Recommend me a Battery Charger

[luckydawg]

Looking for some first hand input on a battery charger. I had a real old on that I liked but no longer.
Here are a couple of needs / wants in one

Charges in a few hours or less
Has a jump start mode-- where I can just hook it up to the dead battery in place & it will start it up
UNCOMPLICATED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO USE -AND USE
Less than $175
Has some kind of ability to tell me when I start using it how dead the battery is

Prefer feedback from first hand exp.

What all do you guys have out there that you like and use?

Thanks

[luckydawg]

88 folks viewed and nobody even mentioned what they have and if they like it
Pretty tough crowd

[Cruzscarwash]

I have a black and decker and a old I think sears model. the black and decker has done me just fine, im not sure how fast it chargers to be honest but was only like $30 bucks

[luckydawg]

I have a black and decker and a old I think sears model. the black and decker has done me just fine, im not sure how fast it chargers to be honest but was only like $30 bucks

Thanks for the feedback- The old one I had was a old sears one also- square black box that was pretty heavy. Served me good when I had it

[MarkD51]

You'll probably find a decent selection of such chargers to fit your needs and budget at places like a Fleet/Farm, or Truck & Tractor Supply Business.

The Battery Tender or CTEK types are more for maintaining and charge relatively slower than perhaps what you are specifically looking for.
A good maintainer type is also nice to have on hand, and there's many here to choose from.

[luckydawg]

I bought one last year @ rural king but am not happy with it- paid less than $50 for it though. Want to really buy one-- for the last time hence willing to spending a bit more on it

[MarkD51]

Maybe what you are looking for is the large roll around type which you'd commonly see at Gas Stations and auto repair shops. Such as these would probably be the last charger you'll buy in this lifetime.

Probably a common brand would be the venerable Schumacher

They commonly have a variety of settings, slow trickle charge, jump start and usually can charge either 6V or 12V Batteries.

[Trip]

Battery Tender has been used in my car that doesn't see winter

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[MattPersman]

I didn’t post because imo you want two separate units. One to charge one for jump starting. The combo units aren’t typically that great


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[MarkD51]

I didn’t post because imo you want two separate units. One to charge one for jump starting. The combo units aren’t typically that great


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From some articles I've read about chargers, some run of the mill cheapo units will of course charge a Battery, but there might be a downside.

In that as they taper the charge and the amperage drops, the voltage increases, and the end result is, is that some junk chargers can fry the living crap out of a battery.

Forgive me if it is verboten, but this is one charger that I have, and have been very happy with it.

https://www.pulsetech.net/store/12v-24v-battery-chargers/xc100-p-xtreme-charge-12v-battery-maintenance-charger-desulfator.html

I suspect the CTEK chargers sold here are of a high quality and are properly designed also to not turn a battery to toast.

[LSNAutoDetailing]

I use Battery Tender +
For the occasional customer car that needs a jump, I have one of these.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171128/d3be206e5a076426c59682819ec30df7.jpg


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[GSKR]

Battery tenders my client has 40 of them all hooked up to classic cars ranging from 50 k to 380 k .I also have one on my car

[luckydawg]

Thanks to everyone that took the time to post feedback to help this old man out!!!
Ended up with one of those Schumacher ones-- about $120

[chet31]

Here's a different approach, something like this is an LED flashlight, will jump start your car, charge your car battery, charge your phone, charge your laptop, and will fit in your glove box, $67:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0721MHSVD/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I1J7BIULOL2SJF&colid=11JNG636KTIXV&psc=0

[MarkD51]

Thanks to everyone that took the time to post feedback to help this old man out!!!
Ended up with one of those Schumacher ones-- about $120

Best of luck with your new charger.