Recommend a charger

[CJH]

Can someone recommend a battery charger?. After wasting over an hour this morning trying in vain to get charge back into my starter battery with a little 6A charger, I'm looking for a high current charger to get me going quickly if necessary. I've already got a jump start portable pack (flat of course), and that 6A charger, and a low current battery conditioner. What I need is something to get me going relatively quickly when all of those fail me!

[Mocki]

I will move this to technical where it should be .....

A decent spare battery and your conditioner charger connected to it when you are using it for nothing else would give you a reliable starting pack .

Jumper chargers / starter chargers kill battery's I was told !

[CJH]

I will move this to technical where it should be .....

Thanks Mocki

Jumper chargers / starter chargers kill battery's I was told !

Why's that then - is it the high charging current? I did wonder that. How is it different from getting a jump start?

[AdrianC]

Jumper chargers / starter chargers kill battery's I was told !

Why's that then - is it the high charging current? I did wonder that. How is it different from getting a jump start?

It isn't, really - just less powerful and lower voltage than a "proper" jump-start off a running car. All the jump-boxes are is a motorbike battery in a plastic box, with some dumb charger circuitry.

Basically, exactly the same happens to a flat leisure battery when the split-charge relay kicks in, too...

No charger except a huge one's going to put enough into a totally flat battery in an hour to start anything. 6A x 1hr = 6Ah. Or way less than 10% of a typical starter battery's capacity, before any losses and inefficiencies.

[lloydy]

CTEK are a good make and range up to 25amps

[CJH]

No charger except a huge one's going to put enough into a totally flat battery in an hour to start anything. 6A x 1hr = 6Ah. Or way less than 10% of a typical starter battery's capacity, before any losses and inefficiencies.

Agreed - we've got some nice big chargers at work, 30 or 40A I think, and they're good for recharging some big 110AH batteries in a reasonable time. I realise an hour is too short, but a 30A charger would put enough back into a 65AH battery in a couple of hours.

CTEK are a good make and range up to 25amps

Yes, that's the brand of trickle charger I've got. They get a bit pricey at the high current end of their range though.

I was hoping something like one of these would do - both available at a reasonable discount through Amazon's Warehouse deals (i.e. damaged box, customer returns etc)

Maypole 20A, ~£50

Silverline 18A, ~£40

Either of those ought to get me going in less than 3 hours I'd have thought.

I quite like Mocki's idea though - I reckon my current battery needs replacing, but if I replace it before it's totally past it I can leave it in the garage with a battery conditioner attached.

[AdrianC]

but a 30A charger would put enough back into a 65AH battery in a couple of hours.

2hrs x 30A = 60Ah, so - yep...

[lloydy]

I suppose it comes down to what you want, mine is permantly fitted in the van and is connected to mains hook up and starter battery. Then through some fancy electrics it charges my leisure batteries too. (25A version)
If you just want it for your home to give you a boost, then the ones you've linked to are fine

[JonB]

I bought a CTEK MXS 5.0 earlier in the year. It's been great (not that I have any experience), well made and has certainly charged my battery a few times.

I made an additional purchase of a battery indicator and connector...it was only a few quick and permanently connects to the battery. The other end has a neat connector with Red/Amber/Green LEDs to indicate battery state. With the battery of mine in the engine bay the connector just neatly sits behind the number plate flap.

[California Dreamin]

Stating the obvious......30amps into a 60ah battery for two hours is not advisable as you risk buckling the plates and causing the battery permanent damage.....10 - 15 minutes perhaps and then turning it down to something more moderate.

The ideal charge regime is 10% of the amp/hour rating of the battery/batteries being charged. A SMART charger may well Bulk charge/medium charge and trickle as part of it's automatic charge process, however the batteries should never get HOT to the touch which is what 2 hours at 30 amps would do to a relatively small 60ah battery.....not to mention the risk of explosion due to excessive 'gassing'.

Martin

[kevtherev]

Martin is right
Phased charging is much better and safer.
I would suggest a new battery rather than a new charger.
just sayin!

[CJH]

I made an additional purchase of a battery indicator and connector...it was only a few quick and permanently connects to the battery. The other end has a neat connector with Red/Amber/Green LEDs to indicate battery state. With the battery of mine in the engine bay the connector just neatly sits behind the number plate flap.

Thanks Jon, yes I reckon a meter of some sort is probably worthwhile. I'm not exactly sure why my battery went flat. I believe it's a combination of things - accidentally leaving the fridge on it's 12V setting so the battery wasn't getting the full benefit of the (45A) alternator, lots of starts yesterday as I was fiddling with the engine timing, using the lights more, maybe a radio drain, maybe a dying battery - but had I known what state the battery was in I might have twigged about the fridge sooner.

Stating the obvious......30amps into a 60ah battery for two hours is not advisable as you risk buckling the plates and causing the battery permanent damage.....10 - 15 minutes perhaps and then turning it down to something more moderate.

Well it might be obvious to you . I kind of suspected that, but that's part of the reason for asking for a recommended charger I guess. I can't tell if either of the two I linked to will turn down the current automatically. If not I'd need to remember to turn off the 'boost' function.

I suppose it comes down to what you want, mine is permantly fitted in the van and is connected to mains hook up and starter battery. Then through some fancy electrics it charges my leisure batteries too. (25A version)
If you just want it for your home to give you a boost, then the ones you've linked to are fine

This is something I haven't really considered before now. My van has a ZIG, which will charge only the leisure battery from a hook up. I have no means of getting a charge back into the starter battery if it was to go flat on site, except maybe to disconnect the leisure battery and put jump leads from the disconnected leisure battery wires over to the starter battery. But it would be nice to know that the hook up is taking care of the starter battery automatically too. I suppose I just need a simple automatic charger connected up to the starter battery from the ZIG mains output......

[CJH]

Martin is right
Phased charging is much better and safer.
I would suggest a new battery rather than a new charger.
just sayin!

You could be right. It's always frustrating chasing the cause of a flat battery, but I've usually found that when they start dying unexpectedly they're on their way out.

[AdrianC]

I suppose it comes down to what you want, mine is permantly fitted in the van and is connected to mains hook up and starter battery. Then through some fancy electrics it charges my leisure batteries too. (25A version)
If you just want it for your home to give you a boost, then the ones you've linked to are fine

This is something I haven't really considered before now. My van has a ZIG, which will charge only the leisure battery from a hook up. I have no means of getting a charge back into the starter battery if it was to go flat on site, except maybe to disconnect the leisure battery and put jump leads from the disconnected leisure battery wires over to the starter battery.

If your van's "set up properly", then you won't need to charge the starter battery, any more than you'd need to charge the battery on your car if you leave it for a couple of days. As a rough guide, the starter battery shouldn't be powering any of the stuff you use when you're parked up camping. I suspect a lot of vans have the stereo and interior lights off the starter battery because they're part of the original van wiring, and the conversion's just put the "add-on" stuff onto the leisure. That's certainly what Westfalia did...

[CJH]

If your van's "set up properly", then you won't need to charge the starter battery, any more than you'd need to charge the battery on your car if you leave it for a couple of days. As a rough guide, the starter battery shouldn't be powering any of the stuff you use when you're parked up camping. I suspect a lot of vans have the stereo and interior lights off the starter battery because they're part of the original van wiring, and the conversion's just put the "add-on" stuff onto the leisure. That's certainly what Westfalia did...

Agreed, and it is (or it will be once I move the radio feed to the LVD on the leisure battery). But there's always the chance that something will flatten it, like leaving the lights on overnight by mistake, or churning the starter too many times.