battery charger

[big bubba]

good points, sounds you're busy with than many tenders at once.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

good points, sounds you're busy with than many tenders at once.

I have a crap load of batteries to take care of, so I've got a decent feel for what works and what doesn't over the years.

Not saying that I'm doing everything right, but having had several batteries last for over 20 years apparently I'm not completely wrong either.

 

[John_Mc]

I have a crap load of batteries to take care of, so I've got a decent feel for what works and what doesn't over the years.

Not saying that I'm doing everything right, but having had several batteries last for over 20 years apparently I'm not completely wrong either.

Same situation here. I've got at least 9 chargers or maintainers that I can think of. Mostly BatteryMINDer, with a couple of Noco units.

BatteryMINDer is my favorite brand, but the Noco units are probably just as good. I went with the Noco when I needed something with some specialized properties: such as the two bank on-board charger in my antique military truck with a 24V system, and the very weatherproof Noco GenPro 10x1 for my dump trailer (both rated at IP68 for dust and water protection).

 

[Too many Kubotas]

I much prefer the high frequency desulfation that BattryMINDer and PulseTech uses...and apparently, so does my batteries.

 

[kenmbz]

I had a battery minder that discharged a battery and won't buy another.
12v 1amp, Battery Minder Plus.
Not fun to leave a charger plugged in and go to do the lawn and the battery is dead.
Put another brand on the battery and got it back to life, so it wasn't the battery.
Lights worked just fine.

I have a bunch of older Battery Tenders, never had problems with those.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I had a battery minder that discharged a battery and won't buy another.
12v 1amp, Battery Minder Plus.
Not fun to leave a charger plugged in and go to do the lawn and the battery is dead.
Put another brand on the battery and got it back to life, so it wasn't the battery.
Lights worked just fine.

I have a bunch of older Battery Tenders, never had problems with those.

I had a Battery Minder on my dump trailer battery for almost 20 years. It worked fine for all that time and then one day it didn't. it got hot and started to smell. Don't know if it would have caused a fire or not but I caught it before it did.

I can't fault the Battery Minder though, since I got 11 years out of the first trailer battery and it's replacement has been working for almost 9. I couldn't get a replacement Battery Minder at the time due to stock issues so I Replaced it with a Noco mainly due to price, availability and customer reviews.

 

[kenmbz]

I had a Battery Minder on my dump trailer battery for almost 20 years. It worked fine for all that time and then one day it didn't. it got hot and started to smell. Don't know if it would have caused a fire or not but I caught it before it did.

I can't fault the Battery Minder though, since I got 11 years out of the first trailer battery and it's replacement has been working for almost 9. I couldn't get a replacement Battery Minder at the time due to stock issues so I Replaced it with a Noco mainly due to price, availability and customer reviews.

Mine was less than 6 months old, wouldn't minded if it was a few years old.

 

[rScotty]

We have half a dozen BatterMINDers and several Noco brand battery tenders. Used regularly, they do make batteries last longer - up to as much as twice as long.
We've had them for years now with no problems at all. We do use surge protectors.

For some reason I don't understand, neither brand can be relied on to charge a completely discharged battery. To charge a totally flat battery I first hook it up to an old transformer type charger for an hour, then the BatteryMINDer or Noco can take over from there.
rScotty

 

[kenmbz]

In case you are curious how a cheap one looks inside.
One day I may trouble shoot it, but without a heatsink, it was designed to fail.

 

[Highlandr]

Battery tenders (and most smart maintainers) fail to charge completely dead batteries because they require a minimum voltage (typically around 3 to 4 volts) to detect a proper connection. If the battery is too deeply discharged, the device's safety mechanisms prevent it from starting to avoid reverse polarity or damage.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

To charge a totally flat battery I first hook it up to an old transformer type charger for an hour, then the BatteryMINDer or Noco can take over from there.
rScotty

You can also hook up a good battery to the dead one, and after 15-30 minutes remove the good one from the system.

Just make sure the dead one doesn't start to get warm.

 

[WranglerX]

That is really "funny" having to junp start a battery charger......OH well that is technology....

 

[Shawn T. W.]

I have 2 of the Battery MINDer's 1.5 amp plug in the wall, and a third one that hooks to a solar panel, I don't remember the amps, I use to use it on my old truck, I just haven't installed it on my new truck, as mounti g the solar panel would be tricky ... I also got an old Battery Tender brand tender, that I got when I bought my generator years ago, I would plug it in every month for a day or two, when I went to start the generator it was dead ...

I also have a auto parts store purchased 2-10-25 amp charger, with both a regular and deep cycle setting ...

I have a NOCO Boost Plus 1000 jump pack, I left my pickup for a couple of months, and when I got to it, the door wouldn't even unlock, I had to use the metal key to get in to open the hood, battery was 2.? Volts, booster wouldn't even acknowledge it, had to get jumper cables!

 

[Highlandr]

I left my pickup for a couple of months, and when I got to it, the door wouldn't even unlock, I had to use the metal key to get in to open the hood...

Reminds me of the time I was at the range and someone came around the pistol bays announcing that there was a gray Toyota Tundra with the alarm going off (parking was close to the rifle range and someone shot a cannon I guess). By the time I got to the truck the alarm was going Tik-Tik-Tik. Had to use the key to get in. Of course I tried to start it and nothing. Someone said they had a jump box. This was probably 2005 or 6, so a jump box then was the size of a car battery. As soon as he connected the jump box all four doors locked (security "feature"). Guess where my keys were.

Luckily it was warm weather and I'd left the windows cracked. Was able to run a cleaning rod through the 1/2" open window gap & push the door unlock button.

 

[MF243RedTop]

I've got one similar to this ...you just can't kill it..
I would look through FB marketplace or eBay before buying one of fancy worthless new chargers ...

 

[Too many Kubotas]

I would look through FB marketplace or eBay before buying one of fancy worthless new chargers ...

With the sophisticated charging profiles the newer maintainers have I wouldn't exactly call them worthless.

Then again, I do have a couple of old style chargers that do come in handy a couple of times per year.

 

[MF243RedTop]

Yeah I didn't figure you all would like that statement much ..but I said what I said ..
Done had my experience with them with helping family trying to charge different batteries in equipment ...
I'll keep ole faithful ..

 

[rontaki]

Yeah I didn't figure you all would like that statement much ..but I said what I said ..
Done had my experience with them with helping family trying to charge different batteries in equipment ...
I'll keep ole faithful ..

I have and use both the simple transformer type and some new-fangled ones, depending on what needs done.

 

[RjCorazza]

There is definitely a place in my shop for an old style charger, particularly the ones that have the ability to do an occasional equalization charge.

 

[ultrarunner]

Letting a flooded lead acid battery (whether sealed or the older style with the filler caps) go totally dead is damaging to the battery. The more deeply it is discharged, and the longer it sits in that state, the worse the damage. If your battery were brand new, and it discharged as you described, it most likely could be recovered if it were fully recharged as soon as possible. Chances for recovery improve if you use a desulfating battery charger. In a battery at or near the end of it's projected life span, it's not surprising that draining it to zero might kill it.

Sulfation is the build-up of lead sulfate crystals on the plates of a lead-acid battery. It interferes with a battery's ability to hold a charge and to deliver current to a load. Sulfation occurs very slowly in a full charged battery. The speed at which it happens increases if the battery is discharged, even if just partially discharged. All batteries self-discharge over time, even if there is no load on them. What's worse: in modern vehicles (including some tractors) there is also a "phantom load" on the battery even when the vehicle is turned off - this is keeping various things such as clocks and computers "alive". It can become a real problem, especially on vehicles which are not used regularly.

Here is one of the better write ups on battery sulfation I've come across. There is a bit of marketing-speak on the part of the manufacturer, but it's still a good overview.

I can understand the desired for a simple charger, however, the older style "dumb" chargers were not designed to be left connected to a battery long term. They can overcharge the battery and boil off electrolyte, doing permanent damage. This means occasionally monitoring the charger and remembering to disconnect it once the battery is charged.

Among other features, smart chargers protect the by carefully controlling the charging voltage at various stages of the charging process and by continually monitoring the state of the battery: they'll discontinue active charging and drop into "maintenance mode" once the battery is fully charged. They are still very easy to use: just connect them to the battery, plug them in and leave them. (Some chargers also allow you to select a charging profile optimized for the type of battery: e.g. flooded lead acid, AGM, Lithium. For most of this that I have used, they remember the setting, so you don't have to reset it unless you move the charger to a different type of battery.)

I was in high school and bought a car that had been parked over 2 years for cheap… battery was 6 years old when I got it and dead as a doornail.

I put a 1950’s commercial 30amp charger on it all day…

Battery was cooking but this old charger brought it back…