318ti.org forum

Go Back   318ti.org forum > Technical, Maintenance and Modifications > Electrical

Notices

Electrical All wiring questions.

.
» Recent Threads
1999 M-Sport For Sale
12-31-2023 05:10 PM
Last post by Coop540iT
03-23-2024 06:39 PM
1 Replies, 95,680 Views
Once again 318ti owner...
03-20-2024 12:39 PM
Last post by two30grain
03-22-2024 02:04 PM
1 Replies, 58,618 Views
What brakes do I...
03-20-2024 03:27 PM
Last post by huirtera
03-20-2024 03:27 PM
0 Replies, 56,040 Views
M50+manual swap bastard...
03-01-2024 11:00 PM
Last post by Andy318
03-18-2024 02:34 PM
3 Replies, 130,941 Views
Reply Share/Bookmark
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 05-26-2011, 03:42 AM   #1
dhong089
Member
 
dhong089's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 85
Vehicles
iTrader: (0)
Default Battery Maintainer vs Battery Charger

I understand that a battery charger does exactly what it's named: charge the battery.

A battery maintainer sort of "conditions" the battery and always keeps it on top shape.

My question is, can I simply buy a battery maintainer and use it as a charger? Or are maintainers too "weak" to actually charge the battery? I'm sort of confused.

I was reading many reviews of the "cheaper" battery chargers, and I don't think I can really trust them. Also I don't have the money to go all out. On top of that, I don't think I can use a charger without blowing up the battery... lol

So what are your opinions?

There is a battery maintainer from snap-on that I am interested in, as the price isn't bad.

Here's the direct link: http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....re&dir=catalog
dhong089 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-2011, 05:20 AM   #2
jca
Senior Member
 
jca's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Wichita Falls, Texas
Posts: 1,364
iTrader: (1)
Default

A good question. I'm looking forward to some replies.
jca is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-2011, 06:03 AM   #3
zoner
Senior Member
 
zoner's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 1,464
iTrader: (7)
Default

It would work, but it would probably take about 24 hours to fully charge a battery.
zoner is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-2011, 06:26 AM   #4
CirrusSR22
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 1,587
iTrader: (3)
Default

Yes, a battery maintainer/tender charges. I wouldn't really say it "conditions" or makes the battery better though, it's just a charger with a brain. It charges until the battery is full, recognizes that, and then stops charging. As long as it's still connnected it can sense when the battery is starting to lose charge from sitting and then automatically starts charging it again.
CirrusSR22 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-2011, 03:12 PM   #5
John Firestone
Senior Member
 
John Firestone's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Bremerhaven, Germany
Posts: 977
iTrader: (0)
Default

A friend had a similar charger and found that it wasn't enough to top off his X5.

If I were in your shoes, I'd spend a bit more money and get a charger that is sized to charge and then maintain your battery, for example, this unit which should be fine for the stock battery.

You'll find some more info on that one here.

Last edited by John Firestone; 05-26-2011 at 03:25 PM.
John Firestone is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-2011, 06:00 PM   #6
mohaughn
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Florida
Posts: 2,525
iTrader: (1)
Default

Yikes, that snapon charger is way overpriced for a 1.5amp charger..

I use a battery tender JR .75amp trickle charger/tender and it works fine. Now, if a battery is completely dead, you may need a more powerful charger to get a charge back into it, but if you are storing a car and need to keep the battery in good shape, you should not need a 1.5amp or higher trickle charger.
mohaughn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-2011, 06:17 PM   #7
John Firestone
Senior Member
 
John Firestone's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Bremerhaven, Germany
Posts: 977
iTrader: (0)
Default

It really depends on what's running down the battery. My friend was making a lot of short trips that never gave time to fully recharge the battery. Hence, he needed a faster charger. I bet his old maintenance charger would have been just fine if, instead, the problem was that he had been parking the car for days at a time and having that slowly drain the battery.

Last edited by John Firestone; 05-26-2011 at 06:20 PM.
John Firestone is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-2011, 07:10 PM   #8
bazar01
Senior Member
 
bazar01's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Georgia
Posts: 595
iTrader: (0)
Default

Most cars with anti-theft, alarms, and radio memory pre-sets will draw less than 100 milliamps. So a 1-1.5 amp battery maintainer should be enough to keep a good battery fully charged when the car is off or in storage for long period of time. Now when the battery is completely flat, you may be able to revive it but you will have to wait coz it will take more than a day to recharge it.
__________________
1996 Ti 280k miles and still going....
1993 964 - holding on to this one
2001 Burban, 240k miles
2018 Suburban Z71
bazar01 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-2011, 09:12 PM   #9
John Firestone
Senior Member
 
John Firestone's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Bremerhaven, Germany
Posts: 977
iTrader: (0)
Default

Sulfation typically starts to degrade an automotive battery when it falls below roughly 80% charged. That suggests it wouldn't hurt to charge/float charge a 60Ah battery experiencing a 50mA quiescent draw if the car will be sitting for more than a week or two (20% x 60Ah / 0.05A = 240 h). Or perhaps less, if the car only sees short trips.

Last edited by John Firestone; 05-26-2011 at 09:17 PM.
John Firestone is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Dead battery applefan Electrical 8 02-13-2009 02:56 PM
New 4.5 lb battery?! clex2 Electrical 6 07-15-2007 08:47 AM
Stock Battery andrei Electrical 9 01-24-2006 11:57 AM
Battery ?/other Tyler Electrical 7 01-04-2006 11:12 PM
Anyone relocated their battery? hotdog19d Electrical 17 11-08-2004 05:27 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 10:56 AM.


.
Powered by site supporters
vBulletin Version 3.8.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©1999 - 2024, 318ti.org
© vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.2
[page compression: 90.51 k/107.21 k (15.58%)]

318ti.org does not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information or products discussed.