Looking for a good battery charger for the winter

[Alain]

I am taking the battery out of my R this winter and keeping it in my basement on a charger.

I do the same every year with my Harley Davidson and I use a Battery Tender brand to charge the battery.

Im not looking to spend a ton of money on one of these guys.

Help me out with some suggestions. I’m hoping to hear from some of you who own these already about pros and cons.

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[Tomster]

Deltran or Ctek. Neither cost a bunch. You don't have to take the battery out.

 

[dbegley]

I got one from Sears a couple of years ago and love it. I read recently we need to keep that battery charge pretty high to avoid computer issues. I think it cost me about $30.

 

[460Fred]

I got one from Sears a couple of years ago and love it. I read recently we need to keep that battery charge pretty high to avoid computer issues. I think it cost me about $30.

So removing the battery would freak out the computer right?

 

[torque124]

Nothing but this:

https://www.amazon.com/CTEK-56-959-...ld=1&keywords=ctek+4300&qid=1605020875&sr=8-1

It is soo good, it also has the "regenerate" function, which will pretty much try to recondition your batter once it was down on power, if cells are still good. If it can't it will go red, and you know for sure battery is dead.

I used it once on my BMW when batter went flat, and dealer said it has to be replaced; guess what. Two winters later, battery is still there.

 

[HEP#15]

The above setup is a great choice. I went with the below as it's a 10A charger vs a 4.3A charger. In both cases you can hook up the eyelet cable to the screws on the battery terminal connectors and feed the eyelet cable connector out of the battery box so that just the connector sticks out. I mounted the charger on the wall next to the car and use the extension cable to connect it to the eyelet cable without opening the battery box or removing the battery. You can even close the hood if you feed the extension cable down top of the fender and out near the headlight.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07W3QT226/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004LWWNLC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004LWV0GQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Works great as a charge station for our cars, riding lawn mower, etc.

 

[Vettel-ish]

Nothing but this:

https://www.amazon.com/CTEK-56-959-...ld=1&keywords=ctek+4300&qid=1605020875&sr=8-1

It is soo good, it also has the "regenerate" function, which will pretty much try to recondition your batter once it was down on power, if cells are still good. If it can't it will go red, and you know for sure battery is dead.

I used it once on my BMW when batter went flat, and dealer said it has to be replaced; guess what. Two winters later, battery is still there.

2nd this one.

 

[Rapid Red]

So removing the battery would freak out the computer right?

No, but it will need to relearn the car, normal event no worry,

 

[torque124]

Guess what BMW sells now as their battery maintainer/charger; look closer :

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine...AtcQPmjytWvZWmTvj0QWMDCRI6guRL0RoCoQ0QAvD_BwE

 

[Rapid Red]

Guess what BMW sells now as their battery maintainer/charger; look closer :

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine...AtcQPmjytWvZWmTvj0QWMDCRI6guRL0RoCoQ0QAvD_BwE

The real high end cars, owner gets one in the trunk with the purchase. Goes back a least 3 -4 years

 

[ZX3ST]

Agree with the Deltran and Ctek suggestions above.

I keep a few of these around the house for all my vehicles:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EDFPN1O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't take the battery out. Just leave it plugged into the car while it's in the garage.

I will say that I think Ctek makes a more sophisticated maintainer. But Deltran uses plugs that are available everywhere. So for me, parts availability and commonality were the deciding factor.

 

[AAI Mustang]

I bought the CTEK, pulled my battery out and hooked it up.
Do you leave it connected all winter?

 

[JAJ]

I have two CTek's - one is an older M US 7000 (7 amp) that I've used on my track cars for years, and the second one is a new M US 25000 (25 amp). Over the past weekend, I recharged and rejuvenated four car batteries with the M US 25000. The job goes faster with the bigger charger - the smaller one works the same, but takes a bit longer to reach full charge. With four family cars sitting still a lot, extending the battery life with the rejuvenate function is pretty cost-effective.

So, to answer the question, I'd get a CTek and clip the red lead to the heavy red battery cable terminal on the fuse box and the black lead to a chassis ground and forget about it until spring. The 7000 is 7 amps, which is plenty for just keeping the battery alive and doing an annual rejuvenate.

 

[turBO951]

CTEK MXS 5.0 for me, works great.

 

[Scoobs]