"Smart" trickle chargers are the worst things ever invented

[Harsh Jones]

 

Long story short, these pieces of scrap will not recognize therefore not even attempt to charge your battery if was fully drained. So if something was slowly drawing power from your battery as your vehicle was parked for a week+, and the battery is dead, hooking up one of these pieces of useless garbage will do nothing. With the old normal trickle chargers, if you drain your battery, you throw the trickle on for 24 hours or so, and your battery will come back to life. You plugged them in, struck the leads to each other to make sure there was power, and clipped them on. 

 

But but... you can trick your "smart" charger into doing what a charger is supposed to do a couple different ways, with a small 9 volt battery or with another car battery. Anyway I already threw my "smart" charger in the garbage (after smashing it to pieces on the concrete, very satisfying) and got a real charger. 

 

 

Edited April 20 by Harsh Jones

[OneMoreFarang]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

You showed us that you have no patience, are aggressive, like to call things bad names, etc.

You are certainly in the group of people who nobody should ask for advice.

My advice: Relax, RTFM, and if you don't know what you are doing think twice before you publish that information.

[Harsh Jones]

17 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Thanks for sharing your experience.

You showed us that you have no patience, are aggressive, like to call things bad names, etc.

You are certainly in the group of people who nobody should ask for advice.

My advice: Relax, RTFM, and if you don't know what you are doing think twice before you publish that information.

 

Sorry if my piece wasn't politically correct enough for you. Back to your safe space. 

 

I can tell you've never wrenched on anything in your life. Shop rage is perfectly normal. And the info presented is 100% correct. A smart trickle charger will not charge a drained battery.

Edited April 20 by Harsh Jones

[Dan O]

1 hour ago, Harsh Jones said:

 

Long story short, these pieces of scrap will not recognize therefore not even attempt to charge your battery if was fully drained. So if something was slowly drawing power from your battery as your vehicle was parked for a week+, and the battery is dead, hooking up one of these pieces of useless garbage will do nothing. With the old normal trickle chargers, if you drain your battery, you throw the trickle on for 24 hours or so, and your battery will come back to life. You plugged them in, struck the leads to each other to make sure there was power, and clipped them on. 

 

But but... you can trick your "smart" charger into doing what a charger is supposed to do a couple different ways, with a small 9 volt battery or with another car battery. Anyway I already threw my "smart" charger in the garbage (after smashing it to pieces on the concrete, very satisfying) and got a real charger. 

 

 

Perhaps the problem is not the Trickle Charger but your understanding of what it is and how it works. Trickle chargers are not meant for charging a dead battery, they are intended to maintain a charge on a battery that is used very little or in a vehicle that sits for long periods of time without use to keep the batter at a full state of charge.

[OneMoreFarang]

13 minutes ago, Harsh Jones said:

 

Sorry if my piece wasn't politically correct enough for you. Back to your safe space. 

 

I can tell you've never wrenched on anything in your life. Shop rage is perfectly normal. And the info presented is 100% correct. A smart trickle charger will not charge a drained battery.

 

"I can tell"

Really?

It's more like you imagine something and you are sure your imagination must match reality. But maybe it doesn't.

 

And about that charger: Have you spend maybe a minute or two with the question why the smart charger does what it does?

Someone designed the charger in the way not to charge if the battery is very low. That function wasn't an accident, it's a feature.

Many devices have features to protect all those users who don't read the manual and who don't think about what they are doing. And the features also protect connected batteries.

If you connect a charger with too high voltage to a lead acid battery, then not much will happen. Do the same with a LiPo battery and maybe that thing will explode, and your house is on fire. That is why such smart chargers exist.

 

Maybe there should be a warning on the box: The user of this smart charger should be at least as smart as the charger.

 

[vinny41]

20 minutes ago, Harsh Jones said:

 

Sorry if my piece wasn't politically correct enough for you. Back to your safe space. 

 

I can tell you've never wrenched on anything in your life. Shop rage is perfectly normal. And the info presented is 100% correct. A smart trickle charger will not charge a drained battery.

A trickle charger is not designed to charge a drained battery

I used a solar trickle charger in  the (UK which is not known for sun everyday) and I left my car standing for more than 100 days and the solar trickle charger top up the battery every day , battery drain while my car was left standing was due to Car security system

A good trickle charger will cut off once the battery has reached 100%

I plugged the trickle charger into the car OBD port as that was always on 

Personally I think a solar trickle charger is a brilliant product if your leaving a car standing for long periods

https://lithiumhub.com/trickle-chargers-do-i-need-one/#:~:text=

 

[Harsh Jones]

1 hour ago, Dan O said:

Perhaps the problem is not the Trickle Charger but your understanding of what it is and how it works. Trickle chargers are not meant for charging a dead battery, they are intended to maintain a charge on a battery that is used very little or in a vehicle that sits for long periods of time without use to keep the batter at a full state of charge.

 

Nope. That's called a float charger.

 

A properly working dumb trickle charger is perfectly capable of bringing a battery back up to charge that has been drained because some lights were left on or something.  And that is the method battery manufacturers recommend. And I have done it a million times. Maybe you haven't.

[Harsh Jones]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

 

"I can tell"

Really?

It's more like you imagine something and you are sure your imagination must match reality. But maybe it doesn't.

 

And about that charger: Have you spend maybe a minute or two with the question why the smart charger does what it does?

Someone designed the charger in the way not to charge if the battery is very low. That function wasn't an accident, it's a feature.

Many devices have features to protect all those users who don't read the manual and who don't think about what they are doing. And the features also protect connected batteries.

If you connect a charger with too high voltage to a lead acid battery, then not much will happen. Do the same with a LiPo battery and maybe that thing will explode, and your house is on fire. That is why such smart chargers exist.

 

Maybe there should be a warning on the box: The user of this smart charger should be at least as smart as the charger.

 

 

You have that backwards. The "smart" charger has features in it for stupid people. 

 

Most of these "chargers" won't even start charging a battery that is below 10.x volts. If you think a battery below 10 volts is garbage, then again, you probably haven't wrenched on anything in your life. 

 

 

 

[Harsh Jones]

2 hours ago, vinny41 said:

A trickle charger is not designed to charge a drained battery

 

 

 Your phone charger isn't designed to charge your phone battery after you run it dead either. But obviously it does happen and if the battery is in satisfactory condition, the charger will bring the battery back to 100%. The same is true for car battery trickle chargers. (the same was true until these new abortions) 

 

A dumb trickle charger will bring a drained battery back up to charge, everytime. And it is the method battery manufactures recommend. 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

22 minutes ago, Harsh Jones said:

 

You have that backwards. The "smart" charger has features in it for stupid people. 

 

Most of these "chargers" won't even start charging a battery that is below 10.x volts. If you think a battery below 10 volts is garbage, then again, you probably haven't wrenched on anything in your life. 

 

 

 

RTFM!

[Fruit Trader]

I guess as a child, the guy in the OP video was told not to throw his toys when they don't perform as expected. Patience is a virtue.

[vinny41]

10 minutes ago, Harsh Jones said:

 Your phone charger isn't designed to charge your phone battery after you run it dead either. But obviously it does happen and if the battery is in satisfactory condition, the charger will bring the battery back to 100%. The same is true for car battery trickle chargers. (the same was true until these new abortions) 

 

A dumb trickle charger will bring a drained battery back up to charge, everytime. And it is the method battery manufactures recommend. 

 

trickle chargers don't bring a drained battery up to charge

Trickle chargers work at levels where the battery is between 90% and 95% and will top up the battery to 100% and then will cut off

This article states "They can also fail to charge completely dead batteries."

https://lithiumhub.com/trickle-chargers-do-i-need-one/#:~:text=

CTEK MXS 5.0 is a battery charger and  Maintainer , the maintainer only kicks in when the battery has reached 95%

https://www.ctek.com/uk/battery-chargers-12v-24v/mxs-5-0-uk

[cdemundo]

21 minutes ago, Harsh Jones said:

And it is the method battery manufactures recommend. 

 

Depends on battery type doesn't it?

I think you are referring to substantially discharging a battery before recharging, 

My understanding is that is not necessary with all battery types.

[vinny41]

25 minutes ago, Harsh Jones said:

 Your phone charger isn't designed to charge your phone battery after you run it dead either. But obviously it does happen and if the battery is in satisfactory condition, the charger will bring the battery back to 100%. The same is true for car battery trickle chargers. (the same was true until these new abortions) 

 

A dumb trickle charger will bring a drained battery back up to charge, everytime. And it is the method battery manufactures recommend. 

 

Why don't you provide links that support your claims of "A dumb trickle charger will bring a drained battery back up to charge, everytime. And it is the method battery manufactures recommend. "

[Lacessit]

I read the operator's manual of everything I buy, so I can understand how to operate it, and what its limitations are.

 

I'm guessing the OP threw all of his toys out of the pram as a baby.

[Harsh Jones]

37 minutes ago, vinny41 said:

trickle chargers don't bring a drained battery up to charge

Trickle chargers work at levels where the battery is between 90% and 95% and will top up the battery to 100% and then will cut off

This article states "They can also fail to charge completely dead batteries."

https://lithiumhub.com/trickle-chargers-do-i-need-one/#:~:text=

CTEK MXS 5.0 is a battery charger and  Maintainer , the maintainer only kicks in when the battery has reached 95%

https://www.ctek.com/uk/battery-chargers-12v-24v/mxs-5-0-uk

 

I have charged completely drained batteries on motorcycles and cars a million times. What are you talking about ?

 

Deeply dead batteries. Its amazing what some patients and a good long trickle charge will do to some batteries. The one I am talking about this time was barely a year old and in a daily driver that sat for a week. I have a dumb charger on it right now and I know it will be back to charge in the morning.

 

"smart" trickle chargers do not charge completely drained batteries. That's what makes them useless. 

 

Have you ever owned one ?

Edited April 20 by Harsh Jones

[Harsh Jones]

8 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I read the operator's manual of everything I buy, so I can understand how to operate it, and what its limitations are.

 

I'm guessing the OP threw all of his toys out of the pram as a baby.

Ok nerd. Anyone who hasn't had shop rage before isn't a man

[Lacessit]

3 minutes ago, Harsh Jones said:

Ok nerd. Anyone who hasn't had shop rage before isn't a man

Reading a manual makes me a nerd?

 

I would have thought acquiring self-control, and behaving like a mature adult, are the attributes of a man.

 

I'd love to watch you play golf.

[Harsh Jones]

Hagerty even did an article on this. Which means it must be bad. I just wish I knew this earlier. 

 

Wrenchin’ Wednesday: Outsmarting the smart battery charger

 

https://www.hagerty.com/media/maintenance-and-tech/wrenchin-wednesday-outsmarting-the-smart-battery-charger/

[vinny41]

2 minutes ago, Harsh Jones said:

 

I have charged completely drained batteries on motorcycles and cars a million times. What are you talking about ?

 

"smart" trickle chargers do not charge completely drained batteries. Older ones do. 

 

Have you ever owned one ?

I have owned a trickle charger such as this one

AA Car Battery Solar Charger Maintainer Conditioner - AA Solar Charger

https://www.care4car.com/12-volt-electrical/aa-car-battery-solar-charger-maintainer-conditioner.html

The main difference between dumb trickle chargers and smart trickle chargers is dumb trickle chargers will continue to charge even if the battery is 100% where smart trickle chargers stop charging when the battery reaches 100%

Look forward to you providing links to your claims of A dumb trickle charger will bring a drained battery back up to charge, everytime. And it is the method battery manufactures recommend. "

[Dan O]

1 hour ago, Harsh Jones said:

 

Nope. That's called a float charger.

 

A properly working dumb trickle charger is perfectly capable of bringing a battery back up to charge that has been drained because some lights were left on or something.  And that is the method battery manufacturers recommend. And I have done it a million times. Maybe you haven't.

Might want to check that as a trickle charger is meant to  charge a battery that is low but not dead with a lower charge rate as to not overheat it but the battery must have some charge. a float charge is meant to charge and recharge a battery to maintain it and has circuitry to stop at full charge and not over charge. A trickle charger is no meant for a completely dead battery.  

[Harsh Jones]

11 minutes ago, vinny41 said:

I have owned a trickle charger such as this one

AA Car Battery Solar Charger Maintainer Conditioner - AA Solar Charger

https://www.care4car.com/12-volt-electrical/aa-car-battery-solar-charger-maintainer-conditioner.html

The main difference between dumb trickle chargers and smart trickle chargers is dumb trickle chargers will continue to charge even if the battery is 100% where smart trickle chargers stop charging when the battery reaches 100%

Look forward to you providing links to your claims of A dumb trickle charger will bring a drained battery back up to charge, everytime. And it is the method battery manufactures recommend. "

 

Batter mfg'ers always recommend slow charging. As opposed to fast charging or flash charging with a big charger.

https://federalbatteries.com.au/news/battery-charging-do’s-and-dont’s#:~:text=the Right Charger-,The rule of thumb is 10% of the amp-hour,boil off the acid!).

 

If you leave your lights on overnight and drain your battery, a dumb charger will charge it up overnight. Its just physics. If your car battery was ok enough to start the car and turn the lights on the day before, a dumb trickle charger will bring it back to life overnight.

 

https://www.quora.com/Can-a-trickle-charger-charge-dead-car-batteries

 

-We just did this last weekend when my daughter’s friend’s Jeep wouldn’t start. Yes she had left the headlights on overnight and by morning the battery was completely dead. We told her to leave it with us and get a ride home with another friend who had stayed at our house. My husband hooked the battery to our trickle charger and it recharged after about 6 hours. When she came to pick up the car, it started just fine.

 

-Yes, a trickle charger can help charge a dead car battery. A trickle charger is designed to slowly charge a battery over a long period of time, which can be effective for reviving a dead battery. However, if the battery is completely dead, it may be best to use a regular battery charger to initially jump-start the charging process. Once the battery has some charge, a trickle charger can then be used to fully charge it over an extended period.

 

-Yes, a trickle charger can charge a dead car battery, but it may take a longer time to fully charge the battery compared to other types of chargers. A trickle charger is designed to provide a low and steady charge to the battery over a longer period of time, which is ideal for maintaining the charge of a battery that is not being used regularly. However, if a car battery is completely dead, it may take several days to fully charge it using a trickle charger.

 

 

[Harsh Jones]

13 minutes ago, Dan O said:

Might want to check that as a trickle charger is meant to  charge a battery that is low but not dead with a lower charge rate as to not overheat it but the battery must have some charge. a float charge is meant to charge and recharge a battery to maintain it and has circuitry to stop at full charge and not over charge. A trickle charger is no meant for a completely dead battery.  

 

A trickle charger should be able to charge a drained battery. A battery in a car who's lights were left on all night. All of the dumb trickle chargers will do this. 

 

Are you seriously saying you would throw out a car battery because someone left the lights on all night ?

[transam]

4 hours ago, Harsh Jones said:

 

Sorry if my piece wasn't politically correct enough for you. Back to your safe space. 

 

I can tell you've never wrenched on anything in your life. Shop rage is perfectly normal. And the info presented is 100% correct. A smart trickle charger will not charge a drained battery.

Thought us wrench guys all knew that battery stuff.........😉

As for shop rage, never heard of it...........🤨

A smart charger that I use needs a battery with at least 7 volts on board, if not, I use a tandem battery to transfer voltage to get 7 volts, then use the smart charger..😉

 

My 7 ltr fun car spent most of its life in my garage, it was permanently connected to a trickle charger, sometimes months on end, it always provided perfect cranking amps, 24/7........🤗

[transam]

46 minutes ago, Harsh Jones said:

Ok nerd. Anyone who hasn't had shop rage before isn't a man

Total rubbish, is it an American thing.......?  🤔

[richard_smith237]

I have a CTEK trickle charger (battery tender)...   my battery is dead !... 

 

Why ?...    I have a fixed dash-cam (forward and rear facing) on my Motorcycle that I suspect places a very small drain on the battery even when turned off and I haven't used the motorcycle for a long time. 

Perhaps this drain is required to keep the CMOS battery from dying.

 

Last year I was away for 3 months...   the trickle charger remained on, but the 1.5 year old battery died, I replaced it with a new one.

 

This year, I've been away and then injured so didn't use the motorcycle for 3 months... the trickle charger remained on, I went to use the motorccycle last week, it powered up but it seems there was not sufficient charge in the battery to for the starter motor to engage and start the bike.

 

On both occasions I should have just disconnected the battery... I'll do that in future, but I thought the trickle charger was supposed to take care of this stuff.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 20 by richard_smith237

[scottiejohn]

45 minutes ago, Harsh Jones said:

I have charged completely drained batteries on motorcycles and cars a million times.

How old would you have to be if you did the same action once every day to reach 1 million actions?

Me thinks a very large exaggeration!

[brianthainess]

First you should have disconnected the battery before charging.

I got one of these 'Smart chargers' for about 250b from Lazada, it automatically goes into 'repair mode' a completely flat battery was charged enough in 3 hrs. to start the car. Edit; it also has an internal fan that starts when it gets hot.

Edited April 20 by brianthainess

[Harsh Jones]

2 minutes ago, transam said:

Thought us wrench guys all knew that battery stuff.........😉

As for shop rage, never heard of it...........🤨

A smart charger that I use needs a battery with at least 7 volts on board, if not, I use a tandem battery to transfer voltage to get 7 volts, then use the smart charger..😉

 

My 7 ltr fun car spent most of its life in my garage, it was permanently connected to a trickle charger, sometimes months on end, it always provided perfect cranking amps, 24/7........🤗

 

And what would you do if you went on holidays for a week and something drained your daily driver battery in that time ? Or if your wife left the lights on all night ? Do you have an older trickle charger for those times ?

 

Most people just jump start. Then they might get enough power to get their "smart" charger to work. I have seen people fry computers jump starting. I was always told growing up to just throw a drained battery on the trickle charger overnight. And avoid jump starting and bull<deleted> if possible. But with this new garbage, you just cant. Unless you trick them with a 9 volt battery or another car. 

[transam]

1 minute ago, richard_smith237 said:

I have a CTEK trickle charger (battery tender)...   my battery is dead !... 

 

Why ?...    I have a dash-cam on my Motorcycle that I discovered places a very small drain on the battery even when turned off and I haven't used the motorcycle for a long time. 

Perhaps this drain is required to keep the CMOS battery from dying

 

Last year I was away for 3 months...   the trickle charger remained on, but the 1.5 year old battery died, I replaced it with a new one.

 

This year, I've been away and then injured so didn't use the motorcycle... the trickle charger remained on, the 1 year old battery died.

 

On both occasions I should have just disconnected the battery... I'll do that in future, but I thought the trickle charger was supposed to take care of this stuff.

 

 

 

Mrs.T near new Yamahs Grand Filano Hybrid battery died, she did not make sure the thing was turned off, it doesn't use a key.

 

Took the battery back to dealer, they said it was finished.

 

Loooong story short, took the car and bike battery out connected them together  for an hour, the bike battery now thinks it is part of the car battery.

Tested the bike battery, 9 volts, connected the smart charger, took about an hour, fully charged, still on the bike now, 2+ years......🤗