Smart Battery Chargers

what is the cost of the charger ? jaycar seel one that puts out 7amps plus can be used as a power supplie for $149.00. now i think that is cheap.

What are you out to achieve with the charger? You really need to answer this question before you buy a charger.

If you don't mind the wait a 7 Amp charger is fine.

For me I like to get the battery charged as quickly as possible. If I spark up a generator or I am at a powered site for a night I like to know the batteries will be charging whilst I have the lights on and the fridge is free to run.

That's why I use biggest charger I can find, mine is a 25 Amp 3 Stage Charger.

Your use may be different to mine in which case the answer will be different.

That's why it's important to know exactly what you want from a charger before you pick one.

I'm not familiar with the brand you are looking at but I do know the Ctek's are an extremely good charger.

Geoff

Have had a quick look at the handbook Site Link - The performance curves on page 8 clearly show that the charger is not capable of charging the battery at its full rated 7 A after the battery terminal voltage reaches 12 V (this appears to occur at 25% capacity of the battery.) If this was a quality charger it would maintain its rated output current right up to where the bulk charging is near completion and the absorption charge voltage is reached. I would suspect that this is typical of most cheap chargers.

Another example of you get what you pay for.

PeterD

Haza,
There are chargers and then there are chargers.I would take a lot of convincing that the Haigh is a true 3 stage charger.Most in that price bracket do cut down to a trickle charge eventually but invariably cut out at well below 13 volts.
The Ctek will charge the battery in appropriate steps and definitly fully charge the battery to 13 .8 volts.I would save my bickies and get the biggest Ctek I could afford.You won't regret it.Of course others may have a different opinion.
Regards Paul.