Buying a Menards Battery Charger. Help Please

[hailwood1965]

My son works at Menards and I can get a discount on a battery charger. I would like a robust one that can charge batteries in motorcycles, cars, trucks, and what not. I have some low amp ones connected to motorcycles but I want a larger conventional battery charger ...

Here are the choices:

here

Suggestions welcome

 

[bwringer]

Are you looking for one with jump/boost capabilities as well? There's a "Masterforce" brand 275 amp booster/charger on clearance for a screaming good price at the moment. It only goes down to 2 amps, which is a little too much for most motorcycle batteries, but then again you already have that covered.

 

[IndyGarage]

Honestly I hate anything that is an "intelligent" or "smart" battery charger - which looks like everything on that page.

That means it has safety systems that won't let you hook it up wrong or overheat a battery, but also which won't charge most batteries that need a charge. They won't start charging if the battery doesn't have enough voltage - it drives me nuts.

A couple of years ago I bought a diehard rolling battery charger at menards that works great. It has the mechanical timer switch and the switch for different charge rates - I think it is made by Schumacher and they are still available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-Electric-SC1446-Timer-Controlled-Batteries/dp/B08PQ31C7B/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[bwringer]

Honestly I hate anything that is an "intelligent" or "smart" battery charger - which looks like everything on that page.

Good point; for some use cases, you need a "dumb" charger, and these are getting rare. They're sought after by folks doing electrolysis, for example. They can be useful for getting a few more starts out of a stone dead battery, but you also need a brain to operate it without creating a Hindenburg sort of situation.

If the OP is going to be leaving it hooked up for more than a few hours unsupervised, then the "smart" charging circuits really are very useful.

Some of the "smart" chargers do have a sort of "override" function that lets you (temporarily) start pushing amps into a completely dead battery. Figuring out which ones have this, or how to access the function, requires deep dives into the manuals.

And if the OP doesn't need the "jump start" capabilities, then he can focus on the smaller chargers. For example, maybe it's best to use a "jump box" for those situations since these don't need to be plugged in.

A lot depends on the most common use cases. For unsupervised charging, the "smart" chargers are a lot safer.

 

[hailwood1965]

Are you looking for one with jump/boost capabilities as well? There's a "Masterforce" brand 275 amp booster/charger on clearance for a screaming good price at the moment. It only goes down to 2 amps, which is a little too much for most motorcycle batteries, but then again you already have that covered.

I really don't have room for a roller box right now.

Looking at something benchtop like this:

here

 

[bwringer]

Schumacher is generally a good brand. For only a few bucks more, you might look at the 100 amp model.

Schumacher® 100-Amp Battery Charger and Maintainer

Built for heavy-duty use, this is the perfect product for everyday engine starting and charging. This unit offers 100A Engine Start, 20A Boost and 6<>2A Charge/Maintain rates. Plus, it's built with a rugged case and classic transformer.

www.menards.com

Then again if the quick starting boost capacity (50 or 100 amps) doesn't matter to you, then the 50 amp model is four or five pounds lighter and a fair bit smaller.

 

[Buckaroo5]

My son works at Menards and I can get a discount on a battery charger. I would like a robust one that can charge batteries in motorcycles, cars, trucks, and what not. I have some low amp ones connected to motorcycles but I want a larger conventional battery charger ...

Here are the choices:

here

Suggestions welcome

This is the one I like but not on the Menards list. It is $104 on Amazon. It is a smart charger and has a feature that verifies that you didn't hook up the leads backwards.....a good thing. Regardless what others say, that feature can be over-ridden to charge a dead battery.

20/10/2 Amp 6/12V Intelligent Battery Charger / Maintainer – Clore Automotive

Work smarter, not harder. The PL2320, 20/10/2A 6/12V Intelligent Battery Charger and Maintainer from Clore Automotive, puts a brainy buddy at your side for safe, efficient battery charging, repair and maintenance. This versatile unit can save you space, money and time. Rather than purchasing...

cloreautomotive.com

 

[AC-WC]

The big roll types are nice but they take up a lot of floor space. Unless you have car lot I would pick one of the smaller ones like the 50 or 100 amp Schumachers. Auto shut off.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Do you have a budget ?

 

[zendriver]

I've never had good luck with any 50 Amp boost charger, when it's cold and a battery is dead.

Always end up rolling out the 200 amp.

 

[finn]

A 50 amp Schumacher is plenty to get a dead car started. May have to leave it on for a few minutes, but it will eventually get you going in short order.

Mine doesn’t even have an automatic shutdown, though, and that would be a useful feature.

I also have my grandfather’s circa 1965 Montgomery Wards 4 amp manual charger that will rejuvenate a dead battery enough to get the Victor smart charger to work.

I recall the old trick of placing a known good battery in parallel with a dead battery to get an automatic smart charger to work.

 

[theoldwizard1]

My son works at Menards and I can get a discount on a battery charger. I would like a robust one that can charge batteries in motorcycles, cars, trucks, and what not. I have some low amp ones connected to motorcycles but I want a larger conventional battery charger ...

Define "larger". 50A, 100A ? I have a Schumacher 50A starting boost, but that lasts less than 30 seconds before dropping back to about 10A and ultimately 2A.

Define "conventional". To me that means setting the current and then a timer !

Honestly I hate anything that is an "intelligent" or "smart" battery charger - which looks like everything on that page.

That means it has safety systems that won't let you hook it up wrong or overheat a battery, but also which won't charge most batteries that need a charge. They won't start charging if the battery doesn't have enough voltage - it drives me nuts.

Sadly, that last statement is true. You can "trick" them by attaching a good battery in parallel to get the charger started and then after a few minutes, disconnect it.

 

[theoldwizard1]

A 50 amp Schumacher is plenty to get a dead car started. May have to leave it on for a few minutes, but it will eventually get you going in short order.

My Schumacher with 50A "Engine Start Boost" only lasts about 30 seconds !

Not enough to start a car with a dead battery !

 

[IndyGarage]

Sadly, that last statement is true. You can "trick" them by attaching a good battery in parallel to get the charger started and then after a few minutes, disconnect it.

Actually some of my newer NOCO's somehow know if you are trying to trick it and won't even start then. That's why I prefer dumb chargers.

 

[NightSky]

Actually some of my newer NOCO's somehow know if you are trying to trick it and won't even start then. That's why I prefer dumb chargers.

Info for the NOCO Genius 10 charger states:

"Force Mode: This mode allows the charger to be manually set, or "forced", into charging when the connected battery's voltage is too low to be detected. LED indicators will alternately flash, indicating the Genius 10 is in Force Mode. After 5 minutes, the charger will return to the normal charge operation."

I don't own one, but am leaning towards purchasing.