Need Battery Charger Recommendation

CWilson said:
My apologies, I didn't mean to hijack this thread. I bought a new battery 2 years ago. I will occasionally hook up the battery, and it never will fully charge. I use the same "Tender" on my motorcycle battery, and within a few hours the light will turn from red to green. (fully charged) When I hook up the model A battery, I can leave it hooked up for days, and it won't turn green.
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Poor connections can cause this. Check that the connections at your battery, ground and starter are good and that you have used a good clean location for the positive or ground connection of the charger.
 
AlfinCT said:
I bought a 6v-12v charger from Harbor Freight. It failed on itsd first use.
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I bought my 6/12 volt Cen-Tech Battery Charger (Harbor Freight) in a pinch ~10 years ago and it has never let me down so I have never replaced it. I have even started cars with a dead battery on occasion with it.
 
It some sounds like an issue I suspect I had. I had a sears 2A 6V trickle charge that I feel may have slowly drained my year old battery. I deep charged it with a new 6V @ 6A harbor fright charger. I did two 12 hour charging sessions over 2 days... This charger does not have an auto shutoff... Thus far since last October, I've not charged the battery.. Longest between starts was 3 weeks... And the generator is all that has put power back into the battery.
 
FWIW if you have a dead OPTIMA Battery you cannot just hook a charger to it. Optima has a whole procedure on their web site explaining where you must have another 6V battery in line to charge a dead Optima.
 
The smaller trickle chargers are the best for your battery if you've got time to let it do its deed. Even a 10 amp charger is too much to leave on for more than a few hours, in my book. I like the Schumacher 2 amp 12/6 volt charger from Fleet Farm. I've got 2 of them and they work perfectly. Many people will tel you it doesn't matter WHAT you use, however a properly cared for battery will last YEARS longer than one not so cared for. (yes! Years)
 
I recommend an automatic, well-regulated, temperature-compensated float charger to keep the battery fully charged. This will minimize the risks of long-term damage to the battery due to under or over-charging.

I have followed this regimen for all of my vehicles that are not driven frequently resulting in exceptional battery life. My Harley battery is 12 years old and still going. The battery in my V-10 Dodge pickup (purchased new in 1999) lasted almost 15 years.

YMMV
 

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