Looking for an automatic battery charger without breaking the bank

[Gary Fowler]

Anyone with the new smart chargers better keep an old dumb charger around for when you get a really dead battery. The smart chargers wont start to charge if they cant read some voltage, I don't know what the cut off point is but an old fashioned charger will be needed to put at least some charge into a dead battery before a smart charger will work.

 

[Botaskinner]

I'm very happy with the Black & Decker model BC15BD. It has a 40 amp engine start mode, and goes to float charge once the proper charge is reached. LCD screen is very handy, and also has a "repair" mode to recondition older batteries.

It works on both my lawn tractor and my old dual-battery 6.9L F-250 diesel pickup.

The only gripe is the configuration of the cable clamps..not enough "tooth" to bite into the battery terminals, but it's offset by a plastic case that won't corrode around acid gases like steel cases do.


Here's the link to the other orange store: (no affiliation, that's just where I bought it)

BLACK+DECKER 15 Amp Battery Charger with 4 Amp Engine Start-BC15BD - The Home Depot

 

[Botaskinner]

@Ultrarunner,
You must remember Strip-Nu in Santa Clara then?
Another Superfund site IIRC.

 

[ultrarunner]

It does not ring a bell...

The Bay Area was home to many metal finishers... can't think of any I have used that still exist...

 

[hawkeye08]

For those that have been unable to charge a dead battery with newer charger, I just connect a second battery in parallel to the dead one and connect charger and it has worked for me so far.

 

[ultrarunner]

Yes... I have also connected in series... two 12V on a 24V charger and two 6V on my 12V charger.

I had the best old fashion Baldor Charger with 6 and 8 Volt charging.... loaned to a friend and destroyed it... my Grandfather had given it to me from the days he did auto parts...

Friend dropped it and bent the screen which prevented the fan from working... he bought me a cheap charger to replace it... live and learn.

 

[Ford850]

Just got my Genius 3500 today and glanced through the info book a little. Are there any things I should look for or know about before I start learning about a new product that is different to what I am accustomed to?

Also, some in this thread have mentioned an inability of some batteries to accept a charge. I was taught years ago to always discharge a battery a little before It's charged and it will charge better. It has worked for me. I usually leave the lights on in the vehicle for two minutes even when the battery has shown as fully charged but I knew it wasn't. Whatever the discharge does, it allows the battery to take a charge.

I've had each of the following happen a few times.
When a battery is nearly fully charged with a smart charger and I disconnect temporarily for one reason or another, it will not start charging again when I reconnect. Just like you said above. So a minor discharge is all that is needed to let the charger start the charge cycle again and top it off properly, then go into maintenance mode.
The other end of the spectrum is for fully discharged batteries. A bump with a 'start' charge, then the chargers can recognize them and start the charge after that. Neither is a big deal once you get used to modern chargers.

 

[sixdogs]

Modern chargers is right. In the olden days of the 1960's, battery chargers were put on and run until the battery literally cooked. There were one year, two year and three year batteries and not many ever saw three years. You added distilled water frequently and it was a mess because you would get acid on your fingers, transfer it to your clothes and show up the next day with holes in your clothes from the acid. Other than that, the sixties were great.

Give me a Genius 3500 modern charger and I'm good to go.

 

[ultrarunner]

I wonder if they make a modern charger for my 8 volt battery?

 

[California]

I wonder if they make a modern charger for my 8 volt battery?

'49 Oldsmobile Rocket 88?