Battery Chargers

[Ricn]

Don't see a good place for this so trying it here.

My two old $19.95 automatic Sears battery chargers have finally failed me after 30 plus years, But the ones I see on-line look like something from out space. Help, I need good suggestions for replacement as we use them often. The Sears units are 2amp or 10 amp with a switch for one or the other and worked so well. Both have auto shut-off feature working as trickle chargers.

Thanks

 

[RjCorazza]

Battery chargers have come a long way over the years. At a minimum, I would be looking for a 3 stage automatic charger (bulk, absorbtion, float). If you're really into battery maintenance, look into the chargers that have an equalization cycle as an optional stage.
The one disadvantage of (many) modern chargers is that they are incapable of charging a dead or near dead battery due to an additional acceptance stage. If the battery is lower than x volts, the charger will not proceed to charge.
My preference in chargers is the Battery Minders brand. They have from 1 amp maintainers / desulfators to up to 8 amp charger / maintainers. They're are plenty of other good brands available, like Schumacher, Noco, Battery Tender to name a few.

 

[scootr]

Amazon.com

The Schumacher brand has worked good for me.

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[Roadworthy]

I got a Noco ten amp charger but your chargers are old enough they can probably be repaired. The most common problem is probably the rectifier but you could have a poor connection internally. If the transformer still works they're not dead.

 

[oosik]

I have two types of chargers. A big, heavy, 8 amp Schumacher and several from Battery Tender. Also a battery tender/maintainer from CTK and Optimate. In the winter - everything goes on a tender/maintainer.

 

[Ricn]

good info. thanks all.

 

[California]

I've had great luck with a BatteryMinder Plus I saw recommended here, long ago. Earlier this year I replaced the batteries in two tractors. Each battery was dated 2011, so had 12+ plus years of intermittent use with one BatteryMinder swapped back and forth between them. This seems to show the 'high frequency desulfating' feature actually works.

One of those two batteries had several years use in wife's car before it cranked slow so I retired that battery to the tractor and got wife a new battery. A couple of months on the BatteryMinder restored it, then it served 5 years in its second life.

BatteryMINDer Plus Battery Charger/Trickle Charger/Desulfator, 12 Volt, 1 Amp, Model# 12117TC Now available only from Northern Tool (and NT via Ebay) for some reason. Likely superseded by something better?

What's a modern equivalent, or better? And costs less?

HF has stepped up quality in several categories, do they have an inexpensive good maintainer? I made the mistake of putting their cheap 1 amp trickle charger on a seldom-used tractor long ago and discovered it boiled the water out. Made a mess. Apparently there is no regulation at all in those.

 

[square1]

Can't go wrong with Victron charger / tenders. Pricey, but worth it.

victron charger - Google Search

 

[chim]

I haven't needed a battery charger (with the exception of batteries for cordless tools) in my 74 years. Survival of the fittest thing. Any battery that can't survive on its own needs to go away. Unless there's an obvious reason like a malfunction that kept a load on a battery without the engine running, bye bye battery.

My Ford tractor, for example, may sit for months between uses and always starts - Summer or Winter. I think I've replaced that battery twice since 1991. I did need to jump it at least once after leaving the rear work light on. Maybe it should have been wired through the ignition switch to compensate for my forgetfulness.

 

[ArlyA]

Amazon.com

The Schumacher brand has worked good for me.

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I'd only get one if it has the desulfator mode which does help batteries last longer. All Schumacher do that automatically. Last I heard anyway.