bonus it has over other chargers is that it has the 80 amp jump start facility.

The only other ones I've seen with this is the clarke chargers which are a bit cheaper but I've heard mixed reviews of clarke equipment in general.

I just have a bog standard battery but I'll check to see what type, capacity and voltage it is. My main problem is that I don't use my 90 all that much and the battery gets drained on so many short journeys.

Thanks

[smo]

Hi Smo...

How much you looking to spend?

What type of battery would you like to charge? (Lead acid/Gel/AGM/Li-ion)

What voltage is the battery? (6/12/24)

What capacity is the battery? (A/H)

Would you require an equalisation/service charge?

Thanks,

matt

Hi Matt,

Spend - less than 80, ideally less than 60.

Batterys are curently Lead Acid, sealed, altho would be good if it did other types as well.

Voltage is 12v, altho i also will run a 24v system (2x12)

AH - 60ish each

Service charge would be nice, as would an intellegent system that actually fully charges the battery to 100%

[Matthew]

Hi Matt,

Spend - less than 80, ideally less than 60.

Batterys are curently Lead Acid, sealed, altho would be good if it did other types as well.

Voltage is 12v, altho i also will run a 24v system (2x12)

AH - 60ish each

Service charge would be nice, as would an intellegent system that actually fully charges the battery to 100%

Hi Smo,

The problem you'll have getting a decent charger to meet those specifications under that price is the dual voltage requirement, that always pushes the price right up.

Just 12V, best option would be a C-Tex XS7000

Ignore the price, I can almost certainly get this within your budget.

Good 24volt chargers get very expensive because it's basically double the circuitry of a 12volt model, which also means they are usually much physically bigger amperage for amperage. I would usually charge each of the 12volt batteries separately because I have access to very good 12volt charging equipment, but limited 24volt, The best option for low charge current would be something like a Fronius Acctiva easy 2403 see page 4. Higher charging outputs in 24volt will definitely be over your budget.

If you want to buy one charger and never have to buy one ever again, then you can't do much better than a Fronius Acctiva Professional. It'll cost about £300-£400 but it'll magically recharge batteries that have been taken to extreme depths of discharge that other chargers simply cannot charge. The only people that have bought them are professional workshops. It'll do 6/12/24volts upto 30amp and has probably the best charging programs out of every charger I've ever seen/used. My car battery went flat, and stayed flat for a good 3-4 weeks which is usually enough to kill a battery, borrowed one of these from work, left it on for 24hours on the service charge setting and its good as gold now! starts perfectly everytime!

If you want to learn more about how these intelligent chargers work try this Smart Battery Chargers.

Hope that helps!

Matt

[Matthew]

OK Matt, I'm not going to fight his corner for him.

OTOH, I've had a alternator controller on my car for some years now, obviously without problem.

I also think you are in dicey ground by criticising 'Made in China', a hell of a lot of equipment, of all sorts, is now made in China. Without it quality of life would be a lot lower.

As for designed in China, read http://www.sterling-power.com/about.htm and see what you think.

Cheers.

Hi David,

I don't think there is anything wrong with "made in china" providing you manage your quality control correctly. The problems began to appear when products are designed in china.... One of the market leaders in charging technology has most of their products manufactured in India, because they pay close attention to quality control and all products are designed by their engineers, not the factory's, there is no problem.

Regarding Stirlings products directly, i have heard both good and bad about the range, but on the whole the overall perception is negative, firstly because of the reliability issues with most of the products, but secondly for the way customers are treated when they do try and return them for replacement/credit!

You'd struggle to find mr Stirling at an exhibition like the Southampton or London boat show, why would that be? surely you'd want the chance to exhibit your excellent products? These two shows are certainly very successful for every other company in the marine industry?

Obviously only my honest opinion, from working in that industry directly for 5 years +

Thanks,

Matt

[landmannnn]

I have had the same very cheap battery charger for a very long time time.

Surely if your battery is any good then the only time it will need charging is if you have left the lights on overnight.

If a battery stops holding its charge then what you need is a new battery, not a new charger.

[Matthew]

I have had the same very cheap battery charger for a very long time time.

Surely if your battery is any good then the only time it will need charging is if you have left the lights on overnight.

If a battery stops holding its charge then what you need is a new battery, not a new charger.

I hope you are pleased with it?

Most of the time yes, the only time you will need to charge a battery is because you've left something on, but it does the battery good to be connected to a proper charger from time to time. Believe it or not but your standard alternator will not be able to charge the battery much past about 80-85%, this is because the alternator uses a "constant voltage-variable current" charging program, (I.e. it’s always trying to charge your battery at whatever the regulator is set to, normally 14.2-14.4, and the current fluctuates with the batteries state of charge) These intelligent chargers do this for their first stage of charge (known as the Bulk Stage) This stage is designed to get the batteries to 80-85% in the shortest time possible. They then move onto the Absorption Stage, which is designed to condition the battery and replenish the remaining 15-20%, this stage can take as long as the bulk stage did. Then they will drop into a float stage which keeps the battery fully charged buy compensating for the batteries self discharge rate. Some of them have an extra 4th stage which is called Power Supply, this enables the user to operate loads up to the rated output of the charger without flattening the battery.

You can buy special regulators for your alternator which turn it from a normal constant voltage-variable current charge into a 3 or 4 stage intelligent charging system, however unless you are building an expedition vehicle I really wouldn't bother. Just give you battery a good boost with a decent charger every once in a while and it'll last much longer! If you are building an expedition vehicle then it’s definitely worth considering, think how much longer your power will last if you've got 100% when you stop the engine instead of 80-85%!!!

Thanks,

Matt

[smo]

Matt - the one you posted looks excellent, one question though, is it any better than say the ring intellegent one that was mentioned earler, as its double the price and has the same features??

[rtbarton]

Matt - the one you posted looks excellent, one question though, is it any better than say the ring intellegent one that was mentioned earler, as its double the price and has the same features??

I've spoken to people in the motor trade who don't rate Ring products very highly. I'm torn between Ring & Accumate, the former will give a higher bulk current, but as I'm using a timeswitch it defaults to the lowest (2A) setting. The Ring has a nice LCD display if you like that sort of thing.

In the end I'll probably settle for the Accumate and use my existing Absaar under supervision for a fast charge if I need it.