Trickle Charger help

kcowyo

kcowyo

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2006
Messages
732
Location
Lander, Wyoming
My camper has an auxiliary battery that is not hooked up to a source for re-charging. When it's low and I'm preparing for a trip, I would borrow my neighbor's trickle charger and put it on my battery for a night or two before leaving.

Recently my neighbor moved and took his trickle charger with him. So I went into NAPA, explained what I needed and they sold me a much smaller 12V 1.5 amp trickle charger with no gauge meter to tell me how much it has charged. It only has a light to indicate that it is charging.

I've had it on the battery, charging for the last 48+ hours straight. Does that seem excessive? The battery was almost completely dead. Before disconnecting it, I flipped on one of the interior lights and it barely came on before fading out. The battery is a Sterling brand and the label states Deep Cycle, usable power 17.5 hours at 5amp draw.

My concern, with about 33 hours until I head out for two weeks, is that the trickle charger I have is too small to bring this battery back to life. The indicator light is still on, indicating that it is charging. However with precious few hours before leaving and not being one who fluently speaks amperages, voltages, ohms and other terms, how do I know if this thing is gonna get my battery charged up in time? Is a trickle charger, a trickle charger or are some designed to charge at a higher capacity in a shorter amount of time?

Pardon my ignorance on this matter. I'm looking for some input in laymen's terms. Either it will be OK and I should just leave it on or I should get a bigger trickle charger or I should just go get a new battery before the trip. Dunno why these things pop up right before I'm headed out, but I'd appreciate any suggestions and/or batter charging lessons.

Thanks -
 
the key word here is : trickle

you need a short term flood. that unit is good for maintenance, and given adequate time i bet it would charge your battery. you better get a proper charger. these days you can get good ones under $100....think to the future...get a smart charger that will perform that trickle maintenance as well.

dont get a dumb charger that will not auto shutdown or go into tricle maintenance mode.....cause if you do you will surely forget to disconnect it someday and cook/ruin a good battery.
 
Thanks Jeff, you're fast!

I just snapped a couple of pics for a visual and size reference on this charger. My neighbors was about the size of a cooler on a small dolly. Mine almost fits in the palm of my hand.

I brought the battery in the other night because it's been below freezing here the last couple of nights. It does have an indicator light that stays on when charging, flashes when near a full charge but not an auto shut-off -

battery+002.jpg


battery+007.jpg



So now with just today and tomorrow before I leave, try to get a larger charger and hope it will charge my battery up in time or go buy a new battery? A new battery and proper charger will be about the same money it sounds like.

As always, I'm grateful for the help!
 
If you don't have a DMM you should get one.

If you have one, disconnect the charger and measure the battery voltage. If it is not 11 volts or greater, you'll probably need a new battery.

Freezing can damage batteries, certainly.
 
Thanks for the input everyone, much obliged.

I just ran back over to NAPA (small town, my options and time is limited) and picked up one of these chargers -

Outdoorsman 10/2/60 AMP
27152.jpg



It was the biggest one they had in stock and seemed to have most of the features recommended here this morning. It has a 10amp and 2amp setting for charges. Plus in a pinch, it may have enough to jump start a weak, not dead, car battery.

I ran by the house and put this one on, on a 10 amp charge for an hour till I can run home over lunch and turn it back to 2 amp. I hate dropping $75 in a rush like that, but we are approaching take-off and I need to have my battery ready. Hope this works.

By the way, the gauge on the new charger showed the smaller one had gotten the battery to almost 50% after almost 50 hours of continuous charging. Anybody wanna buy a 1.5amp trickle charger? :rolleyes:
 
Speaking of battery chargers, Like most, I am rarely around AC power. Most of the time my two batteries are charged from the truck. However, sometimes I do some "city" camping or sometimes we get a campsite that has hookups. Blasphemy you say. Well, here in WA a lot of the campgrounds close down the regular campsites and you have no choice but a hookup site. During hunting season, I am a little leary of camping off the beaten track as I am afraid some drunk yahoo might shoot thinking I am an elk or something.....
Anyhow, I digress....I don't need a fancy RV charger, but was wondering if anyone uses anything like this....

http://batterytender.com/product_info.php?products_id=7&osCsid=3b4b2cba4b945c34e423b283334f92f7

It is small, not too high on the amps, but could easily be stored in the truck or camper for those rare days with AC available.

Thanks.

Dave
 
Trickle charger...

Davinski,
I have both my batteries under the truck hood and I have hard wired a simple, small 1 amp trickle charger into my house battery. I have an AC cord running along the truck chassis from my AC receptical box in the camper to the engine compartment (an old habit from my block heater days in Alaska) and just have the charger plugged in to it. This way, whenever I am plugged in to AC my house battery is trickle charged. The one you linked to is even better since it is a "smart" charger used often on smaller motorcycle batteries and it senses when the battery is at full charge and floats there.
Brian
 
Someday I would like to have a nice dual battery set up with an isolater that charges off the truck's alternator. But for now the new charger will do.

The battery is already fully charged. I put it back in the camper, kicked on the lights and furnace and they're both a go. No bigger than it is, I'll probably bring it with me just in case. I'll have a co-pilot who really likes the heater.

Thanks again fellas. Guess I need to make learning more about ohms and amperages, a priority.
 
I use the Battery tender plus 12V, 1.25A at home. I have a quick connect pig tail on my Motorcycle and one on the aux camper battery, this avoids having to directly access the batteries. I originally bought it after a dead motorcycle and use it to maintain the bike and top off the camper prior to trips. Although the camper battery is wired to my alternator It just seams good to top it off now and again.
http://batterytender.com/product_info.php?products_id=2&osCsid=3b4b2cba4b945c34e423b283334f92f7
http://batterytender.com/product_info.php?products_id=39&osCsid=3b4b2cba4b945c34e423b283334f92f7
 
Thanks for the input everyone, much obliged.

I just ran back over to NAPA (small town, my options and time is limited) and picked up one of these chargers -

Outdoorsman 10/2/60 AMP
27152.jpg



It was the biggest one they had in stock and seemed to have most of the features recommended here this morning. It has a 10amp and 2amp setting for charges. Plus in a pinch, it may have enough to jump start a weak, not dead, car battery.

I ran by the house and put this one on, on a 10 amp charge for an hour till I can run home over lunch and turn it back to 2 amp. I hate dropping $75 in a rush like that, but we are approaching take-off and I need to have my battery ready. Hope this works.

By the way, the gauge on the new charger showed the smaller one had gotten the battery to almost 50% after almost 50 hours of continuous charging. Anybody wanna buy a 1.5amp trickle charger? :rolleyes:

I have something like that and mine is a AUTO unit. It will turn it's self off and not cook the battery. I run mine on 10 AMPS and when that is done I switch to 2 AMPS and leave it on overnight. Has always worked for me.
 
it should cycle on and off.....very slowly.
once the battery is up to snuff the on periods would be very short....1/2 second or so...with long off periods.

Does it do that?
 
I don't need a fancy RV charger, but was wondering if anyone uses anything like this....

http://batterytender.com/product_info.php?products_id=7&osCsid=3b4b2cba4b945c34e423b283334f92f7

It is small, not too high on the amps, but could easily be stored in the truck or camper for those rare days with AC available.

Thanks.

Dave


Dave,

I think you would have to stay hooked up for quite a long time to get much benefit from the low amp charger. If you only stay for one night at a camp spot with AC power and then dry camp for several days I think a larger charger is in order.
 
Sam:

I think you are right. It is always a battle of size and weight vs utility. Usually, driving is enough to charge the batteries. It is when I sit in one place that is the problem. Will probably get solar for dry camping, but it is the city dwelling that hurts. I do see your point. I think I will probably need both. Big one for big charge ups in a short amount of time. small for travel and those "unexpected" charging situations...

thanks for all your input.

dave
 
thats what is cool about the solar stuff....it keeps the battery topped off and can keep up with evening usage of lights and heater.
 
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