I posted this solar charger on page 4. Might suit you. Makes things easy if you're in the sun sometimes.

https://www.amazon.com/ECO-WOR...r%2Caps%2C133&sr=8-3

And I have this one for my motorcycle:

https://www.amazon.com/Battery...dExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

I have this one.
https://www.amazon.com/Clore-A...a-450286109001&psc=1

I've tried solar and others but this one has worked well.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
What's a good, inexpensive trickle charger, if there is such a thing/

I don't recall how economical it was, but the little Guest 6A charger I have out in the garage has served me well. Have had it now for about fifteen years.

Guest chargers are, or they were when we still had boats, very popular with boaters.

Our boats' batteries would spend about half the year on the hard (out of the water). I'd pull the batteries, put them in the garage, make sure they were topped-off individually, then hook them in parallel to that little Guest charger to maintain them through the winter.

Never had a battery fail me come splash time

Just replaced an 8-yr old Deka/East Penn Intimidator AGM battery in my son's car with a new one of the same - only because I figured it was a good preventive move:

https://www.eastpennmanufactur...deka-intimidator-tm/

Be sure to get the small wiring harness for the charger you decide to get.
Easy installation and makes life much easier.

Battery Tender Ring Terminal Accessory Cable, Ring Terminal to SAE Adaptor Battery Chargers - 081-0069-6
https://www.amazon.com/Battery...ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1

Batteries and battery charger information could fill an entire textbook. When you crank an engine, a large amount of power is taken from the battery. The alternator replaces this power loss when the vehicle is driven a considerable distance. If it is a short trip (a few miles) the battery is not brought up to full charge. If you repeat this a few times the battery will be gradually discharged and will crank slowly or not at all. In addition to this the battery charge declines from parasitic drain which all vehicles have. I have one car that if you park it with a full charge and a good battery, it will not crank in about two weeks. The solution to this is a regulating trickle charger. I connect it when I park the car. Simple connection to the battery and I just leave it. The charger charges if needed and shuts off when not needed. This is a small unit and costs $30-$40 bucks at a farm store, Walmart or an auto parts store or online. It is not designed to charge a dead battery because it's output is too small but it will if left connected for about 3 days. I have a small farm with tractors, mowers, cars and a truck. I have about 8 chargers of different sizes for different situations and could not get along without them. A Schumacher SC1319 or SC1355 or something similar would be a good maintainer for you in that price range above. If I used the truck intermittently I would just hook it up when I pulled in the garage and leave it until the next time I needed the truck. There are better chargers available with larger capabilities which get close to $100 and are probably more than you need. Personally, I would get the charger and put it on the battery you have and see how it behaves. Your battery may or may not be OK. If you have to replace it after this experiment, you will have a charger for the new battery which you need anyway because of the way you use this vehicle. Batteries have to be at full charge to test or they will flunk for sure.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Oy

It's a car battery. When did this stuff become so convoluted?

When you started letting your battery sit, "unused," for long periods of time

Lead-acid batteries simply don't tolerate that well. No way for you to have known that. You really need Lithium technology for that kind of use.

I just called my automotive battery place to ask them about Lithium-Metal automotive starter batteries. They don't yet sell them and really know nothing about them. He said he understands they require alternator and other changes, but wasn't certain.

Meanwhile, searching on the web, I see claims of "drop-in replacement."

I think your "buy a new battery and a trickle charger" is going to be the best solution for you.

Speaking of which: It seems my battery charger isn't exactly "economical": Guest 2606A Portable Marine Battery Charger (12-Volt, 6-Amps, Single Output). $117.

I don't recall paying anything near that when I bought ours at West Marine. But that was sixteen years ago, too. (Kind of surprised Guest is still making the exact same model after all this time.)

Working at a truck dealership I see a lot of trucks with flat batteries even with battery shut off switches.
Brand new trucks, used trucks, doesn't matter.
After a bit they will need jumped.

I had initially got the Pro-logix for work.
The new diagnostic connector doesn't like less than 12V and I hooked that up to keep everything happy with battery systems that were weak.
It worked that charger harder than I liked charging 4 batteries at once so I took it home.

I don't drive my Land Cruiser much and had some hokey solar charger that didn't work on it.
I pulled the battery and put the pro-logix on it.
Much better than using the other full size charger I have for long term use.

Using the alternator to charge a dead battery doesn't do it any good either.
To many times of that and then you need an alternator as well.
There're not meant to be running at full blast for long periods.

I've had very good luck with these from batteries plus, yes they are expensive, but I've been running one a good 5 years in my Tundra. No signs of weakening, you can usually get 10-15% off buying online.

https://www.batteriesplus.com/...optional/sli27fagmdp

This looks like a good option.
You order online and don't have to go near a store.
This one includes the ring terminal harness and the alligator clips type.
Just understand, this is just a low amp maintainer, not a full charger like you'd need to charge up a dead battery in a few hours.
I have one of these on my F150 that gets driven 500 miles or less a year.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bat...a&selectedSellerId=0

I’m starting to think that much of the problem is with the idea of “maintenance free” batteries. I have never understood how a lead acid battery can be maintenance free. Even if advertised as so, they still have fill caps under the sticker.

I’ve started pulling the stickers off, prying out the caps, and topping off the battery fluid with distilled water. Or better yet, I try to buy batteries with old type removable fill caps. Keeping the acid level above the plates seems to make batteries last much longer than just putting them in and forgetting about it until it quits.

The only way a battery would maintain its fluid level is if you live in a climate that stays 70° all the time, and your commute is long enough to charge it every time you drive. That doesn’t represent most people’s use, so we end up replacing batteries every 3-4 years.

Back in the days of generators, rather than alternators, when all lead-acid batteries had easily-accessed fill caps: Yes: I regularly checked and re-filled my batteries. I also owned a specific gravity tester such as this



to test them.

I haven't had to do either of those things in 30-40 years and have yet to have had a battery fail on me--even in the most frigid of S.E. Michigan weather.

(Knock on wood.)

Have occasionally had them become frighteningly marginal, though, as-evidenced by scary slow cranking speeds.

^^^ Yes the hygrometer and a voltmeter served me well during my mechanic days and I never really needed anything more to diagnose a battery problem.
Checking the specific gravity with that in each cell would show when a particular cell was the problem. Over time, a cell that gets low on electrolyte when the others gives you a good hint where the problem is too. If you check and all cells but 1 are full or near full and one is very low than that is likely a failing cell.
I've never used a load tester, ever.

OK, so I bit the bullet and bought a Noco "Genius1". 32 bucks. Initially, my battery was so dead that the charger couldn't sense the voltage and therefore would not begin charging. Jumped off the truck, drove it around town a few minutes and now it's charging. I'm going to let it charge overnight. The manual says 22.5 hours to full charge. We'll see. If it goes wonky after that, it's new battery time.

Thank for all the help. In certain respects, I am a simple man, and automotive care is one of them. Para buy truck, pay fees, put gas in truck, start up, drive truck. Truck not go? {stamps feet} MAKE TRUCK GO!!!!!

I have a Noco Genius 1 that maintains the battery on my full house generator. It has been a great charger.

Thanks. I asked the guy at the auto parts store, which of the less expensive chargers gets returned to him the least. He immediately pointed to the Noco.

My trucks battery is an interstate so far still works good.
Johnson Controls make interstate, walmart, and autozone batteries.

I chose interstate because of the nationwide warranty service.

.

Well, I left my nifty new charger on the battery overnight and it took a full charge. My truck cranked right away. And although I said earlier, the terminals were tight, I had just tried moving them by hand. When I put the ratchet to them, they were both, well, not loose, but the nuts did take a turn or two to tighten down all the way.

Thinking about it, it does seem that the infrequency of driving the truck, combined with short trips, may mean that I was not sufficiently charging the battery while driving, and there may be some life life left in this battery.

Thanks for all the help.

Wife's car has a not-too-old Bosch AGM in it....been sluggish lately.
I took Para's example and just ordered the same charger to see it it helps....can guarantee her short trips about town are killing it

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sgalczyn,