How to choose a car battery charger

Car battery health is remembered when a critical moment arrives. To avoid possible problems and to provide a charge in time, you need to choose the right chargers. They are especially in demand in winter, when outside temperature is below zero. But you can even forget to turn off the lights even in the summer, connect a lot of devices and the battery simply does not have enough power.

A modern car owner should have a charger in the list of the most necessary components. Before choosing a specific model, you need to decide how each of them differs.

Battery Voltage-6/12/24 V

The first condition for proper charging is a suitable voltage. 6 B is very rare and that on older models of motorcycles is that. But 12 and 24 V-more often. So, in the market of auto accessories, you can pick up universal models and specifically for a certain parameter.

The 24 V chargers are universal designs that are suitable for both cars and trucks. They are also used for other, small and not very technical: wagons, agricultural, tractors, etc.

Type of rechargeable battery

Car batteries are: lead-acid, gel, dry charged, flooded. Each type has its own characteristics, so you need to choose the appropriate charger.

WET-the only universal battery, to which all chargers can fit. But here remember one important point: it’s better to charge it regularly than to provide deep charging once.

Gel batteries have many advantages over lead batteries: low self-discharge current and longer service life. These batteries require special chargers. Here, remember that you can not exceed their maximum current value and do not use accelerated charging.

If you pick up the wrong charger, your battery may fail, swell and in most cases will not be repairable. Here, give preference to either universal models, or carefully approach the choice of a suitable design.

Battery Capacity

Often juxtapose the concept of capacity to the physical dimensions of a battery. But here we are dealing a bit with the other. It is measured in amperes/hour and shows the current parameter, which the battery gives for a specific period of time. The indicator plays a significant role when choosing a charger.

You need to choose a memory device in which the capacity is most suited to the battery indicator. But then we take into account that over time, the battery will have to be changed and it’s far from a fact that you will choose a model with the same capacity.

In order not to change the chargers in the future, it’s better to buy a model with a power margin of around 10%. It is possible and more if you plan to buy another battery in the future.

Charging current: what should be

It is important to choose this parameter correctly, because it depends on it how much you can protect it from premature aging. You can charge the battery faster or slower. It all depends on the current: the higher it is, the faster the process. But there is another side to the coin: a high value negatively affects the battery.

The correct value when the current is 10% of the battery capacity. For example, the battery capacity is 55 A/h, then the charging current should be within 5.5 A.

Charge Level Control

The most convenient chargers-automatic or pulse. At first they charge with direct current, and by the end of charging they switch to constant voltage. All that is required of the driver is to connect the charging to the battery and wait until the charging process is complete.

Such devices are equipped with a microcontroller, which determines the amount of current, the time it takes to charge. The indicators are displayed, so the driver controls the whole process.

Applicable Technologies

Depending on the technology used, chargers are of the following types:

1. Transformer-a classic. Now they are considered the "last century", since there are more advanced models. Among the drawbacks is a large and heavy transformer. Due to difficulties in operation, they are not very popular among modern drivers.

2. Pulsed-charged with pulses. Work with higher frequencies. They have great performance and at the same time compact. There is additional short circuit protection.

3. Start-charging-in addition to the main function of charging the battery have the ability to start the engine.

4. Boosters (jumpers-starters)-autonomous starting-charging devices, which are made in a small package. They have a built-in battery that can start the engine several dozen times (depending on the capacity of the built-in battery), and also charge portable electronics (phones, laptops, tablets ...).

Pulse models are the most popular due to ease of use.

Charging deeply discharged batteries

The worst thing that can happen to your battery is to discharge to zero. If you use a special model of the charger, you can still save the situation.

So, a special mode for deep-seated batteries reanimates your battery. For this is suitable pulse charging. To begin with, there is a stage of conditional preparation-the current is very low, but gradually it increases.

Desulphation-Battery Recovery

If your battery is lying idle in the garage because it is discharged, then sulphation occurs inside it. That is, all the acid goes into the plates, and the salts of the acid are deposited on them. As a result, the electrolyte density drops sharply and capacitance is lost.

For this purpose, special chargers with desulphation mode. What happens: all the precipitated salts are broken by a pulse current. Cyclic charging in progress: supplying a small current, then a pause and in a circle.

Ability to charge a cold battery

Batteries have one feature-they can take charge only at positive temperatures. Therefore, it takes time to get started so that the battery gets warm.

If you want to speed up the process, buy temperature-compensated storage. This mode is on many modern devices with automatic mode. It is designated as a snowflake-all you need is: switch modes. It is best suited for gel charging.

Memorization Settings

Modern chargers are equipped with the function of storing the latest settings: current values, charging time. If the same battery is used, then all settings when recharging are saved and used. So, charging time is saved. you can buy a charger in Ukraine, Kharkov, Odessa, Kiev at 130.com.ua.

So, it is better to give the model with extended functionality.