Thanks guys. Learn something new every day.
Jack
-----Original Message-----
From: shop-talk-bounces@autox.team.net
[mailto:shop-talk-bounces@autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Karl Vacek
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2010 5:25 PM
To: 'Shop Talk List'
Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Solar car battery chargers - Now battery tenders
And not to hijack the thread, but the HF unit does NOT desulphate - only a
very few chargers do. For me that's as important as maintaining a charge.
Batteries are expensive - it's nice to take good care of them painlessly.
Karl
> I've bought a few of the Harbor Freight Battery tenders ($12 or $8 on
> sale) and they seem to check out very well according to my Fluke VOM.
I've had a few of those myself, and was not impressed. For one thing, they
just regulate a constant voltage, rather than using a fallback like the
BatteryMinder does. Over time, that will shorten the life of the battery.
It also doesn't keep the battery fully charged.
But more importantly, they have no current regulation. If you connect them
to a discharged battery (in violation of the instructions), the wall wart
overheats and fails. If you then replace the wall wart with one that will
handle the increased current and repeat the experiment, the electronics
module overheats, melts and fails.
I see they do now offer a "3 stage" charger/maintainer, but it's somewhat
more expensive. ($30 list/$15 sale)
Randall
_______________________________________________
Shop-talk@autox.team.net
Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
Suggested annual donation $12.96
Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
Forums: http://www.team.net/forums
Unsubscribe/Manage:
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/jibjib@att.net
_______________________________________________
Shop-talk@autox.team.net
Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
Suggested annual donation $12.96
Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
Forums: http://www.team.net/forums
|