We all know that car batteries will have a tendency to lose charge after being used for a long time. But when it’s time to charge a car battery, you must know that charging faster is not the best thing to do. As charging battery at a high amperage can damage your battery or even results in a battery explosion.
Luckily, you don’t have to worry about this situation anymore as nowadays we have the trickle charger – a savior to save the life of car batteries. Let’s check out this article to know what a trickle charger for car is and Top 10 best trickle charger reviews completed by auto experts.
First of all, you should know about trickle charging. Trickle charging is a method used to charge a fully charged battery at the rate that equal to its self-discharge rate, therefore allowing the battery to stay at its fully charged rate. This state only occurs when the car battery is not loaded, because trickle charging will not charge a battery if current is being drawn a load.
A battery under continuous float-voltage ( the voltage that a battery is maintained after being fully charged) is said to be float-charging. According to auto experts, trickle charging is the most ideal for cars and trucks which are stored away during the winter time or for any car meant to be used for urgency situations. As a trickle charger will prevent the car battery from draining energy even if the car battery is rarely used.
To do trickle charging method, we need to use a trickle charger. A trickle charge for car is defined as an electrical charger which works at a very slow and steady rate. Because of its distinct low amperage, the trickle charger will little by little charge the car battery as the battery depletes energy.
Also, some variants of the trickle charger are designed to be left linked to the car battery for long periods of time (like winter), reduce the risk of battery damage or battery explosion to minimum level.
When talking about trick charger, we often think that we only have one type which is Smart style. But actually, you should know that we have 2 two types of trickle charger which are:
This is a traditional type of battery charger that basically have lots of cables plugging into a wall socket. We can easily buy a dumb trickle charger at a very cheap price. Cheap but not mean low quality. Dumb trickle chargers are quite powerful, which can always be able to charge any battery of any size.
Smart style is a high-technology design that is the reason why smart style is more expensive than traditional design, dumb style. Nowadays, thanks to the rapid development of technology, the price for smart trickle charger is falling sharply.
This design has the ability to automatically switch on and off, based on the battery level. That makes them much safer than Dumb style, specially for long-term use.
On the list of top 10 best trickle chargers to purchase mentioned below, we only focus on “Smart style” chargers, thus we just don’t see that much benefit to a dumb style charger frankly.
Using a traditional charger will bring to you a little danger because they lack monitoring ability which can lead to a serious overheating battery if you do not monitor it carefully.
The main purpose of using a trickle charger is to charge a battery slowly and prevent it from overcharging – though, we can achieve the same result through using a standard charger.
If you regularly store batteries for a period of time, a trickle charger is a good investment for you.
But in the situation that the first priority of your charging activities require a fast charge for speedy demand and you occasionally need to store your battery, auto experts recommend you should invest in a normal charger and just plan on charging the stored battery every 30 – 40 days.
Thus, just make sure that before putting your battery away, it should be fully charged and then you can be able to maintain its charge without any problem.
If you are looking for a best trickle charger to buy, take a look at these products: Battery Tender Plus, Schumacher 12 amp SpeedCharge, Stanley 25 Amp High Frequency Bench, Black & Decker Waterproof, Diehard Automatic, Battery Tender Junior, Genius UltraSafe Smart Charger, Black and Decker Charger/Maintainer, Schumacher MC-1, Aurelio Tech Transportable Charger,…
Check price & reviews!
Specification:
Why we choose this?
The battery Tender Plus is designed with 50% more power than their junior model (Battery Tender Junior). It is a quick and easy solution for your charging needs. The fully-automated unit is temperature-compensated to insure optimum voltage input and protected against reverse polarity for increased safety. This one also automatically switch from full charging mode to float charging mode and has Red and Green indicator lights.
Pros:
Cons:
With lots of advantages above, it is easy to understand why Batter Tender Plus is the best trickle charger to buy in 2018.
Check price & reviews!
Specification
Why we choose this?
Another best trickle charger for car that we should take a look at is the STANLEY BC25BS 25 Amp Bench Battery Charger. This battery charger is specially designed to extend battery life, save life of worn-out and damaged batteries. Additionally, the charger has 75 amp engine start which helps start your vehicle in about 90 seconds. It also has 3 stage charging which automatically switching from fast charge -> top-off -> trickle charge. This charger has the ability to check the potential issues that happens with your car’s alternator.
Pros:
Cons:
As you can see, the advantages of the STANLEY BC25BS 25 Amp Bench Battery Charger outweigh its drawbacks, so don’t hesitate to pick one if you want to purchase a good trickle charger.
Check price & reviews!
Specification
Why we choose this?
When finding a best trickle charger to buy, we should not miss the BLACK+ DECKER waterproof. It is an ideal charger that can work stably in most challenging environments. So how does the Black + Decker waterproof do this? Well, it has a robust waterproof design come along with waterproof connectors. Another outstanding of the battery charger is that it has 3 ways for users to connect it with their battery: battery terminal rings, battery clamps and 12V DC accessory plug.
Pros:
Cons:
As most of customers gave to this trickle charger many good reviews, therefore it is not a waste of money if you get one for your vehicle.
Check price & reviews!
Specification:
Why we choose this?
People who have used a Battery Tender Junior 12V, 0.75A Battery Charger often give this product a good review. It is much more than a normal trickle charger. The big thing that makes Battery Tender Junior different from other products is the computers inside it. When your battery is connected with this trickle charger, these computers will analyze the state of charge of your battery then alter their output to adjust: Initialization – Bulk Charge Mode – Absorption Mode – Float Mode). And after a long working time, the Battery Tender Junior still performs like a brand-new one with no mistake. Another thing makes Battery Tender Junior become a best trickle charger to purchase is that it is designed to be pretty much indestructible and also has a five year warranty.
Pros:
Cons:
We can easily see that Battery Tender Junior 12V, 0.75A Battery Charger is a good option when purchasing a best trickle charger for car.
Check price & reviews!
Specification:
Why we choose this?
People often purchase NOCO Genius smart battery chargers because their safety and high-technology compared with other products in the market. The G15000 is manufactured to charge 12V and 24V lithium – ion and lead – acid batteries up to 120Ah. This trickle charger has the ability to charge faster than ordinary battery chargers 2 times, can fix damaged batteries.
NOCO also designed the trickle charger for use with CANBUS electrical systems and micro-hybrid start-stop vehicles. Thus, if you are seeking for a best trickle charger, you can go for a NOCO Genius G750 12V/24V 15A
Pros:
Cons:
Check price & reviews!
Specification:
Why we choose this?
If you are looking for a best trickle charger to purchase, BLACK+DECKER BM3B 6V and 12V Automatic Battery Charger / Maintainer is exactly what you need. This device can be manually set to either 6 to 12 volts and can alternate between float and charge modes. It also has 3 ways to connect: battery clips, 12V DC Accessory Plug and battery ring terminal. Additionally, its low voltage compensation ensures maximum performance when used with extension cords.
Pros:
Cons:
Compared with many products at the same price, BLACK+DECKER BM3B 6V and 12V Automatic Battery Charger / Maintainer is still a best selling product that fits all the basic needs.
Check price & reviews!
Specification
Why we choose this?
Aurelio Tech Transportable Charger is called a best trickle charger that works great for the price. It works for both car and motorcycle batteries, both for maintenance and charging dead battery as well. This device is designed with 3-Phase battery charging and many functions that you can not expect in a cheap trickle charger like this. The product is suitable for servicing one vehicle, if you have more than one, you may want to buy another with more heavy-duty.
Pros:
Cons:
Check price & reviews!
Specification
Why we choose this?
The Schumacher MC-1 6/12 Volt Manual Trickle Battery Charger does not have high-tech functions like other models in the market but many customers swear by manual trickle chargers. The 1 Amp Schumacher MC – 1 is ideal for small battery, motorcycles, snowmobiles, tractors and for overnight warming of car batteries during winter seasons …. The charger has reverse hook-up protection feature that the battery can not charge unless it is hooked up to the right posts.
Pros:
Cons:
If you are looking for a best trickle charger with not too much power and function, go for a Schumacher MC-1 6/12 Volt Manual Trickle Battery Charger.
Check price & reviews!
Specification
Why we choose this?
Schumacher SC-1200A-CA SpeedCharge 12A is a best trickle charger of a good reputation industry manufacturer. It is designed with 6V/12V voltage detection, thus it has the ability to do 3A for maintaining, 6A for medium charging and 12A for fast charging (with a digital display). The Schumacher SC-1200A-CA SpeedCharge 12A also has reverse hook up protection thus the charger will not work if its clamps are reserved and float mode monitoring. Auto experts appreciated this product as an eco-friendly and energy efficient battery charger as well.
Pros:
Cons:
We can see that this trickle charger is good for most automobile charging needs. Now you can go to pick one for yourself without any hesitations.
Check price & reviews!
Specification:
Why we choose this?
Diehard Automatic is a best trickle charger for “people who often leave their vehicles light on” – recommended by auto experts. This trickle charger is designed with a 2A trickle charge mode along with a 50A engine start option which get drive back on the road in a fast way. The trickle charger for car also have 2 LEDs power on/full charge which are easy for you to see.
Pros:
Cons:
Here above are Top 10 best trickle charger reviews. Now next thing we want to show you is “How to choose the best trickle charger for your batter?”. As we can see there a lot of trickle chargers out there and you still don’t know which one is the best for your demand? Here are a couple of things to think about when choosing a trickle charger:
First thing you should bare in mind is the size of your car’s engine. If you car is a car with a big engine, it will need a bigger battery thus we need to buy a powerful battery charger. Therefore, before buying a trickle charger, make sure that this one is suitable for the size of your vehicle.
For instance:
The 1-Amp trickle charger is used for charging small batteries like motorcycle battery, golf cart battery.
The 2-Amp 6V and 12V battery trickle charger is better for multiple battery connectors. Using this trickle charger can help you charge small and larger batteries and even classic or antique batteries. With 2 different charging settings, this trickle charger has the ability to take care of all your demands.
Knowing about the kind of your battery is very important in purchasing a trickle charger for your car. You should know that lead acid batteries work will all kinds of battery trickle chargers while gel or calcium batteries only works with specific chargers.
SEE MORE:
You should know that even a best battery trickle charger will not be useful if you don’t know how to operate it safely. Luckily, using a trickle charger for car is as easy as a pie. Thus, if you don’t know how to trickle charge a car battery, let’s read 3 easy steps below:
What you need to prepare:
Here we go
The first step is checking to ensure the safety. Before you connect the car battery to a trickle charger, you need to do a rain check, then find a well-ventilated place to park your vehicle. Trickle charging car batteries can release more hydrogen gas which may lead to a battery explosion if you put the car battery in an enclosed space. Next thing to do is turning off the lights and ignition of your car, removing the car keys. After that, you should check again to make sure that the charger of your car is unplugged.
Then, you need to find a suitable ground place before fastening the negative terminal of the trickle charger.
Notice: You should bear in mind that if you use the negative terminal of your car battery, this will lead to a terrible explosion. Thus, never use the negative terminal of your car battery.
After finishing step 1, connecting the cables is the next step you have to do. Before you connect any cable, you need to set the specific voltage and amperage for the battery of your beloved car. Next, you turn to your alligator clips and look for the black and red clips.
You need to know that: The red clip (the positive cable) have to be connected the the positive terminal of your battery, while the back clip (the negative cable) have to be connected to the ground place. Before plugging your car charger, you have to check again to make sure that the negative wire is connected to the ground place solidly.
Note: You will get shock or injury if you touch any of the wires while the charger is plugged already. Thus, keep a safe distance from the wires to ensure your safety.
Turning on the charger is the last step you have to do. But before you turn on the charger, an important thing to do is to check your manual twice and to make sure that you are doing the right setting recommendations for your battery and trickle charger. Then turn the charger on and read the amp meter if available.
Check out the video below to see more details:
A trickle charger will take you a long time to charge up the battery of your car because most of trickle chargers often operate at around 2 amperages. Normally, a good trickle charge can take as long as 24 hours to get the car battery up to an acceptable charging level. The time for charging battery by a trickle charger is up to how depleted energy it is when you start charging it. Normally, we can easily see that trickle chargers are often used in automobile repair shops in order to maintain batteries while the mechanic do repairing the car.
>> Finding cheap used cars from reliable Japanese sellers? Click here <<
If you leave your battery connected to a trickle charger too long, it can lead to overcharging that cause damage to your car battery. But nowadays, there are many trickle chargers that offer an automatic function to switch to a float-mode when the car battery is fully charged.
2 amps or less is the answer for this question. A normal trickle charger for car produces a continuous small amp charge that keeps charging the battery fully. Additionally, another function of the trickle chargers is to keep the battery from freezing in winter season because of the small amount of heat produced from chemical reaction in it during recharging process.
In order to know the time needed to charge any battery, you must depend on:
If the battery condition is normal, it will take about 11.25 hours to charge 9ah battery of a motorcycle.
If you have an 80-ampere-hour rated battery, then a set of four amps will need 16 hours to fill 80% of the battery and about 20 hours to fully charged.
Hopefully with the information given in this article, you will have a deeply knowledge about trickle charger for car, how to use a trickle charger, how long to trickle charge a car battery and best trickle chargers to buy in 2018. If you have any question about car maintenance tips, feel free to leave us a comment in the box below, our auto experts will answer it for you.
