I have a Battery Tender brand charger. I've had it around 10-12 years without a problem. I usually hook it up and stay in the garage for awhile before leaving it. I never leave them on long term. I hook them up, and once I get the green light, I unplug it, place it on the floor for a day or so and put it away. In the Winter, I usually put it on each car 1-2 times. It normally takes 30 minutes or less to charge the battery. A few cars, the battery gets unhooked and a few, I leave them hooked up. I have a few cables I don't care about but, I have a few others I do, one is NOS that cost me $200 and was very hard to find. I'll replace the battery every few years instead of messing the cable up.