Recommend a good general purpose battery charger

two

two

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My electric car has a 12V auxiliary battery to drive all the electronics. it's been in storage a few months and the battery has gone flat.
I need a charger to get everything going again.
Maybe something that will address all battery chemistries.
I think the battery is AGM (it's not a starter battery).
There's a whole host of choices out there, but I'm not sure where to start.
I want something reliable (no cheap tat) but only for occasional use.
 
I've used Optimate chargers for years and swear by their quality. I've got one of their smaller 12v chargers which also has the extra leads and plug with it so you can wire up, say, a motorbike battery and just plug it in to maintain it while you're away. https://optimate1.com/
 
Another vote for CTec, I use several MXS 5.0 for the bikes and car, they have a recondition function that works wonders.

Cheers
Red
 
Thanks for the replies.
I'm familiar with C-Tek but there seem to be so many options. I was expecting "small", "medium", or "large"...
I'll take a second look.

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I also have a few CTEK MXS5.0 5A smart chargers. But I have them because it has a 0.8A mode for charging motorbike batteries. If I didn't need that I might get a larger one with more amps. These chargers do various lead-acid battery types, but not lithium.

I also have a Victron IP65 15A smart charger, for the 100Ah leisure battery. It does all kinds of batteries, including lithium. I prefer the IP65 version for its convenience, it's more compact and portable than the IP22 version, which does the same thing. One thing I like is the special connector in the charging lead. You can permanently attach a short wire to the battery, and easily connect it up to charge it when required.

Other chargers like the CTEK and Optimate also have a similar connection method, but the Victron has the lithium option in case of future upgrades.

All these chargers are 'smart', and continuously monitor the battery volts and amps. They charge at full rate until about 80%, then do a constant voltage stage to finish the charging process. They then automatically switch to float charging, to keep the battery topped up but not overcharged. They can be left connected indefinitely, for months if you want.
 
I've had a couple of the "cheaper" smart chargers and they won't look at a battery if it's got less than 10volts left in it ?
My ancient Bradex 8amp transformer based unit just keeps plodding on though and I can use it as a temporary 12volt supply too when I'm checking stuff out (solenoids, wiper motors etc) ? 🤷‍♂️
 
two said:
My electric car has a 12V auxiliary battery to drive all the electronics. it's been in storage a few months and the battery has gone flat.
I need a charger to get everything going again.
Maybe something that will address all battery chemistries.
I think the battery is AGM (it's not a starter battery).
There's a whole host of choices out there, but I'm not sure where to start.
I want something reliable (no cheap tat) but only for occasional use.
Click to expand...
That’s interesting. I’m sure on mine that the main, lithium batteries keep the 12V lead acid battery topped up. I used to use an Optimate charger before I had a EV. You probably only need 1A to keep a “starter” battery topped up.
 
Ring 7-stage 12v charger. Ha, no longer made!
 
two said:
My electric car has a 12V auxiliary battery to drive all the electronics. it's been in storage a few months and the battery has gone flat.
I need a charger to get everything going again.
Maybe something that will address all battery chemistries.
I think the battery is AGM (it's not a starter battery).
There's a whole host of choices out there, but I'm not sure where to start.
I want something reliable (no cheap tat) but only for occasional use.
Click to expand...
Very strange, isn’t the main traction battery keeping the auxiliary topped up? In my case the auxiliary is always full, feeding of the main battery when in storage. Ours is stored 3-5 months at times, and all I do is charge the car as normal. In the manual says not to charge the 12v, as I was thinking of hooking up a panel and controller to it while stood.

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Another vote for CTEK MXS 5.0. Use 2 of them and very good with no issues at all.
 
I bought the Victron ip65 based on recommendations / reviews on here. Also has a low amp charge option. Love the way it can connect permanently or temporarily (with crock clips). Very happy with it for the van. On my hybrid car, the 12v can run flat but is needed to bring the traction battery alive. I think that’s its only purpose.
 
CTEK One…..very expensive but it does all batteries, reconditions, float/maintenance etc etc.

It brought back to life a battery I had which wasn’t holding a charge for more than a couple of weeks. Put it through a recondition and the battery is back to life. Does my scooter, motorhome, 4x4.

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Burgo said:
I've used Optimate chargers for years and swear by their quality. I've got one of their smaller 12v chargers which also has the extra leads and plug with it so you can wire up, say, a motorbike battery and just plug it in to maintain it while you're away. https://optimate1.com/
Click to expand...
Ditto. I have four of them. The latest one is a 6v/12v.
 
StillGoing said:
That’s interesting. I’d assumed (it sounds like wrongly) that the main, lithium batteries would keep the 12V lead acid battery topped up. I used to use an Optimate charger. You probably only need 1A to keep “starter” battery topped up.
Click to expand...
Yes, the Lithium is supposed to come on for an hour each day to charge up the battery. (Mitsubishi Outlander)
Battery is tiny and 5years old.
 
Thanks for all the replies.
I have ordered a Victron IP65 (25A) and it should arrive tomorrow.
The Victorian range appears to do everything I need and the range of options less confusing.
Even at £200 it's less than the replacement battery (£220) if I can recover it. And then I have a charger for other purposes.
 

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