best battery charger ?
 

I wanted to get some feed back on whats the battery charger everyone is using? Im charging a bracket car with 2 batteries. Thanks Mike

Re: best battery charger ?
 

I have a Craftsman (stand up on wheels) that I use it has a 40 amp setting & also a 200amp jump start if your in a pinch.

Re: best battery charger ?
 

Use a digital Craftsman if you can afford it. One of the best purchases I ever made. It will tell you exactly how much you have charged your batteries. Charge to the max volts if you have time. Make sure that you can reach the same voltage everytime. It will make your car more consistent. Without a digital guage you don't know if you are reaching the correct voltage or not.

Re: best battery charger ?
 

Richard i looked on Sears website , are you referring to the battery charger thats called the microprocessor ?

Re: best battery charger ?
 

That's the one. Expensive isn't it? It's worth it though. I have had mine about 10 years. I've used mine to charge the boat battery, the scooter battery, the golf cart batteries, the trailer batteries, etc. It will sometimes shock a old battery back into service by placing it on high until it takes a charge.

Re: best battery charger ?
 

I use a Schumacher speed charger, they are well built and show state of charge %
and charging volts plus have a setting for gel cell and agm batteries as well as conventional
types. Approx 100.00 here

Re: best battery charger ?
 

Ron, my Schumacher charger has died after less than 1 year of service. The terminal clip ends broke the wiring and it quit charging correctly. When we were at Belle Rose this year, in the CIC, it broke off while trying to hurry for the next round. I wasnt happy. Repaired it there, then the other one broke at home, was even less happy. Got to Indy D3, it wouldnt charge the battery fully. Thank god for Marty Buth and his Black and Decker charger (very nice). Got home, took mine back apart, rewired it with larger 12/2 wire and attached the clips with some heat shrink to support it better. Damn pos still wont charge the battery up. So, I'm back to the old upright. Look very closely at how those clips are attached and how small and flexible the wiring is.

Wade O

Re: best battery charger ?
 

Don't know if it's the best, but we're using an XS Power "Intelli-charger". Charges both 12V and 16V AGM IntelliCharger compatible with 5A, 15A, and 25A(25A max) output. Three charging modes and LED indicators with ammeter to monitor status (grabbed that off of their site). It's part number 1005 if you want to look into it yourself.

Re: best battery charger ?
 

I have a Black & Decker 25A-10A-2A Smart Charger. Have had zero problems with it. Also keep a 0.75A maintainer on it during the week.

Also, the Black & Decker unit will pop up error codes if there is a short in the battery or there are other problems. Another thing I really like about it is that if you hook it up backwards it will not charge and the lead is not hot until it knows it is hooked to a battery correctly and you set the charger.

Re: best battery charger ?
 

By far it has to be my old Snap-On charger. I'm at work so I don't have the model number. It's been ran over twice by a 4000lbs super stock car. And smashed another time by a 6800lbs Ford F350 dually. My god is it ugly, but yes it still works!!!

Re: best battery charger ?
 

We use a Powermaster that I bought from Summit. It charges 12 or 16 volts. It stopped working within a couple of months so I sent it back to Powermaster and they fixed it right away and it's been fine ever since.

Chris Barnes
Wagons of Steel
Stock 6621

Re: best battery charger ?
 

I have used the Black & Decker units with zero problems. I also liked the little 2/6/10 Husky unit that is fully automatic and very light weight and small in size but does a good job. Both are available @ Home Depot Also don't forget to use the batt maintainer when your car is sitting around unused. Really helps with the life of your batterys.

Re: best battery charger ?
 

In my opinion any charger is good enough as long as it is big enough to do the job. The important thing is to monitor charger output VOLTAGE and not current. Voltage will tell you weather you are over charging or under charging the battery. If you are charging with the fan and water pump on unless the voltage is over 12.84 vdc you are not charging the battery. You are just providing current for the fan and pump. If you are pumping amps into a fully charged battery (because you forgot to shut it off) you will eventually damage the battery. The two things you need are: a timer that automatically shuts the charger off (part of a good charger) and a digital voltmeter to monitor volts at the battery. Until you know the voltage you won't know battery condition and weather your charger is big enough especially with two batteries.
Vic