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Re: Trickle chargers [Re: 318 Stroker] #2833166
10/15/20 09:16 PM
10/15/20 09:16 PM
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Originally Posted by 318 Stroker


Will plugging a trickle charger into a GFI outlet prevent a fire if the charger shorts out?


The circuit breaker should trip if the charger shorts on the AC side, if it shorts on the DC side then the battery will feed the short. Most good chargers should have a fuse or breaker on the DC side to prevent that.

Re: Trickle chargers [Re: Andrewh] #2833263
10/16/20 05:49 AM
10/16/20 05:49 AM
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Port Huron, Michigan
MI_Custumz Offline
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Originally Posted by Andrewh
Originally Posted by 318 Stroker
Originally Posted by Andrewh
I used to like battery tender, till I found out their warranty was garbage, and of course that fire the one member had.


Will plugging a trickle charger into a GFI outlet prevent a fire if the charger shorts out?


I don't think so.
A GFCI outlet measures the power coming in and then returning to your panel as it completes the circuit. It was designed to detect any difference more than 4 or 5 milliamps and to react quickly (less than one-tenth of a second) to shut down any circuit out of this small range.

which is not the issue. It is using all that power to create fire. It isn't shorting through something to ground. It is shorting to itself.


Would an AFCI outlet prevent a fire? I think they have a combo GFCI/AFCI outlet available.

Re: Trickle chargers [Re: 360view] #2833277
10/16/20 07:19 AM
10/16/20 07:19 AM
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USA
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Originally Posted by 360view
For several years I have been impressed with this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Pulsetech-Xt...8-1&keywords=desulfating+charger#Ask

When it gets the battery fully charged,
the “trickle” cycle consumes 1 watt of power more than when the unit is on but no battery connected,
which is roughly 1/14.2 = 70 milliamps “Trickle Current”

It can charge two batteries in parallel.

I wish it had a 90% charged LED too, instead of individual LEDs for 75% and 100%,
or a 1-100% digital readout.


There is a inline fuse on the DC side on the Pulsetech.

I plug in an older, cheaper, Kill-A-Watt power meter on the AC side to watch the watts of power, which smoothly drop as the battery reaches full charge.

I now do this will my older 1970s Schumacher 1.6-2-10-50 amp battery charger too.

https://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Ele...refix=Kill-a-watt%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-5

There are cheaper $14 knock-offs:

https://www.amazon.com/Micro-Watt-M...efix=Kill-a-watt%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-14

Re: Trickle chargers [Re: moparjack44] #2833284
10/16/20 07:52 AM
10/16/20 07:52 AM
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I do the same thing MJ44. Battery Tenders are nice and small and work well. I even use a solar Battery Tender on my trailer.

Re: Trickle chargers [Re: MI_Custumz] #2833306
10/16/20 08:56 AM
10/16/20 08:56 AM
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Originally Posted by MI_Custumz
Originally Posted by Andrewh
Originally Posted by 318 Stroker
Originally Posted by Andrewh
I used to like battery tender, till I found out their warranty was garbage, and of course that fire the one member had.


Will plugging a trickle charger into a GFI outlet prevent a fire if the charger shorts out?


I don't think so.
A GFCI outlet measures the power coming in and then returning to your panel as it completes the circuit. It was designed to detect any difference more than 4 or 5 milliamps and to react quickly (less than one-tenth of a second) to shut down any circuit out of this small range.

which is not the issue. It is using all that power to create fire. It isn't shorting through something to ground. It is shorting to itself.


Would an AFCI outlet prevent a fire? I think they have a combo GFCI/AFCI outlet available.


I don't know on this one.
I have seen them trip using a vacuum but I don't know how it reads the "spark", vs runaway power short.
which could also be due to the battery itself rather than the charger.

Re: Trickle chargers [Re: 360view] #2833452
10/16/20 01:10 PM
10/16/20 01:10 PM
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 5,193
NEW JERSEY
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I use this pulse-tech xtreme charger, it actually saved a few smaller alarm and lawn mower batteries for me and they have been great. a regular charger charged them up but the next day they were dead. the pulse charger revived them and they are alive a full year already..and I use it on all my cars even the daily drivers , I leave them on for a day.

Re: Trickle chargers [Re: GomangoCuda] #2833483
10/16/20 02:07 PM
10/16/20 02:07 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,435
So Cal
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I had used Battery Tenders for many years for my cars but....
Went out to the garage and found 1 of the Battery Tenders had shorted out and melted the bottom panel.... eek eek
Next I called Battery Tender talked to their support guy and advised him of my issue. He requested I send him a photo of the melted unit, so I did. He advised they had never seen this issue.. shruggy
They sent me a new unit which I gave to another car friend as I no longer trusted Battery Tender and I had switched to the Battery Minder from Amazon. Then about a month later I get an email from Battery Tender requesting me to send the defective unit back to them for inspection but I already tossed it into the trash. The Battery Minder has worked very well plus it has the sulphate cycle....


Just my $0.02... wink

Re: Trickle chargers [Re: DUFFMAN] #2833570
10/16/20 04:56 PM
10/16/20 04:56 PM
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Highland, MI.
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Originally Posted by DUFFMAN
I've been using these for years and they work great. They're the only ones I've found that also do desulfication.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200332201_200332201


This one looks pretty interesting!!


No Man With A Good Car Needs To Be Justified
Re: Trickle chargers [Re: AARCONV] #2833923
10/17/20 03:59 PM
10/17/20 03:59 PM
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Originally Posted by AARCONV
I use this pulse-tech xtreme charger, it actually saved a few smaller alarm and lawn mower batteries for me and they have been great. a regular charger charged them up but the next day they were dead. the pulse charger revived them and they are alive a full year already..and I use it on all my cars even the daily drivers , I leave them on for a day.


I've had a great experience with the Pulse Tech too! I had a Yellow cap AGM not holding a charge and I was getting ready to toss it. SInce those batteries are hard to come by I thought I'd give this charger a shot and low and behold it saved it. It's been running for over a year and it was probably about 8 years old at the time.

Re: Trickle chargers [Re: Sunroofcuda] #2833939
10/17/20 04:40 PM
10/17/20 04:40 PM
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So Cal
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Here is the Battery Minder I posted about... Been available since 2013, works great and includes the desulfication feature.... Has a 10 year warranty.

https://www.batteryminders.com/1510-12-volt-maintenance-charger-desfulator-with-warranty


Just my $0.02... wink

Re: Trickle chargers [Re: Sinitro] #2834013
10/17/20 08:16 PM
10/17/20 08:16 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
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Highland, MI.
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Originally Posted by Sinitro
Here is the Battery Minder I posted about... Been available since 2013, works great and includes the desulfication feature.... Has a 10 year warranty.

https://www.batteryminders.com/1510-12-volt-maintenance-charger-desfulator-with-warranty


Just my $0.02... wink


I just ordered one of these. up


No Man With A Good Car Needs To Be Justified
Re: Trickle chargers [Re: 360view] #2834124
10/18/20 07:56 AM
10/18/20 07:56 AM
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Posts: 8,162
USA
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How would “an average joe”
test one of these automotive battery chargers against one another, at not too high a cost?

I see these Belkin Battery Backup Rev. B units in local Thrift Stores fairly regularly, priced at $4 to $6.

https://www.newegg.com/p/2FT-000S-0...QBaEAQYASABEgIf9fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds#

These have a built in battery tester/charger.
( It might be possible to use them as automotive battery maintainers? )

I plug them into a wall socket at the Thrift Store,
and if the battery does not test bad,
I buy them to get the Yuasa 7 amp-hour SLA battery inside.
I use these Yuasa SLA batteries in APC Uninterruptible 120v Power Supplies.

https://www.atbatt.com/yuasa-np7-12...fiIm-7AIVCb7ACh1SDQqEEAQYASABEgIuYvD_BwE

How could I create the best “home brew” test
if I had several identical make and amp-hr rated batteries,
one brand new Yuasa battery,
and two to four used ones?





Re: Trickle chargers [Re: 360view] #2834134
10/18/20 08:37 AM
10/18/20 08:37 AM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,005
Tulsa OK
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There isn't a real great way to test those batteries with out some kind of equipment that can discharge them at the prescribed rate. Usually those batteries will get to 12.5-13.0 volts or they won't, when they won't you can call them bad.

You need to come up with a schedule for battery replacement for power supplies. Waiting until the batteries fail can cause problems. Sometimes the batteries swell up and won't come out of the units, or they melt down. My APC unit was telling me the battery was bad and I let it go a few days, battery goo all over in the entertainment cabinet and a pretty wicked smell.


68 Barracuda Formula S 340
87 "Chrysler" Conquest
Re: Trickle chargers [Re: Bad340fish] #2837181
10/25/20 07:45 AM
10/25/20 07:45 AM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,005
Tulsa OK
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I just wanted to brag on the little 4.0 amp Optima charger. My Jeep has a one month old Yellow Top Optima in it. Somehow the dome lights got left on for a week and drained it hammer dead. I hooked it up to the charger and it read 0% charged and 3.1 volts. It took it about 36 hours but it charged it up and shut down into maintain mode. Then my neighbor needed a battery so he could use his old beater truck so I let him borrow it and it worked great.

The Optima charger and my old Ctek I got from a marketing promotion at work are the ONLY automatic chargers I have seen do this succesfully without missing the mark and shutting off too early. My CTEK charger only lasted a short time but it worked great when it did work. This optima charger has been dropped, glued back together, and spent a night in the rain before and is still kicking.


68 Barracuda Formula S 340
87 "Chrysler" Conquest
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