12v battery charger

reilig

I'm looking to pick up a "smart" 12v battery charger which will both charge and recondition (desulphate) batteries. There are a few different models available and I'm unsure which to choose.

Can anyone tell me how many amps a charger should be rated for to allow it to charge all types of 12v batteries from Cars to tractors?

I have no understanding of amps
A motor factors tried to sell me a 6 amp charger yesterday saying that it would be suitable for tractors, but looking online, i see a simialr branded charger which is up to 12 amps. How should I choose?

pakalasa

I imagine that the higher the Amps of the charger, the faster it will charge it, nothing more than that. In fact for safety reasons, a lower amperage might be better, as the hydrogen gas given off, will have longer to disperse. It's less likely to explode then.

The old charger I have has two settings, high and low. High will charge it faster, say if I need the tractor in a hurry. I would use Low to charge it overnight. It has an ampmeter which goes up in the higher setting.

Could you put up a link to these chargers. Sounds like a good idea.

reilig

pakalasa wrote: »

I imagine that the higher the Amps of the charger, the faster it will charge it, nothing more than that. In fact for safety reasons, a lower amperage might be better, as the hydrogen gas given off, will have longer to disperse. It's less likely to explode then.

The old charger I have has two settings, high and low. High will charge it faster, say if I need the tractor in a hurry. I would use Low to charge it overnight. It has an ampmeter which goes up in the higher setting.

Could you put up a link to these chargers. Sounds like a good idea.

Something like this:

http://www.ringautomotive.co.uk/product_detail.asp?prod=1625

Comes in at around €70 - €90 depending on the maximum amount of amps that you want.

Lidl sold battery chargers a few years ago which were low amp and I couldn't get mine to charge anythingbigger than a very small car battery - it wouldn't budge a tractor battery.

Advantage of the smart charger above is that it will desulphate - ie: remove the sulphate from a seemingly dead battery and give it new life. You can get several more years out of a battery that you used to have to dispose of once it stopped holding the full charge.

lakill Farm

Try Gerry Hickeys motor factor in mullingar, opposite coyne quads (Millmount road & Austin Friar street)

The auld lad got one off him a few years back and it does car jeep and tractor (4 cylinder). Leave it over night and will work a treat.

Or try Matt buckley in clonmore estate

reilig wrote: »

Something like this:

http://www.ringautomotive.co.uk/product_detail.asp?prod=1625

Comes in at around €70 - €90 depending on the maximum amount of amps that you want.

Lidl sold battery chargers a few years ago which were low amp and I couldn't get mine to charge anythingbigger than a very small car battery - it wouldn't budge a tractor battery.

Advantage of the smart charger above is that it will desulphate - ie: remove the sulphate from a seemingly dead battery and give it new life. You can get several more years out of a battery that you used to have to dispose of once it stopped holding the full charge.

pakalasa

I'll check mine tonight and see what Amps it gives out.

checked it - It's a 9 Amp charger, but only gives out about 3 to 4 Amps at High setting for a fully dead tractor battery.


Or you could just add Epsom salts & Distilled Water;
http://www.ehow.com/how_4853344_recondition-lead-acid-battery.html

reilig

lakill Farm wrote: »

Try Gerry Hickeys motor factor in mullingar, opposite coyne quads (Millmount road & Austin Friar street)

The auld lad got one off him a few years back and it does car jeep and tractor (4 cylinder). Leave it over night and will work a treat.

Or try Matt buckley in clonmore estate

I've been to both of them. None have the charger that will desulphate a battery. Ordinary chargers are cheap as chips, but getting one that will recondition costs bucks

CJhaughey

Generally desulphation involves passing a high voltage low amp current through the battery a few times.
For small batteries things like the Optimate are ideal, Quads and car batteries. For larger batteries you really need more punch something like this charger would work, it will do up to 100Ah which is a fairly big battery but maybe not quite tractor sized.
A small charger will still charge a big battery but it takes a lot longer.
These new chargers are designed to be left on for long periods of time, I had one on for a few years on a bike battery and it was fine.
They have an intelligent sort of charge, where they check voltage, if low they start to charge and sense battery condition. if the battery charges then it charges until it is full.
If it doesn't take a charge it goes into desulphation mode and checks every so often until it determines that it is either kaput or will take a charge.

djmc

I would go for a higher amp relig there are a few on ebay
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/12v-15A-SMART-CHARGER-battery-booster-car-motorbike-/180573134201?pt=UK_Recovery_Tools&hash=item2a0aff5d79

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/15A-SMART-BATTERY-CHARGER-Car-Van-Motorhome-Caravan-etc-/360399404664?pt=UK_Campervan_Caravan_Accessories&hash=item53e97a7e78

amp is like the flow of power the the more amp the faster you can charge
handy when something wont start when you need it some morning

reilig

djmc wrote: »

I would go for a higher amp relig there are a few on ebay
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/12v-15A-SMART-CHARGER-battery-booster-car-motorbike-/180573134201?pt=UK_Recovery_Tools&hash=item2a0aff5d79

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/15A-SMART-BATTERY-CHARGER-Car-Van-Motorhome-Caravan-etc-/360399404664?pt=UK_Campervan_Caravan_Accessories&hash=item53e97a7e78

amp is like the flow of power the the more amp the faster you can charge
handy when something wont start when you need it some morning

Thanks for the advice and info guys.

Just bought the second one in DJMC's post above. €80 all in!!