What kind of automotive battery charger should I buy?

March 13, 2010

I want to buy an automotive battery charger but I am confused the the amount volts and amps it should have. I would like to know what would be the recommended specs for a charger used to charge automotive batteries. Thanks!!!

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Categories: Automotive.

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7 Responses

  1. MelanieMarch 13, 2010 @ 10:11 am

    Usually any size battery charger will work. Hope this helps.

  2. Firebird FarmboyMarch 13, 2010 @ 11:06 am

    Well You need a 12 volt charger.. That will be what your car or pick-up is.. Some larger trucks are 24 volt (2, 12 volt batteries). If you want to use it to boost your car from a dead battery you should buy one with a “boost” setting. Don’t try to charge a battery with this setting, you will ruin the battery. I have a 12 volt, 10 amp charger i bought for under $50 and it charges the battery at about the same rate as running the car would. It is safe to charge a battery without even disconnecting it from the cables with a 10 amp. 4-5 hours to charge a good dead battery is enough to put about a 75% charge in it.. Enough to get you going.

  3. renderman50March 13, 2010 @ 11:28 am

    A lot of battery chargers have the option of charging a 6 volt battery and a 12 volt battery. The options on the 12 volt are 2 amps for a slow trickle charge, 30-40 amps for a rapid charge, and about 200 amps for an engine start boost. The engine start will be nice for starting engines with a dead battery.

    You should monitor the battery on a rapid charge and never leave it on an engine start charge for longer than needed to start the engine. Also, pop the battery caps when charging.

    I kind of like Sear’s Die Hard battery chargers as well.

  4. NomaddMarch 13, 2010 @ 12:12 pm

    10 to 15 amps and fully automatic so you don’t have to worry about it cooking the battery if you leave it hooked up too long.

  5. the FigurerMarch 13, 2010 @ 12:18 pm

    It is a matter of speed. The charger should have 6Volt and 12Volt on it.
    Amperage is the rate of flow. I have just a 10A but I can wait overnight in the majority of cases on a dead battery.
    2A charger doesn’t do anything really.
    6A is very slow
    Deep cycle is for RV and electric boat motor batteries.
    A quick charger sends a high amperage thru the battery so that you can start the car almost immediately (however it is hard on the battery as that jolt tends to warp battery plates and warped plates can touch each other, killing that cell)
    I have used mine so many times over jumper cables, it has paid for itself 20 times over.

  6. dodge manMarch 13, 2010 @ 12:59 pm

    i own a shop and if you want a really good one i suggest you go to sears and get real good one,they have the ones that offer the boost feature also that allows you to start a car with a dead battery,and there not to expensive either,i think i payed around 100 bucks for this one i have and i have used it for over ten years without any problems,it also has the slow charge feature on it which i like because fast charging a good battery will ruin the cells in it,advance auto parts also has one for about the same price that works as well and i think its a few bucks cheaper also,if i was going to use one a lot,id get a good craftsman,from sears,good luck with it,i hope this helps.

  7. joshnya68March 13, 2010 @ 1:54 pm

    Just make sure the charger can reliably charge the Ah rating of your battery. Automotive chargers are 12V chargers, but the battery will come off the charger around 13.5V



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