Indy - Guy
Indy - Guy UltimaDork
9/26/24 9:46 a.m.

My battery charger finally gave up the ghost and I need a new one.  What's the hot recommendation these days?

 

Mr_Asa
Mr_Asa MegaDork
9/26/24 9:51 a.m.

Charger or maintainer?  What amperage?  

For maintenance I like Battery Tender, 1.5A

Indy - Guy
Indy - Guy UltimaDork
9/26/24 10:04 a.m.

In reply to Mr_Asa :

I need a charger, not a maintainer.  ~ 4 amp ?  Maybe a multi-amp unit?

I got through a lot of used cars with varying states of "dead" batteries.  I need something that car revive the ones with some life left in them.

Give me your recommendations.

Mr_Asa
Mr_Asa MegaDork
9/26/24 10:09 a.m.

Battery Tender makes multi-amp units as well.  I've never had my little one fail to bring a battery back, just takes a minimum of 24hr.

FWIW the slower you charge a lead-acid battery the stronger the recharge.

Slippery
Slippery UltimaDork
9/26/24 10:22 a.m.

I have a Noco Genius 10, works as both charger and maintainer. I like it. 

Indy - Guy
Indy - Guy UltimaDork
9/26/24 10:26 a.m.

Oh, one more thing that would be good: the ability to charge AGM chemistry batteries.

Indy - Guy
Indy - Guy UltimaDork
9/26/24 10:27 a.m.
Slippery said:

I have a Noco Genius 10, works as both charger and maintainer. I like it. 

 

How long have you had it?  The last charger I bought only lasted 3-4 years before it puked it's guts and took a dump on me.

02Pilot
02Pilot PowerDork
9/26/24 11:24 a.m.

+1 for the NOCO units (mine is a 5 amp, and I recently bought one of the smaller maintainers as well). I've read reports of them crapping out, but mine's been fine for several years. I ordered several quick-connect pigtails to leave installed on various cars, so it's very quick to hook up, even on cars with covered or otherwise hard-to-access batteries.

HotNotch
HotNotch Reader
9/26/24 11:35 a.m.

NOCO Genius 10

can do lithium, AGM, 12V, 6V, and has a 10 amp power supply as well as a repair mode

I've had mine about a year, and it's been flawless

The repair cycle function has helped improve a couple of marginal batteries by 20 to 30% (based on my digital tester)

The power supply mode is great, for dead batteries and getting them able to be put on a repair cycle

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter)
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
9/26/24 11:42 a.m.

"Current" recommendations.... I see what you did there.

Noco Genius is worth every penny.  Most of them are designed as a permanent install, but that really means very little.  So it doesn't have a handle.  I have a 2-bank Genius in my boat and a 1-bank Genius in the garage.

I have a smattering of other chargers - a Die Hard brand I snagged at a farm auction, an old "lunchbox" Schumacher, and a few battery tenders.  All of them work well, but in reality they could all be replaced with one Noco Genius.

Indy - Guy
Indy - Guy UltimaDork
9/26/24 2:02 p.m.

In reply to Everyone :

Thanks guys !  Once again this place delivers !

Looks like I need to pick up one of the Noco Genius Chargers.  Amazon is show $99.  Is that the best (cheapest) place to order it?

wvumtnbkr
wvumtnbkr UltimaDork
9/26/24 2:26 p.m.

Plus 1 for the Nocona genius. 

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter)
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
9/26/24 2:28 p.m.

In reply to Indy - Guy :

It's been several years, but I got mine at SummitRacing.

02Pilot
02Pilot PowerDork
9/26/24 2:36 p.m.

If you can wait, they tend to be discounted significantly on Black Friday, at least on Amazon.

llysgennad
llysgennad HalfDork
9/26/24 2:57 p.m.

I like the 6/12V Schumacher chargers with the 2A maintain/30A charge/100A engine boost. I think the newest do lithium too, along with lead, AGM, GEL. First lasted 20 years, current is a least 5.

Berck
Berck HalfDork
9/26/24 5:27 p.m.

Yet another vote for the Noco Genius 10.  I've got cars with flooded lead acid, AGM and Lithium batteries.  The charger does it all.  It's also temperature corrected for AGM charging, and the repair (desulfation cycle) has brought back more than one battery from the brink for me.

stuart in mn
stuart in mn MegaDork
9/26/24 5:47 p.m.

I have an old Schumacher battery charger that's been great.  They used to be the brand to have, although I don't know if their current products are still considered as reliable.

sevenracer
sevenracer HalfDork
9/27/24 4:27 p.m.

I got one of these about a year ago - good so far. Supports a few battery types. Have used it to bring back a couple of car batteries with the "repair" feature.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B3CV4S2Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

1988RedT2
1988RedT2 MegaDork
9/27/24 4:47 p.m.

I have one of the lunchbox Shumachers from 5 or 6 years ago, and a cheapo H-F one.  I use whichever one I can find first.  They both seem to charge batteries.  I think I like the H-F one because it has a cool old school gauge on it so I can see what's going on.  The Shumacher just charges until the little green light comes on. 

Caperix
Caperix Reader
9/27/24 6:00 p.m.

What about high amp chargers?  I need something for programming newer cars, that normally need 70+ amps for multiple hours

03Panther
03Panther PowerDork
9/27/24 7:02 p.m.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Back in the '50s my dad learned everything there was to know, at the time, about flooded lead/acid batteries. And passed that knowledge on to me. Thankfully, during my main gear head days, not much had changed. 
Had to buy a new charger in 2010 or so, and that was my first experience with a "smart" charger. Most of the time that I needed to charge a battery with it, the battery voltage was low enough, it didn't know it was hooked to a battery, so it would not put out any power to charge it. 
Too "smart" for its own good. 
I assume the newer smart charger like you are suggesting, is better than that, now?

(yes, there are work arounds to overcome its problems, but was easier to toss it on a shelf, and go back to the dumb ones that make you know what the reading on the amp scale analog meter means)

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