What is a car charger? Do you charge the car's battery? How complicated can it be? Believe it or not, literally hundreds of charger models can satisfy all situations. How is your situation? Depending on your specific circumstances, you decide how to choose a battery charger for your car.
Battery charger or jump starter?
The first question to ask is if you are actually looking for an emergency jump starter if the battery charger is actually needed, or simply to bring it into your car. Battery chargers usually stay at home or in stores, are connected to the home's current to charge the battery, and in many cases maintain charging. Jump Starter is a battery that you can actually carry around in your car and start using the low car battery in emergency. If you are looking for a jump starter, this article is not for you. I have another article on how to choose a jump starter.
Battery size and voltage:
Next, you need to ask yourself which cars the battery will be used for. Car, boat, light truck, garden tractor, classic car etc? The vehicle determines whether it is necessary to charge a large or small battery, whether it needs to process only 12 volts or if it needs to handle a 6 volt application. Generally inexpensive car battery chargers for households generally handle 12 volts and possibly even 6 volts. I think that 6 volts (classic cars and tractor batteries) are not necessary, but choosing a 12 volt charger saves you money. Today, some of the best household chargers are still reliable and inexpensive and will accommodate both 6 volt and 12 volt applications.
Battery chemical:
And I thought you were leaving chemistry at school ... I promise to make it easy! Almost all car batteries are lead acid batteries with a lead plate in an acidic bath. The chemically different place is either standard lead acid, AGM, gel cell, or deep cycle. You do not need to know what those chemistry means, you need to know what type they are. Not all chargers are designed to meet the special needs of AGM, gel cell or deep cycle type. Most are standard lead acid. Special chemistry can be found in applications designed for other equipment between cars.
Fully automatic:
The battery charger can be charged manually or automatically. Many things are completely automated, so detect when fully charged and automatically switch to trickle charge or float mode to protect from overcharging. This is an important function that can be used with many good quality household chargers.
safety first:
Modern car battery charger has many safety features. Safety functions to look for are as follows:
1) Reverse Polarity Warning - If the incorrect cable is connected to the wrong post, the charger may warn you. Normally, this can cause sparks, fire gases around the cell, and cause explosion.
2) Float mode - Fully automatic charger has trickle charge or float mode to detect that it is fully charged and back off the charge amp so as not to damage the battery from overcharging. Severe overcharging may cause overheating, breakage, or explosion.
3) Spark proof clamp - It is possible to pay attention to how much care is taken when connecting the charger clamp. Some devices have this safety function, reducing sparks when connected, and even exceeding that.
4) Battery Tester - Many chargers can detect battery health condition. Over time, sulfate will rise in the plate, reducing the ability to receive full charge. Some devices detect that full charge can not be accepted and alert you of problems.
5) Battery Maintenance / Maintenance - Many chargers allow you to maintain and maintain the battery while connected. It is particularly useful for things that are used only rarely, or those stored at some time such as garden tractors, motorcycles, boats, RVs.
6) Clamp · Amplifier - The clamp connected to the post is rated ampere. Normally, this rating is 50 amperes or more. It shall not be less than that.
Other desirable features:
1) Microprocessor control - Basically a microprocessor is a computer on a chip and can be charged based on feedback from the charger and the battery itself. Many of the latest chargers are those controlled by a microprocessor, options for conditioning and recovery of the battery are abundant, and some charge control is further finely controlled to improve charging performance.
2) Multi-step charging - Some chargers have the ability to charge in multiple steps giving you more flexibility to control the charging process. Steps can range from charge mode and float mode to seven stages such as Genius Chargers.
Step 1: Diagnosis
Before starting the charging process, verify that the voltage is good and the battery is stable.
Step 2: Recovery
If necessary, initialize the recovery process of deep discharge or sulfation (desulfation) battery by pulsing a small amount of current.
Step 3: Soft start
Bulk charging process starts with gentle (soft) charging.
Step 4: Bulk
The bulk charging process continues and returns 80% of the battery capacity. It is indicated by 25%, 50%, 75% CHARGE LED.
Step 5: absorption
Set the charge level to 90%. The charger supplies a small amount of current to supply safe and efficient charging and limiting gas.
Step 6: Trickle stream
The battery is fully charged and can be used immediately. In this step, the charger supplies as much current as needed. If more current is needed, the charger switches to maintenance.
Step 7: Maintenance
Continually monitor voltage and decide whether to start maintenance fee. When the terminal voltage falls below a certain value, the charger begins a maintenance cycle and stops the charge cycle until the voltage reaches an appropriate value. Trickle and maintenance cycles are repeated indefinitely, maintaining full charge without overcharging. The charger can be connected indefinitely.
3) Multiple or appropriate charge ampere rate: Many chargers charge a small battery, charge a large battery, or depending on whether you are maintaining or maintaining multiple charging unplated Have. It is common to see charge rates of at least 2 amps and 10 amps, even if it is not moderate 4-6 ampere rate. As long as charging time is not important, obtaining a large charging rate is not important. Low unplated microprocessor-controlled charger will slow down charging, but if time is not acceptable, that work will be done. Please make sure the battery charger is compatible with the application until charging time and charge unplate.
4) Ease of use: If it is important that the charger is easy to use and fully automated with minimal adjustment, there is a way to do it. If there are multiple batteries and each type is different, you may need a more complicated and feature-rich charger by choosing output voltage, charging rate, battery chemistry, and so on. Small size, bulky, easy to hold. If you need to be more portable, look for a big charger handle.
You have it. In this article I covered many of the features and specifications that need to be considered when choosing a car charger. The best place to look for a charger is at Amazon.com, you can compare the features of popular sellers and read reviews of already selected people. Happy Hunting!
