In car golf battery charger.

54and56

Hi all,

Can anyone recommend an in car 12v charger for a golf trolley battery with a torberry connection?

I've searched Amazon, eBay, Halpenny, McGuirks etc and the only one I can find is this one on Amazon but it gets horrible reviews.

Any other suggestions?

slave1

I just bought an inverter and plug the normal 3pin plug into it, keep an eye on Amazon Warehouse deals, I got this one for £60 but I'm sure you could get a lower wattage one if you only want to use for charging your golf battery (I use mine for modest electricity to the house in case of power cut)

GreeBo

slave1 wrote: »

I just bought an inverter and plug the normal 3pin plug into it, keep an eye on Amazon Warehouse deals, I got this one for £60 but I'm sure you could get a lower wattage one if you only want to use for charging your golf battery (I use mine for modest electricity to the house in case of power cut)

I presume you only use it in the car when driving?
Have you checked to see what it does to the battery if alternator is not running?

54and56

slave1 wrote: »

I just bought an inverter and plug the normal 3pin plug into it, keep an eye on Amazon Warehouse deals, I got this one for £60 but I'm sure you could get a lower wattage one if you only want to use for charging your golf battery (I use mine for modest electricity to the house in case of power cut)

Do you think this one would do the job? BESTEK 200W Power Inverter DC 12V to AC 230V 240V Dual Socket Car Voltage Converter Transformer with 4 USB Car Charger https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N2P9V64/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_FpP.CbBQ9HPVG

slave1

That’s the one I linked to, can’t see why it wouldn’t as long as your battery charger uses less than 200w. Normally these are used with engine on as otherwise it will drain the car battery, i have an EV so can plug it in anytime as it’s virtually impossible to drain my battery

whizbang

+1
My LiIon battery charger is rated at 80 Watts (5A), so that Inverter has plenty of power to spare.
SLA charger is only 60W(4A), so no issue.
However a 4A charger on a 36Ah battery will need over 10 hours driving to fully charge a dead battery.

54and56

slave1 wrote: »

That’s the one I linked to, can’t see why it wouldn’t as long as your battery charger uses less than 200w. Normally these are used with engine on as otherwise it will drain the car battery, i have an EV so can plug it in anytime as it’s virtually impossible to drain my battery

Thanks Slave1 I'm not great with electrics but it looks to me like my charger output is 13.8/14.8V which would mean the BESTEK 200W Power Inverter DC 12V to AC 230V 240V Dual Socket Car Voltage Converter won't do the job for me?

slave1

I'm not an electrician but that BESTEK converts the 12v from your car battery to 230/240v so that is all you need to worry about.
The amperage of the charger is irrelevant IMHO.

Perhaps post on the Electrical forum?

prawnsambo

54&56 wrote: »

Thanks Slave1 I'm not great with electrics but it looks to me like my charger output is 13.8/14.8V which would mean the BESTEK 200W Power Inverter DC 12V to AC 230V 240V Dual Socket Car Voltage Converter won't do the job for me?

That 13.8/14.8V DC is the output from the charger when plugged into a 200-240V AC socket. The inverter is effectively a substitute for the mains socket, just using the car battery and alternator as a source.



And a car battery will actually output around 14v when being charged by the alternator while the car is running.

54and56

prawnsambo wrote: »

That 13.8/14.8V DC is the output from the charger when plugged into a 200-240V AC socket. The inverter is effectively a substitute for the mains socket, just using the car battery and alternator as a source.



And a car battery will actually output around 14v when being charged by the alternator while the car is running.

Thanks prawnsambo, sounds like that inverter will do the job nicely so as the car cigarette socket I'd be plugging it into only receives power whilst the engine is running.

prawnsambo

54&56 wrote: »

Thanks prawnsambo, sounds like that inverter will do the job nicely so as the car cigarette socket I'd be plugging it into only receives power whilst the engine is running.

Yeah. Otherwise you'd drain your car battery. But it would still work because the output voltage of your charger is always going to be in the range specified, regardless of the source.

whizbang

54&56 :
Your charger is rated at 2.7A, up to (max) voltage of 14.8 Volts.
So 2.7*14.8 = 40 (Watts) Take a rough guess, those chargers are about 80% efficient.
So 40 Watts output @ 80% = 48 Watts input.

A good Lead Acid Battery is about 75% efficient in storing the input current. Take an example 16Ah battery.
So 16Ah @75% = 21.3Ah charge needed.

21.3Ah / 2.7A (Charger) = 7.9hours charge time.

Unless your course is 4 hours drive away, That's why most folk don't bother charging in the car.

54and56

whizbang wrote: »

54&56 :
Your charger is rated at 2.7A, up to (max) voltage of 14.8 Volts.
So 2.7*14.8 = 40 (Watts) Take a rough guess, those chargers are about 80% efficient.
So 40 Watts output @ 80% = 48 Watts input.

A good Lead Acid Battery is about 75% efficient in storing the input current. Take an example 16Ah battery.
So 16Ah @75% = 21.3Ah charge needed.

21.3Ah / 2.7A (Charger) = 7.9hours charge time.

Unless your course is 4 hours drive away, That's why most folk don't bother charging in the car.

I've been charging my battery in the car for years using a bespoke cradle I ordered on eBay which recently got smashed and I can't find a replacement hence the search for an inverter.

I don't just drive the car on the way to the course. I leave the battery in the car 24X7 so between rounds it is getting topped up every time I drive it which is several times a day so probably an average of 1.5 hours a day (to/from work, school runs, grocery shopping and general running around) + there's usually one or two longer trips a week.

I've a large capacity Lead Acid battery designed to last two rounds so even if there's only a few days between rounds there's always been enough juice to see me through a round. It's never let me down to date whereas several times in the past when I'd charge the battery indoors I'd turn up at the course and realise I'd left the battery at home which I know is stupid hence the in-car charging requirement