Battery Info

[California]

Whoa! Whoda thunk the Harbor Freight ones aren't the best technology possible?!?

Well, I strongly suspected that they aren't good maintainers, but didn't expect them to be simple power supplies.

I've been glancing into this thread and I've sorta lost track of the plot. Which HF maintainer model is it, that just dumps an 18 volt surge instead of high frequency?

My experience a decade ago was that HF's cheapest 'maintainer' eventually boils the water out of the battery, it apparently never shuts off. I replace that with a Battery Minder and no problem since.

 

[LittleBill21]

I've been glancing into this thread and I've sorta lost track of the plot. Which HF maintainer model is it, that just dumps an 18 volt surge instead of high frequency?

My experience a decade ago was that HF's cheapest 'maintainer' eventually boils the water out of the battery, it apparently never shuts off. I replace that with a Battery Minder and no problem since.

read back. the noco genius one is dropping close to 19V in a BAD battery, this i believe is to be expected.

HF units do have consistency issues. there voltages range from 12.2 to 14.8 depending on batches. I tweak them with resistors to get 13.2, at 5 bucks it is what it is.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

these noco's and everything else all they are doing is using a computer to PWM a higher voltage to "hopefully" break up the sulfication on the plates.

I've always thought that Canadus, BatteryMINDer and PulseTech use high frequency pulses instead of pulsing the voltage. At least that's what they claim.

This is my first (and likely last) NOCO maintainer, which could explain why I've never seen voltage fluctuations like this before.

 

[LittleBill21]

I've always thought that Canadus, BatteryMINDer and PulseTech use high frequency pulses instead of pulsing the voltage. At least that's what they claim.

This is my first (and likely last) NOCO maintainer, which could explain why I've never seen voltage fluctuations like this before.

yea a pulse of voltage what do you think the pulse consists of? high frequency and voltage go hand in hand, frequency simply means how many times per second/minute it hits it with higher voltage.

you seem to be blaming the noco, sounds more like the noco is finding bad batteries.

i have a lithium battery I will test this against later tonight.

 

[John_Mc]

i have a lithium battery I will test this against later tonight.

Not sure the chargers do desulfation when in Lithium mode.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

you seem to be blaming the noco, sounds more like the noco is finding bad batteries.

Okay, maybe that one battery was bad, and no other maintainers or load tests had noticed that.

Or, it got sucked down by a cheap NOCO that then declared it bad. Time will tell as I'll do my best to resurrect it. Wish it was a single battery, not one of a pair.

Will try that NOCO on other batteries in the scrap pile, but not on a good one.

 

[ultrarunner]

With dozens of vehicle batteries I'm always interested in advances in charging technology...

Many names in the industry making claims that most can only buy on faith.

I've brought back 6 volt batteries the distributor deemed bad and out of warranty by placing on my 30 amp sixty year old charger set on 12 volts as a nothing to lose chance and sometimes it will start cooking in 20 to 30 minutes and I the finish at the 6 volt charging rate.

 

[DarkBlack]

HF units do have consistency issues. there voltages range from 12.2 to 14.8 depending on batches. I tweak them with resistors to get 13.2, at 5 bucks it is what it is.

HF is the last place I think of for purchasing electronics, but to each their own

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Got curious enough about the high frequency desulfation I'm used to, versus pulsing voltage, to search a bit and found the following.

"BatteryMINDer® Model 1510 features a SmarTECHnology™ plug 'n run 1.5 Amp battery charger/maintainer with full-time automatic high frequency pulse desulfator (not high voltage)that can help extend a battery's life up to 4 times its normal life. Ideal for charging, maintaining or recovering 12V flooded, sealed, maintenance-free, starter, deep-cycle, Optima brand sealed AGM, and marine batteries."

Please note that they specifically point out that it's not high voltage, but high frequency.

 

[California]

Got curious enough about the high frequency desulfation I'm used to, versus pulsing voltage, to search a bit and found the following.

"BatteryMINDer® Model 1510 features a SmarTECHnology™ plug 'n run 1.5 Amp battery charger/maintainer with full-time automatic high frequency pulse desulfator (not high voltage)that can help extend a battery's life up to 4 times its normal life. Ideal for charging, maintaining or recovering 12V flooded, sealed, maintenance-free, starter, deep-cycle, Optima brand sealed AGM, and marine batteries."

Please note that they specifically point out that it's not high voltage, but high frequency.

That's the one that works well for me.