Battery Chargers

[arch33angel]

Hi, has anyone any recommendations for a good battery charger? Been meaning to get one for ages but there are so many out there it's a minefield. No doubt some are good and some are crap. Thanks, David.

[solorider]

get a optimate http://www.accumate.co.uk/it010003.html

[Major Rant]

Depends how "techy" you want to get and how cheap you want to be.

Optimate is good if you've got £50-£80 to spare and you want no hassle - just leave it connected.

I use a Lidl 500mA battery conditioner thing that cost £5. - I have it on a timer (1 hour a day)
It tops the battery up to 13.5V and then stops charging. For most purposes its as good as an optimate.

I used to use a standard car battery charger with a 10 ohm series resistor and monitored it with a voltmeter
(that cost £0.00)

Avoid:
- A car battery charger directly connected to the battery.
- Any charger or "trickle charger" for "small batteries" that doesn't self-limit at 13.5V (There are plenty out there )
- All solar battery chargers unless you KNOW that they cut off at 13.5V
(There is a lot of bollox talked about solar battery chargers - the phrase "current limited" is meaningless)
(Come to think of it ... there's a lot of bollox talked about battery chargers generally)
(But then ... there's a lot of bollox talked generally  :rollin )

[born to be mild]

I recently got a Dr Bike battery conditioner which cost me around £25 sorry,I cant remember where it came from but I think I got it via Amazon, google it anyway It works fine as you can leave the battery connected and it will top up as its a proper conditioner not a trickle charger which I nearly bought as unlike the good Major Im crap with electrics, for instance I used to connect my Speed triple's battery to a car charger like a pillock which soon saw it off !