RE: Deep Cycle Battery Charger

ckkevin · Sep 28, 2003, 07:05 PM

I am looking for a good 12V Deep Cycle Battery Charger. Will any 12V Battery charger do the job or should I look for certain features.

Any recomendations on a value priced charger?

tlhdoc · Feb 03, 2003, 08:23 PM

ckkevinI use a 12 volt charger with a deep cycle setting. A three stage charger is a better charger, but I use the one I have. Sears has a 3 stage charger. It was on sale 2 weeks ago for $70 or $80.

Civil_War_Buff · Feb 03, 2003, 08:33 PM

tlhdoc

QuoteORIGINAL: tlhdoc

I use a 12 volt charger with a deep cycle setting. A three stage charger is a better charger, but I use the one I have. Sears has a 3 stage charger. It was on sale 2 weeks ago for $70 or $80.

Tracy,

Any idea what the Sears stock number is for the one you saw?

Thanks,

Ab Diver · Feb 03, 2003, 09:13 PM

ckkevinHiya Kevin. Nor-Cal, eh? Check out the Nick-Neff-Cough forum on PUT and come camp with the NNC group sometime!

Look for a charger that will " top off " your battery without " boiling off" the electrolyte. A three-stage charger usually fits the bill, with bulk, absorption, and float stages (higher voltage, lower amps). Dunno what a typical " fully automatic" Wal-Mart-type charger will do, but many use them with no problems. You can go all the way up to temperature compensating chargers if you want, but the price goes up a lot as well.

I use a three-stage Guest " Charge Pro" model #2612A. It s a 10 amp charger, cost about a hundred bucks when I bought it. The 6 amp model #2606 was about 65 bucks, IIRC. Your can check them out at :

http://www.guestco.com/Chargepro/portable.html

Hope this helps you get started on your search.

Gamecock Camper · Feb 03, 2003, 10:14 PM

ckkevinAnother good source is www.northerntool.com

tlhdoc · Feb 04, 2003, 06:42 AM

Civil_War_Buff

QuoteORIGINAL: Civil_War_Buff

QuoteORIGINAL: tlhdoc

I use a 12 volt charger with a deep cycle setting. A three stage charger is a better charger, but I use the one I have. Sears has a 3 stage charger. It was on sale 2 weeks ago for $70 or $80.

Tracy,

Any idea what the Sears stock number is for the one you saw?

Thanks,

No I don t, it was on an end cap display in the service area. It was a Sears brand and the regular price was $100. Sorry I didn t get the model number.

ckkevin · Feb 04, 2003, 12:13 PM

ab diver

QuoteHiya Kevin. Nor-Cal, eh? Check out the Nick-Neff-Cough forum on PUT and come camp with the NNC group sometime!

Thanks for the invite. I have joined the Yahoo NNC group and have been following the forum on PUT. We hope to join a ralley soon. Sounds like a fun group.

SactoCampers · Feb 06, 2003, 10:14 AM

ckkevinKevin,

I just use a cheap $30 10-amp deep-cycle battery charger from Wal-mart and it seems to do the trick. It s fully automatic and does a good job charging my batteries. I ve found that it likes to charge the batteries individually rather than in parallel. I couldn t really justify spending beaucoup bucks. I could buy many extra batteries for the price of the high end chargers. Not sure how much more the really good chargers will extend the life of my batteries compared to the cheap one I got.

My opinion is the best thing for your batteries is to switch from the tow vehicle charge line to a dedicated charger. Anything better than that is icing on the cake.

mrflinders · Feb 08, 2003, 12:02 PM

ckkevinYou definitely want a 3-stage charger to get the most from your deep-cycle battery. I get much more out of a full charge since I bought my Deep cycle charger. The one I got is small and compact, but works exceptionally well. It also offers a standard battery mode for charging standard autmotive batteries as well.

I am very happy with it s performance. I highly suggest you check it out.

Manufacturer: Schumacher
Model: SS-120A-PE
http://www.batterychargers.com/details.cfm?prodid=SS-120A-PE&catid=20

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