Battery Chargers?

[Garandman]

Anyone up on battery chargers? I have an old charger that doesn't seem to work with the AGM battery in the Triumph. The Battery Tender Jr. does seem to work OK with it so I'm fine, but I want to get a new one.

I'm looking at the Clore 4520, a 20/12/2 Amp charger that should work well with cars and bikes.

[ZX-12R]

I'm not directly familiar with Clore chargers but I have a few friends that use them without any trouble.

My big charger for automotive batteries has a 2A mode which is on the high side for some of the smaller batteries I have to charge. As a result I ended up snagging one of these:

http://batteryminders.com/details.php?prod=12117

Think of it as a Battery Tender Jr. with a 1A charge mode. It charges at 1A and then switches to float when it's finished or you can jump right to float by pressing the button on the front of it. It's also desulfates batteries which allowed me to recover my lawn-tractor's battery when it wasn't taking a full charge from my larger one. The only thing you have to remember with it is if the power goes out you need to disconnect it from the battery because the desulfacation circuitry remains active and will eventually suck the battery dry if left unattended.

They routinely go on sale for about $35 on a number of internet sites including Amazon.

[GNTurbo6]

http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SEM...iehard+charger

I have this charger but it is Diehard branded instead. It desulfinates batteries as well and is a great bargain for the price. I also have the Battery Tender Plus and 2 Jrs as well as some huge 10a/2a. But for the money, the one I linked above is my favorite.

[OreoGaborio]

2 bank Battery Tender in the garage for the street bike & dirt bike & dirt bike.
http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender...+tender+marine

5 amp Battery Tender in the trailer for the race bike (4 cell LiFe) or whatever.
http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender...nder+marine+5a

[DucDave]

I've requested this from Santa this year...

Schumacher Electric Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher - Battery Extender Power Sport Charger

[Point37]

http://www.sears.com/diehard-battery...5&blockType=G5

[mojobreakfast]

NOCO Genius chargers. Check out reviews on Amazon.

[Garandman]

NOCO Genius chargers. Check out reviews on Amazon.

Which one do you have?

Right now I'm planning on using my jump starter pack for any emergency starts, and then get a moderate capacity (say 10 or 12A max rate) smart charger. My old charger won't fully charge my AGM batteries and we now have two Optimas in the cars and two others in the bikes.

[Stromper]

I bought a schumacher ay walmart charger/tender boiled 2 batteries to death

I bought the YUASA 6 cycle maintainer with desulphating and true leave on with battery exercising

I also have a 1 amp for gentle overnight charging

[Chrisb319]

I bought a schumacher ay walmart charger/tender boiled 2 batteries to death

I bought the YUASA 6 cycle maintainer with desulphating and true leave on with battery exercising

I also have a 1 amp for gentle overnight charging

I have one I haven't used yet :/ not a good sign

[nhbubba]

I have a Schumacher bought at walmart as well. It has been flawless. Worth the very few dollars I paid for it and then some.

YMMV I suppose.

For the most part I use battery tenders over the off season. I now have 2, one for the bike and another for the mower.

[Stromper]

The shumacher thing did charge the battery and I would have no problem leaving it on for a day or so, but unlike a battery tender just don't clip it on and come back in the spring.

Maybe mine was defective, so just watch it maybe check the voltage after 2 days should be down to something just above 12V

[Stoneman]

I've had similar problems with Shumachers. I can't remember if I posted about 'em on NESR or other boards I'm on. Even with the automatic 'smart' ones with low amp trickle/float features need to be monitored very closely...

[Stoneman]

The shumacher thing did charge the battery and I would have no problem leaving it on for a day or so, but unlike a battery tender just don't clip it on and come back in the spring.

Maybe mine was defective, so just watch it maybe check the voltage after 2 days should be down to something just above 12V

FWIW-you shoudn't leave ANY charging device on a battery 'and come back in the spring'. 24-48 hours once a month is probably more than you'd need to do. Leaving ANY charger on for extended periods of time is an invitation for failure...

[csmutty]

FWIW-you shoudn't leave ANY charging device on a battery 'and come back in the spring'. 24-48 hours once a month is probably more than you'd need to do. Leaving ANY charger on for extended periods of time is an invitation for failure...

Not with the battery tender brand...

[Pigman]

Ehhhh.... DelTran I set it and forget it..............always

[Stromper]

http://echo3.bluehornet.com/ct/11650...7EBB35EA86A0:r

If this means anything if you spend $150 at bike bandit get a free little Yuasa charger

Actually the write up doesn't sound any better than the $8 HF one so never mind

[Stoneman]

Not with the battery tender brand...

Leaving ANY charger/brand on for extended periods of time CAN ruin your battery. I've since switched to Battery Tender, but I still won't leave it hooked up. The first weekend of every month begins the rotation, and each battery gets 24-48 consecutive hours. I'll NEVER leave a charger hooked up, no matter the brand. They CAN all fail...

[Point37]

The first weekend of every month begins the rotation, and each battery gets 24-48 consecutive hours. I'll NEVER leave a charger hooked up, no matter the brand. They CAN all fail...

i do something similar to this as well...i always remember to unplug mine cause it makes a very high pitched ring/noise when it's plugged in

[Garandman]

Ehhhh.... DelTran I set it and forget it..............always

I have five Battery Tenders - two bikes, a generator, and two boat batteries. Leave them on all winter, and have been doing so for I don't remember how many years.

I ordered the charger shown in the first post, which supposedly has a maintenance mode. I'll check it out when I get it. I took the AGM battery from the Tiger off the BT so I can try it out.