Charging Batteries

[tomcat7359]

After being around the aftermath of several batteries that "came apart" I have a very deep appreciation for them. Amazing the amount of damage hydrogen gas in a contained shell can do. On batteries I am going to charge with a charger, always make sure the charger is turned off and not plugged in, hook up cables to battery, then always have my back to the battery while plugging in and turning on charger. At least this keeps my face away from the blast zone if it should occur.
In jump starting a vehicle, when I first lift the hood, I take notice if I smell the rotten egg/acid smell. If that is detected, I will leave hood open and back away for a few minutes. Then I ALWAYS hook my jumper cables to the dead/weak battery first, making sure the opposite leads are not touching each other, then I lower the hood down as far as possible. This is to protect me in cause of battery "come apart". I then hook up the leads to the vehicle I am going to jump start from, this also puts my back to the dead/weak battery...

 

[careyo63]

Most all of the Automotive shops requires the Tech. to only use a Booster Pack to jump a Veh. If it doesn't start then the Battey is Removed. The owner can do what they want, But the liability and chance of bodily harm even to the Tech. and with the cost of having to clean up the Veh. it prevents that from happening.

 

[2458n]

I have a big old NAPA charger that is a box on wheels. 30 amps is as low as it will charge a 12 volt battery. It does have a higher amp rating for cranking. I have a 2012 battery charging on it now. I only have one eye now so I try to stay away from the whole recharging process.

 

[bmaverick]

Over the last weekend I had picked up a 6v/12v battery charger-maintainer from TSC with a coupon discount. I had read a few reviews on motorcross forums, nissan forums, hobby aircraft forums, marine forums, and tractor forums. Schumacher 6/12V Battery Maintainer, 1.5A - Tractor Supply Co.

Basically there are a few brands out there. The best is Yausa, but I couldn't find one easily for the price. Next was the Battery Minder. It had many good reviews up to 1 year, but after than the thing either kept working for just stopped working. I read fair to horable reviews of the Harbor Frieght $12 unit. It's a clone of the battery minder, but really cheaply made.

I have mixed thoughts about the Schumacher brand. Back in the day, their products were made in the USA. Now things are just engineered in IL and made in China. Still it came with a 2-yr warranty.
The charger will activate below 12v. It goes into maintain mode to monitor a steady 13.2v as the battery needs it. Thus, if you put a bettery in storage, the product keeps the battery in top shape. Many reviews state that batteries are lasting well over 7 years with the product.

 

[KennyG]

I have mixed thoughts about the Schumacher brand. Back in the day, their products were made in the USA. Now things are just engineered in IL and made in China. Still it came with a 2-yr warranty.

I hope Schumacher has kept the quality up. I have one I bought in the early 70's that I still use regularly. I had to replace a damaged power cord (my fault) and it has a badly dented case (again, my fault) but it just keeps working.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I find it odd that no one mentioned the removal of caps (if not sealed top) prior to charging. This allows the hydrogen to freely vent from the top area that is free of acid/water mix so as not to accumulate and possibly cause an explosion when a spark occurs.

Connecting the clamps prior to plugging in the charger is a good idea but doesn't guarantee no spark if a bad connection is made but at least you wont be nearby if it does explode. Same with disconnecting, kill the power to the charger first.

 

[clemsonfor]

I get the $5 (wwith coupon) battery tender things from Harbor freight. I have had some for over 2 years constantly on my boat battery. works well and battery is always topped up. Would i use it in my garage...maybe not, i might wory about a short and fire as they use cheap components but its in a metal shed on a concrete slab, all that would be lost would be a $1500 boat if it went up.

 

[California]

I cooked the water out of a battery by leaving a $5 HF charger attached through the winter. They claim the current is too low to do this - but I found the top of the plates exposed when I prep'ed the tractor for use in the spring. My advice is run that model charger for only a few days at a time.

I started using the solar charger that is license-plate size. I'm not sure it does anything at all, but the battery always shows 12.5 V or better so it must do something.

 

[buickanddeere]

Most people get complacent with batteries and take liberties that they should not. batteries hold a lot of energy, they can not be shut off, they will explode and spray corrosive acid.

 

[kenmac]

I have a couple of these... Automatic Battery Charger - 12V I may try 1 on the tractor battery over the winter

 

[bmaverick]

I find it odd that no one mentioned the removal of caps (if not sealed top) prior to charging. This allows the hydrogen to freely vent from the top area that is free of acid/water mix so as not to accumulate and possibly cause an explosion when a spark occurs.

Connecting the clamps prior to plugging in the charger is a good idea but doesn't guarantee no spark if a bad connection is made but at least you wont be nearby if it does explode. Same with disconnecting, kill the power to the charger first.

The Yuausa and the Schumacher are microprocessor controlled. If you try and smack the two battery clamps together, no sparks. Likewise when placing them onto the battery. There must be something that flips a relay or something to then make a charge once the microprocessor senses things.

 

[clemsonfor]

I cooked the water out of a battery by leaving a $5 HF charger attached through the winter. They claim the current is too low to do this - but I found the top of the plates exposed when I prep'ed the tractor for use in the spring. My advice is run that model charger for only a few days at a time.

I started using the solar charger that is license-plate size. I'm not sure it does anything at all, but the battery always shows 12.5 V or better so it must do something.

I use those solar chargers and they do work. I have an old battery a co worker gave me out of his boat. Its used in my old chevy truck. Its weak now and after a week or two would not start the truck. ever since the solar charger is used it will stay topped up and will start it fine even after months of sitting. I also have one on my farm truck that may sit 6 months. the battery was dead and would not start it after it sat for over about 3-4 months, since the solar HF charger was installed no problem getting it to crank now even though it sometimes takes a good bit of cranking on that old 80's model Mitsu.

 

[Gary Fowler]

The Yuausa and the Schumacher are microprocessor controlled. If you try and smack the two battery clamps together, no sparks. Likewise when placing them onto the battery. There must be something that flips a relay or something to then make a charge once the microprocessor senses things.

I have a Schumacher charger (about 10 years old) and it makes a spark when leads are touched and when hooking to a battery. While yours may be controlled, many aren't so it is best to hook the clamps then plug it in.

 

[bmaverick]

I use those solar chargers and they do work. I have an old battery a co worker gave me out of his boat. Its used in my old chevy truck. Its weak now and after a week or two would not start the truck. ever since the solar charger is used it will stay topped up and will start it fine even after months of sitting. I also have one on my farm truck that may sit 6 months. the battery was dead and would not start it after it sat for over about 3-4 months, since the solar HF charger was installed no problem getting it to crank now even though it sometimes takes a good bit of cranking on that old 80's model Mitsu.

Sounds to me there are TWO types of Harbor Freight trickle chargers being talked about here. The cheap $5 to $9 plug-in-the-wall type sounds like it will kill a battery over time. I would have to concur as postings on the HF site for the product says this and other forums. The other HF trickle charger being mentioned is a solar one with a solar panel. This sounds more ideal and it actually works.

 

[California]

I went and looked at the $15 HF 'license plate' solar charger. Looks like the one I bought there 5+ years ago.

It's rated 1.5 watts, 24 volts. Mathematically that's 1/8 of an amp maximum output with ideal conditions.

This is about what I expected, suitable to offset a battery's native self-discharge while stored in winter but not useful to recharge a discharged battery.

And I don't expect that under normal conditions - clouds, shadows, etc - its tiny current can offset the drain in a modern automobile that has a computer running continually, monitoring for a remote key unlock etc. So I think it's best suited for an 'old school' application that has zero current drain while the vehicle is not in use.

 

[dragoneggs]

I'm no expert on battery charging but I use a 'battery tender' on my tractor battery when siting long periods over winter. Does a great job and available at Costco often. I use a battery charger to charge auto batteries that I believe is maxed out at 5 amps. Trickle charging I have been told is always best/safest way to charge. To jump start, I agree with earlier posts here to connect the dead battery first, using a ground other than on the battery and then connect to the good battery.

 

[TomSeller]

I only charge battery at the 2 amp setting and also connect the ground connection away from the battery. So far so good.

 

[dragoneggs]

I only charge battery at the 2 amp setting and also connect the ground connection away from the battery. So far so good.

Yeah I should have added that I do charge mine at the 2amp setting as well.

 

[TomSeller]

Yeah I should have added that I do charge mine at the 2amp setting as well.

I learned a longtime ago that high amperage is an enemy. "Easy does it" in my book when it comes to charging batteries

 

[dragoneggs]

I learned a longtime ago that high amperage is an enemy. "Easy does it" in my book when it comes to charging batteries

Yep trickle is best!