Battery Chargers

[Paystar]

I have every brand mentioned here, plus Canadian Tire and a big one branded as Caterpillar. They all work, never had an issue with any of them. Probable all made in same factory in China anyway.

My only grip with the small maintainer chargers is I wish they would use better quality wires. They get stiff as iron in the cold, then eventually the insulation splits exposing bare wires. That is pretty much the only reason I've ever thrown any of them out.

 

[bdhsfz6]

As others have said, consider a battery maintainer / desulfator.

I've been using one of these BatteryMinder's for over 15 years with good results:

BatteryMINDer: Automotive

VDC Electronics provides 6 -8-12-and 24-Volt chargers/ maintainers/ desulfators for all automotive battery types. 85% of the more than 80 million new automotive type storage batteries made each year will die in less than 3 years. Sulphation is the #1 cause of early battery failure and loss of...

www.amazon.com

 

[flyerdan]

If you have a charger that won't start charging an extremely discharged battery, you can fool it with another battery and jumper cables. Doesn't take too long to get a charge going and you can remove the second one.

 

[sixdogs]

My life did a right turn when I discovered NOCO brand "smart chargers" maybe 10 years ago. Old fashioned high power chargers ruined many batteries for me over the years and I just didn't realize how bad they were.

Now I use NOCO 3.5 and 5.0 amp smart chargers and refuse to let a big charger near any of my batteries. Now, instead of 5 years of battery life I can get 10-12 years by different charging and the things modern battery chargers do like de-sulfating old style batteries.

It helps that I keep my batteries up to charge, especially for cold weather. In late November or December, I make sure everything is fully charged and when I start things in March, no problems.

Old style high power battery chargers are the buggy whips of the last generations. They are dead but not everyone realizes it yet.

 

[rkvarner43]

You can trick the modern chargers to charge a dead battery by temporarily connecting a good battery to the dead battery while the charger is connected. I've heard even a 9 volt battery will allow the charger to go into charge mode, but I normally use jumper cables to another vehicle's battery.

 

[ultrarunner]

My life did a right turn when I discovered NOCO brand "smart chargers" maybe 10 years ago. Old fashioned high power chargers ruined many batteries for me over the years and I just didn't realize how bad they were.

Now I use NOCO 3.5 and 5.0 amp smart chargers and refuse to let a big charger near any of my batteries. Now, instead of 5 years of battery life I can get 10-12 years by different charging and the things modern battery chargers do like de-sulfating old style batteries.

It helps that I keep my batteries up to charge, especially for cold weather. In late November or December, I make sure everything is fully charged and when I start things in March, no problems.

Old style high power battery chargers are the buggy whips of the last generations. They are dead but not everyone realizes it yet.

I've cooked a few batteries others had given up on and returned to productive use...

None of the smart chargers were smart enough to do what brute force accomplished...

 

[RandyT]

You can trick the modern chargers to charge a dead battery by temporarily connecting a good battery to the dead battery while the charger is connected. I've heard even a 9 volt battery will allow the charger to go into charge mode, but I normally use jumper cables to another vehicle's battery.

Dead low voltage but otherwise good battery yes. A failed need to desulfate battery no.

 

[ArlyA]

Dead low voltage but otherwise good battery yes. A failed need to desulfate battery no.

Which is why I recommend getting a charger with a desulfate mode.

 

[Quartz]

I have used the Battery Tender Plus for many years on my tractors and riding lawn mowers. They work on AGM and other battery
types as well. If I am not using the tractor for awhile, I will unhook the leads, and plug in the battery tender. Also works well
on trucks, as one had a bad overair update, and the battery tender got the battery back to normal. No problems with them that I have had.
Good luck.

 

[LittleBill21]

Amazon.com

amzn.to

The Noco is a very good charger. covers literally everything.