Battery CHarger/Maintainer Question.

Does anyone have any knowledge on these types of chargers? What I am having problems with is that about once or twice every month I have to charge my battery in my work truck. I saw one of these devices on JCWhitney and wondered what would happen if I just installed one of these on to my battery and plug'd it in ever nite? Or is there a better way ?

Thanks
nichols

[carsandcycles]

The answer is maybe. A few questions you have to ask yourself are: Is this an old battery and your trying to get alittle extra life out of it, is this a good battery that seems to be draining itself (there could be a live circuit that is on all the time, i.e. a broken switch that is leaving a light on somewhere), or maybe a marginal battery and you only fire the engine a couple times a month and it is not enough to "top off" the charge. So anyway, back to your question, a maintenance charger could work for a while and, in any event, won't hurt the battery if it is of a low trickle type or one that either cuts back to a trickle or shuts itself off unless needed. I would say, go for it and get a charger; sooner or later your going to need one anyway.

[danny]

you may want to have your charging circuit checked, it is possible that your system is not up to par and thus causing your battery to fail

When using battery chargers a 2 amp charge over a 10-12 hr period will give a better charge and is easier on the battery a 10 amp charge for 3-4 hr will give a quicker but less powerful charge and a lot harder on the battery.
Some times you have to get up to freeway speeds for a while to get a good charge for the battery from the alternator.putting around town at 30m/hr may not always do it.

First off make sure your battery is good to go. It shouldn't require charging at all. Your local parts store should be able to test your battery. If your battery is good to go then you likely have a problem with your alternator / voltage regulator or there is a short in the system on your work truck causing the system to drain.

I am guessing a short in the electrical system on the truck. I have replaced the battery with a Maxx Everstart from WalMart.. I think its an 850 Cranking Amp battery.. It seems like that since I never take the truck on the highway, and i think it never really ever goes over 40mph, I might not be giving it a good charge.

Thanks for the input..

Alternator was checked today when I got another carb installed on it, its fine.

[danny]

i had a friend that had a '72 chevelle and if he let it set for a week or so the battery would die, one night he discovered that the glove box light was on(couldn't see it in the daylight) he fixed the switch and has not had a dead battery since. just something to look for.