<VV> Battery float chargers

[Lonny Clark]

I too have the $5 HF float charger, and it works well on my cars, but DO NOT
USE IT on any battery that is not maintenance-free, enclosed, or AGM/GEL. I
used it on an older motorcycle for winter storage, and it boiled it dry in
less than a month resulting in at least one shorted cell (ruined).
Naturally, of all my motorcycles, that was the one with the battery that is
the hardest to get out, and hardest to find a replacement.

YMMV,

Lonny

On Mon, Sep 8, 2008 at 3:32 PM, Craig Nicol <nicolcs at aol.com> wrote:

>
>
> Last week I wrote: "I just checked the open-circuit voltage of one of my HF
> maintainers and it's only 13.3; I'll hook it up and give you a full report
> later"
>
> Today, Padgett added: "A cell is not 100% charged at 2v/cell, the real
> value
> is 2.25 to 2.27V/cell or 13.5-13.62V for a 12v (6 cell) battery"
>
> So, here's what I found:
>
> $4.99 HF charger stays on all the time and holds the battery at 13.25V,
> installed in a modern vehicle (Audi S6).
>
> $29.99 Black & Decker float charger maintainer (I have) installed to a
> charged battery charges briefly (less than a minute) at 13.6V then turns
> off
> and lets the battery slowly drift down to 12.8V (which can take a day)
>
> $49.99 Schumacher float charger (I have) installed to a charged battery
> charges briefly (less than a minute) at 13.6V and lets the battery slowly
> float down to 12.9V (which can take a day)
>
> For reference, a fully charged battery with no surface charge measures
> 12.68V.
>
> According to battery experts, the more expensive units should be better but
> I detect no differences in how these units perform in the real world. I
> have
> two of the $49.99 units, one of the $29.99 units and five or six of the
> $4.99~$7.99 HF units.  All of them are in use all winter long and I've been
> using all of them for many years.
> Craig Nicol
>
>
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