Do Trickle Chargers Really work....

[Opti-Mist]

I've used the Harbor Freight battery tender on all sizes for years without any mishap on lawn tractors, diesel, etc. Nice to be able to leave them over the winter and return to every one of them ready to start.

 

[mikehaugen]

I've had rel good luck with $17.00 solar maintainers from Harbor Freight. Two boats with 4 batteries, Kubota 3830, 2001 Chevy PU, they sit all winter in the barn in Maine. We get there in April, and all motors fire right off.

What am I missing here... how does a solar charger work in a barn?

 

[xzcVAbc5]

I have this one:

Amazon.com: Battery Tender 022-0150-DL-WH Waterproof 800 Battery Charger: Automotive

It comes with ring terminals and clamps. Just took the battery bolt nut off and slipped the ring terminal over it and put the nut back on. Tighten everything up and shove the batter back in the compartment. On my BX I have to open the battery cover each time and connect the charger. I bought the same charger for my Dad's JD2440 and installed the same way. There's a gap big enough on the battery door that we just leave the cord hanging out. It prevents the tractor from having to be jump started every time we use it.

The way these things work is they will only output up to whatever the rating of the maintainer rated at. All the time they are monitoring the battery and when it gets "full" it just keeps checking and adding a little bit as the battery naturally discharges. Also, when keeping a maintainer on your battery it keeps the battery "in shape" by preventing buildup on the plates of the battery.

If you have a really big battery and need something bigger than the 800ma I think I saw ones that go up to 3A that were sold at NAPA auto parts.

 

[xzcVAbc5]

What am I missing here... how does a solar charger work in a barn?

Solar brand battery chargers/maintainers. I had to figure that one out, too. There are PV solar chargers like what you're thinking.

 

[k0ua]

What am I missing here... how does a solar charger work in a barn?

You put it up by the south facing window, angled 45 degrees or so to catch the winter sun. It works very well. Clean the dirt off the window and it every once in a while

 

[J_J]

I am not sure why anyone would ask the question as there several thousand if not millions of small battery chargers/tenders out there.

Of course they work.

If the combination of charger and battery don't work, it is probably the battery at fault.

 

[Bird]

I think I've posted before that I paid $29.99 plus tax for my DieHard charger/maintainer from Sears, but it analyzes first, determines whether a battery is 6V or 12V, has a digital display, and can charge fairly quickly if a battery is down (the digital display shows percentage of charge), but then can be left on and maintains a full charge. I'm using it on my Toro ZTR battery during cold weather. I like it now, but it's only a little over 2 years old, so if it lasts, it'll be well worth what I paid for it.

 

[GManBart]

This thread reminded me I've been meaning to buy another maintainer now that I've got a few more machines to keep ready to work. I have a really nice RN brand (made here in Michigan) charger for serious stuff like heavily run down batteries, or boosting to get a dead vehicle started, but a couple of years ago I bought one of the $25 Schumaker 6/12V maintainers, and it's worked well. So, I had to stop at Tractor Supply today and bought another of what I thought was the same model. It looks almost the same, and has the same features, but it has been changed drastically. The older one I bought (talking just the last 2-3 years) is pretty heavy, and must have some lead inside. The new model is so light it feels empty. I have no idea why they would change so much, but something is different.

Schumacher 6/12V Battery Maintainer, 1.5A - Tractor Supply Co.

 

[Parkanzky]

This thread reminded me I've been meaning to buy another maintainer now that I've got a few more machines to keep ready to work. I have a really nice RN brand (made here in Michigan) charger for serious stuff like heavily run down batteries, or boosting to get a dead vehicle started, but a couple of years ago I bought one of the $25 Schumaker 6/12V maintainers, and it's worked well. So, I had to stop at Tractor Supply today and bought another of what I thought was the same model. It looks almost the same, and has the same features, but it has been changed drastically. The older one I bought (talking just the last 2-3 years) is pretty heavy, and must have some lead inside. The new model is so light it feels empty. I have no idea why they would change so much, but something is different.

Schumacher 6/12V Battery Maintainer, 1.5A - Tractor Supply Co.

Probably an inverter instead of a transformer.

 

[oldballs]

Yeah, and the older (heavier) one will last longer than the lighter one.....in my experience.....but still not as long as the Deltran.....in my experience.

 

[GManBart]

Probably an inverter instead of a transformer.

That makes sense....I looked on the boxes (have both) and it doesn't specify.

 

[GManBart]

Yeah, and the older (heavier) one will last longer than the lighter one.....in my experience.....but still not as long as the Deltran.....in my experience.

I expect you're right about that.

I plan to get dedicated onboard maintainers for several of my machines next year. I've been impressed with a couple of Genius chargers we use at work, so I'll probably go with them. We have a couple of platforms that use from one to four 100ah deep cycle marine batteries that sometimes need to be recharged quickly, and always ready to deploy. The cheap trickle charges they had on them in the past all died, and the batteries with them. So, I got a small pile of new Deka batteries (Dominator series) and a couple of the Genius all-weather onboard units, and the combination is working well so far.

For my tractor and backhoe I'm thinking a Genius Mini (4ah max) would work nicely.
GENMini1 | Genius Battery Chargers

 

[mikehaugen]

It was mentioned earlier, and I have wondered the same thing... if you leave a maintainer on a battery (like an on-board one) without it plugged in, will it discharge the battery over time?

I have had the thought of putting one on my truck, sometimes it might sit for a month or two and the battery if awfully weak and in those times I would probably keep it plugged in. Sometimes I know I will be using it ever week or two or less and I probably wouldn't bother plugging it in.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

I use optimates.

This is the latest generation.

http://www.optimate1.com/optimate-6-ampmatic

They are the best chargers I've ever used to preserve and restore dead batteries. This video shows an optimate 4 smoke the self=proclaimed best smart charger in the world from eight years ago. Optimate has two newer generations now and they all work awesome.

 

[DFB]

Down to the bike shop my buddy sells Battery Tender brand. Nice they are fully automatic

I have 2 500ma Beebe trickle chargers I have been using for maybe 20 years now on my two Harleys. Both have one way designed quick connecters so you cant inadvertently hook anything up backwards. I also bought a Dorcy 6v and 12v 500ma trickle charger for when I had the Zundapp Challenger bike I restored. That had a 6 volt battery. Good little charger with both clips and quick disconnect harness. I also have Schumacher 1 amp charger. Cant remember when I last used it, works ok just have to pay attention using it. Automatic technology wasn't much available when I bought a lot of this stuff :laughing:

Bird mentioned the Die Hard brand chargers. I have a 2/6 amp charger since the early 80's trickles down current but not fully automatic you have to manually shut it off. Its never let me down. I just picked up a 75/12/2 Fully Automatic Die Hard charger around Christmas (from Walmart online of all places) for what I thought was really good price $49.99 to replace a POS Century brand 10/2 with a 50 amp boost that used like a half dozen times over a decade just started smoking one day. :shocked:

 

[adimice]

What am I missing here... how does a solar charger work in a barn?

No electricity, but 4 skylights give it plenty of light even on cloudy days. I haven't had a dead battery in several years, using them

 

[Jay4200]

Well here's my story,
About 3 weeks ago, after reading a few threads here on the issue, i decided to go out and buy one at Wall-Mart,
$20 bucks, it clamps on and you plug er in, delivers .7 or 2 amps, I chose 2 amps. I leave it on permanently in the winter, plugged in.
I did this because my big girl tlb ( actually one of the smaller ones in its class) only has one battery (new) and a 65 hp Perkins power plant. ( think I'll call her Bertha because she's so hard to turn over).
After wiring a digital multimeter in my system, without the trickle charge, I would have 12.3 volts showing when i turned on the key.. ( block heater is also plugged in for about 2 hours prior).
I would then insert the fuse for my "pre-heat" and count to 15 ( I'll fix this issue when it gets warmer), and my meter would drop to about 11.4 volts, Bertha would turn over slow, very slow (-25C).
Now with this "trickle charger", when I turn on the key, my voltage is at 14.3 volts and when I insert the fuse for my pre-heat, (15 seconds) it drops to 13.3 and she turns over like she should.
Yesterday,,,it was -25C, winds blowing and darn cold, had Bertha plugged in for about 3 hours (block heater), and the trickle on as usual, Its always plugged.
Turned the key on, but forgot to put my fuse in for the pre-heat, although I did do the count of 15:confused2:
Low and behold, she fired right up like it was the fourth of July.:thumbsup: Almost instantly.
So for those of you who constantly run down your batteries from trying to get er going, GET ONE.:thumbsup:

Nice story, but bad advice. A true trickle-charger will destroy a battery if left on long term - forcing current into the battery can cause over voltage and subsequent plate corrosion. What you want is a "float charger", that maintains the voltage on the battery at 13.5V or so. A lead-acid battery can be stored in this manner at 100% capacity indefinitely.

 

[J_J]

As far as a battery discharging with a battery connected, but not plugged into AC, my thoughts on this is, that it would be hard to know if the battery was self discharging or a small current was flowing through the charging circuit.

I know DC chargers have a diode in the circuit, but is there any leakage through the diode?

Even if a battery is not connected to anything, most will self discharge.

I am sure some smart guy is going to take a meter and see if there is any flow with the battery charger not plugged in.

My thoughts is that a high dollar precision diode would not allow reverse current.

If the diode is not so good, then it may be possible for a small current to flow and n time would discharge the battery.

Alrighty now, just don't beat me up

Excerpt: Diode

The key function of an ideal diode is to control the direction of current-flow. Current passing through a diode can only go in one direction, called the forward direction. Current trying to flow the reverse direction is blocked. They are like the one-way valve of electronics.

If the voltage across a diode is negative, no current can flow, and the ideal diode looks like an open circuit. In such a situation, the diode is said to be off or reverse biased.

As long as the voltage across the diode is negative, it will t��urn on and conduct current. Ideally, a diode would act like a short circuit (0V across it) if it was conducting current. When a diode is conducting current it is forward biased (electronics jargon for 登n?.

 

[PILOON]

Just be careful of cheaper units (like $10.00 range) as many are merely a transformer with a single diode and generally put out 16-18 volts (open).
They have no regulation and pump out over voltage forever until all the acid is gone.

A real 'intelligent' or maintainer will sense when voltage is low and top it up then stop.
Generally they will have a few LED's to indicate the status. (charged,charging,monitor,etc)
Those rarely go for low $$ simply due to the amount of components needed to do a good job. They typically will be in about the $30.00 range or more.

 

[skyhook]

Nice story, but bad advice. A true trickle-charger will destroy a battery if left on long term - forcing current into the battery can cause over voltage and subsequent plate corrosion. What you want is a "float charger", that maintains the voltage on the battery at 13.5V or so. A lead-acid battery can be stored in this manner at 100% capacity indefinitely.

Read post #3, mine does have "float" on it also.