Do Trickle Chargers Really work....

[2Bad4u]

Another fan of the Noco genuis chargers.

Typically they go on sale (~50%) at Canadian Tire every 2 to 3 months.

Cheers!
-- Bill --

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Interesting... makes me want to buy one just to see if I can resurrect a couple old dead 12v batteries.

If you let an optimate sit on a dead battery long enough, it will come back. Case in point: 1987 escort still had the OEM motor craft battery in it when I scrapped it in 2005.

Downside: these Optimate 6s are a little over $100 bucks now, and FWIW, CTEK also has a good reputation.

 

[NewfieDan]

I think the Junior is the entry level one made to compete with the off brand chargers.

They may very well be entry level, but they work very well. Just as good as the Battery Tender Plus. If I remember correctly I have 5 Tender Jr's and one Tender Plus. The five tenders are all more than 5yrs old. A couple are closer to 8 or 9 years old. I have them all all the toys I don't use on a regular basis.

 

[oldpilgrim]

TSC had trickles on sale for 7.99 . I bought 6. Gave my kid 2. I have one on my lawn tractor, one with a permanent plug on my Mahindra, one on my Dad's JD lawn tractor and one on my FIL car.

What a difference a warm battery makes.

My 89 yo FIL doesn't drive his car any more but won't get rid of it. It sits beside my barn, constantly in the way. It was parked there last October with Stabil added and a TSC trickler on it. It hasn't been touched until today.

I had to get around the back of my barn and his car was in the way. I had to dig it out of nearly 4 feet of snow and drag it clear with my tractor. It's been sitting all winter in sub zero temps and it started as if it was July and just parked overnight.

A warm battery makes a happy car/truck/tractor.

 

[Gem99ultra]

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麹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 逋ｻn?.

:
Most all golf cart batteries discharge 5% - 10% PER MONTH, when just sitting idle.

 

[CobyRupert]

Waste of money if you ask me. I bought one that plugs into the cigarette lighter/power outlet and it didn't work worth a damm!!

 

[GManBart]

Waste of money if you ask me. I bought one that plugs into the cigarette lighter/power outlet and it didn't work worth a damm!!

Must have been a blown fuse or something

 

[Parkanzky]

Waste of money if you ask me. I bought one that plugs into the cigarette lighter/power outlet and it didn't work worth a damm!!

Is your power outlet powered when the key is off? If it isn't, that charger won't do anything.

I have a Battery Tender Plus for gel cell batteries:

Amazon.com: Battery Tender 021-0156 Battery Tender Plus 12V Battery Charger True Gel Cell Model: Automotive

If I park the Lotus for more than a few weeks and I've forgotten to plug it in, I'll have a dead battery. If I have the tender hooked up, it's ready to roll anytime. I didn't have a tender for the first few years I had the car and I replaced the battery every spring because it was dead and I couldn't resurrect it. Now, the battery seems to last forever.

 

[CobyRupert]

Must have been a blown fuse or something

Is your power outlet powered when the key is off? If it isn't, that charger won't do anything.

That's it!! I must of not turned the key on. Boy do I feel stupid! :thumbsup:

 

[CobyRupert]

I've lost the link, but a couple years ago there was a good discussion and easy instructions on building a 120V ac battery "reinvigorater" with a cheap (rectifying )diode and a couple light bulbs that splits the voltage (or maybe limits the current), but the claim was (if I remember) it re-suspends the metals(?)/minerals(?) that fall out of the electrolyte and shorts the battery plates. That with this device (and occasional electrolyte refreshment) the battery will last forever.
The claim being that the life of the battery is mostly determined by how much space is at the bottom of the battery to accommodate the metals that fall out of the solution until they short the plates.


Ahh... here it is: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/166271-battery-rejuvenator.html?highlight=battery+reinvogorater