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Battery Charger Questions

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fred d

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Dec 31, 2008
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Metro Houston Area
I have two battery chargers. My old one is a diehard that has been dropped many times and the case is busted but it still works. Purchase a new one on clearance from Lowe’s that is a black and decker and it works just fine.
The problem is that if my battery is completely dead, the Black & Decker will not Begin charging it. It says replace battery.
But if I put my old diehard on it then it will start charging the battery from zero and bring it all the way up.

Looking for a new battery charger… A little bigger one if you will.
What is it that I need to look for to make sure I get one that will charge a battery from dead?
So is a “fully automatic” I’m looking for?
“Deep cycle“?………something else?
Just trying to make sure I get one that will charge a battery after it has been setting a long time and fully drained.

thanks in advance
 
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bwringer

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Yup, some "smart" chargers have a deliberately obfuscated override mode of some sort. You can probably scare up a manual for your B&D on their website, or maybe dig it out of the trash if it's not already gone. Some have eensy-weensy-teensy-tiny instructions printed on the charger somewhere.

However, some do not have an override mode, so you have to get things going with an older "dumb" charger.

Either way, the odds of recovering something remotely usable from a battery that's been sitting 100% drained are quite low...
 
L

LB-1911

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Another 👍 for Clore Pro-Logix
:see:
Pg 7

eta; Portable Battery Chargers
cloreautomotive.com

Clore Automotive – PRO-LOGIX Portable Chargers for Techs and Shops

PRO-LOGIX offers a wide range of portable chargers, including everything you need to charge 6V, 12V and 24V batteries and systems, with 24/7/365 capability for the busiest pro shops.
cloreautomotive.com cloreautomotive.com

Also, under the Carlyle / NAPA Brand
Line: Clore Automotive
 
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B

Bert_

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NW Iowa
My opinion, a person needs two different battery chargers.

- A small automatic 10 amp or less charger. Something you plug in, walk away from, and you come back a day later to a charged battery.

- A big dumb transformer based battery charger. My Schumacher has 10, 30, and 200A boost settings. If you plug it in it will put out power, no matter what you have the clamps connected to.

You can do it all with a dumb battery charger. But you need to remember to go turn the charger off after a few hours.
 
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kbeefy

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Harington, Eastern Washington
I agree with @Bert_ and thats pretty much exactly what I have. A 10A smart charger and a big, dumb, 200A tombstone charger.
I also recently picked up a CTEK charger/maintainer that I've been trying to 'condition' my batteries with for longer life. We'll see how that goes.

To get around the 'smart charger' lockout if you can't override it, I use a second good battery and hook it up in parallel with jumper cables.

I also agree that if a battery is that dead it will never come back to 100%... but it might come back to 75% and sometimes thats all you need.
 
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Bert_

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I've never tried it but a guy on YouTube mentioned he uses a little inverter stick welder as a battery charger pretty often.

I think mine goes down to 10 amps so no reason it wouldn't work. Obviously you would have to use your brain and not get dumb with the charge rate.
 
S

Steve_P

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Do they even make "dumb" 12V auto battery chargers anymore? I assume that someone probably does, I haven't specifically looked for one, but I also can't remember seeing one in years for sale new. With an "override" method, you don't need it, but....

I've got a 1970s? "dumb" Craftsman from my dad that has something like 2A, 10A, and a fictitious 100A? start mode settings. The charger is something that I only use every few years; last time was a friend whose older dad had stopped driving, and the battery went totally dead in his F150 and he couldn't even open the doors.
 
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VolvoRyan

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Kentuckiana, USA
I just use CTEK's now. Seems to figure out how to get really dead (lower than 6V) 12V batteries going.

For giggles once, I compared a CTEK and a relatively new big dumb Schumacher "2/10/50" charger with the labscope. The CTEK put out much cleaner current, at the amperage (4A, IIRC) it was rated for. The Schumacher was really bad. Amperage cycled up and down, and nowhere near what it said it was putting out. I think the 10A setting was not even a reliable 5A. The 50A was like 8A.

-Ryan
 
Z

zendriver

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Indiana
Steve_P said:
Do they even make "dumb" 12V auto battery chargers anymore? I assume that someone probably does, I haven't specifically looked for one, but I also can't remember seeing one in years for sale new. With an "override" method, you don't need it, but....

I've got a 1970s? "dumb" Craftsman from my dad that has something like 2A, 10A, and a fictitious 100A? start mode settings. The charger is something that I only use every few years; last time was a friend whose older dad had stopped driving, and the battery went totally dead in his F150 and he couldn't even open the doors.
Click to expand...
Probably not, because it doesn't really make sense.

Overcharging batteries is not safe or good for the batteries.
 
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theoldwizard1

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If you have the luxury of owning a second battery, use jumper cables to connect it to the first. Then connect the charger. After a few minutes you can disconnect the second battery and the charger will keep charging the first.
 
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BrandonV

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Arizona
Steve_P said:
Do they even make "dumb" 12V auto battery chargers anymore? I assume that someone probably does, I haven't specifically looked for one, but I also can't remember seeing one in years for sale new. With an "override" method, you don't need it, but....

I've got a 1970s? "dumb" Craftsman from my dad that has something like 2A, 10A, and a fictitious 100A? start mode settings. The charger is something that I only use every few years; last time was a friend whose older dad had stopped driving, and the battery went totally dead in his F150 and he couldn't even open the doors.
Click to expand...

This thing is pretty dumb.

 
Z

zendriver

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theoldwizard1 said:
If you have the luxury of owning a second battery, use jumper cables to connect it to the first. Then connect the charger. After a few minutes you can disconnect the second battery and the charger will keep charging the first.
Click to expand...
or just hook up a $7 battery maintainer. It will give enough voltage to get the charger going.
 
B

Bert_

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NW Iowa
Sometimes I just want a fast charger that don't ask no questions. A useful boost setting like 200A is really nice.

I avoid any that have a lot of "options". My dumb charger has a single selector switch. The automatic one has no buttons at all, hook it up and it starts doing its thing.
 
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netbrad

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Mar 3, 2011
Messages
355
This thread is timely because I have a 3.5 year old AGM battery and I wanted to know if my Shumacher 2/6 amp dumb charger would work to maintain it. Sounds like it is just taking up space.

LB-1911 said:
Also, under the Carlyle / NAPA Brand
Line: Clore Automotive
Click to expand...

If we're a home user is a 20v option ever used? They have a model that is a little cheaper:

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/SORCBC612V10A
 
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LB-1911

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netbrad said:
Yeah sorry. My brain was thinking 12V battery when I did that. So yes, for an average home user just wanting to keep AGM batteries charged does a 20 amp charger make sense or is it overkill? I'm trying to see if I can top off my existing AGM.
Click to expand...
You don't need a charger rated @ 20 amps for your application.
One of many articles on the topic of recharging AGM Batteries
:see:

Here’s How to Charge an AGM Battery and Why It’s Different | Interstate Batteries

Absorbed glass-mat batteries offer incredible performance, but you could ruin them with them with the wrong battery charger.
www.interstatebatteries.com www.interstatebatteries.com
 
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netbrad

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Mar 3, 2011
Messages
355
LB-1911 said:
You don't need a charger rated @ 20 amps for your application.
One of many articles on the topic of recharging AGM Batteries
:see:

Here’s How to Charge an AGM Battery and Why It’s Different | Interstate Batteries

Absorbed glass-mat batteries offer incredible performance, but you could ruin them with them with the wrong battery charger.
www.interstatebatteries.com www.interstatebatteries.com
Click to expand...

I did see that the other day but it felt like an ad for their brand of charger. If the $75 Napa would work I may be in for that one. Its cheaper than a NOCO and apparently slightly better quality.
 
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