12v battery charger question

[Dick in Wisconsin]

My Craftsman battery charger has three setttings: 2amp, 10amp, and booster.

I don't ever use the booster.

I presume that a 2amp setting charges the battery slower than the 10amp setting. I use the charger almost exclusively to charge the battery in my race car ... which is a standard Interstate car battery. Nothing special.

What is the impact of 2amp vs 10amp?

 

[johnnie5]

you pretty much nailed it

2 amp is slower than 10 amp

the smart way is to charge batteries at 1/10 of their Ah AmpHour capacity

your car battery is prob around a 20Ah or so

so i would use the 2amp level

if it was very low and you wanted to move it quick then you would use the 10 or boost

but dont expect it to do the battery very good

 

[dsprint2000]

Ditto..... even better, you may want to consider a trickle charger/battery tender. Use on for the hot rod thru the winter.....

David

 

[HOTFR8]

Boost on most chargers (and tenders) is usualy a setting to stop sulphation or supply power as a backup if the battery is disconnected. Boost would also give a fast charge so you can start the vehicle then let it charge via the alternator.

 

[nehog]

OK, first post a picture or model number to get the *best* answer.

I'll make an assumption: Manual charger.

With a manual charger you are much less likely to overcharge the battery at the 2 amp setting than at the 10 amp setting. My old Sears charger could be left set at 2 amps for ever and it would just trickle charge the battery. Set at 10 and it would overcharge if forgotten. Also setting to 10 amps often will over charge a small (say a small motorcycle) battery.

I'll make an assumption: Automatic charger.

An automatic charger can't know how large the battery is, so set to a higher range with a smaller battery will over charge the battery. However, for an automatic charger, charging an auto or large battery, the setting won't cause damage to the battery. Once the charger detects a full charge it will automatically ramp down to trickle mode.