ragkar
Platinum Member
- Joined
- May 11, 2007
- Messages
- 818
- Location
- eastern PA-lower Poconos
- Tractor
- JD2320 w/R4 $21,100 w/7.16%off
One of the things that I learned from living in the Chicago area with its minus twenty degree winters is that the battery is about the weakest link in starting. So I'm going to adopt a procedure of floating battery charging like I did then.
A 'trickle' charger uses a bit higher voltage and current and will tend to boil out the water from your battery when used for a long time (months). A floating charger uses 12.5v with minimum current to prevent this boiling.
The one that I'm going to use is this one Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices
The box stresses that it is not a trickle charger.
I plan to clip the leads to the battery and tie wrap the rest under the hood (at least for the season) with the AC plug dangling out of the hood. Then I can just plug in (and remove) an extension cord to get it operating. That's a lot more convenient than brushing 6-18 inches of snow off the hood, removing everything and buttoning up before I snow plow.
A 'trickle' charger uses a bit higher voltage and current and will tend to boil out the water from your battery when used for a long time (months). A floating charger uses 12.5v with minimum current to prevent this boiling.
The one that I'm going to use is this one Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices
The box stresses that it is not a trickle charger.
I plan to clip the leads to the battery and tie wrap the rest under the hood (at least for the season) with the AC plug dangling out of the hood. Then I can just plug in (and remove) an extension cord to get it operating. That's a lot more convenient than brushing 6-18 inches of snow off the hood, removing everything and buttoning up before I snow plow.