Halfords Chargers

Niall_G

Hi. The inbuilt mains charger on my 1996 Benimar is dead (still works as distributor etc but doesn't charge). I need a fast replacement so I was considering a Halfords smart charger. In theory they look like they would maintain the battery over winter too.

Has anybody used the "Smart 12v Battery Charger - 576280" or the "Fully Auto Battery Charger - 181750"? If so, how did you find them, and was there any difference other than cost (E73/E50) and the capacity (200Ah / 110Ah)?

Thanks in advance.

Aidan_M_M

depends on the rate of charge . If it can't give out a solid 10 amps , it'll struggle to keep ahead of the discharge , when you're running the heating , water pump , and a few lights.

I was running a 125ah leisure battery on the Smart 12v Battery Charger - 576280 since June. Once every week or two.
Works great, never a problem unless I really flatten the battery (<8.5volts) then I have to put it in parrallel with my starter battery for about 5mins for it to recognise it.
Takes about 6 hours to fully charge to 14.4v from dead.

I've just added another 125ah in parrallel and it seems to be managing the 250ah fine just slower. Although I haven't run the new bank down fully; that might take a few weeks, any explosions I'll let you know.

Not bad for the cheapest charger I could find on the market.

niloc1951

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

I was running a 125ah leisure battery on the Smart 12v Battery Charger - 576280 since June. Once every week or two.
Works great, never a problem unless I really flatten the battery (<8.5volts) then I have to put it in parrallel with my starter battery for about 5mins for it to recognise it.
Takes about 6 hours to fully charge to 14.4v from dead.

I've just added another 125ah in parrallel and it seems to be managing the 250ah fine just slower. Although I haven't run the new bank down fully; that might take a few weeks, any explosions I'll let you know.

Not bad for the cheapest charger I could find on the market.

Anything below 11.9V (specific gravity 1.120) and permanent damage will be done to a battery :eek:

FWIW -
Sulfation of a battery starts when specific gravity falls below 1.225 or voltage measures less than 12.4. Sulfation hardens on the battery plates reducing and eventually destroying the ability of the battery to accept and hold charge.

Thanks Niloc, I'm aware of that. I spend a lot of time wild camping and unfortunately electricity doesn't grow on trees. As needs must.

that is to say I've seen the graphs and posts to say that fully discharging batteries leads to halfing the life cycles. I just looked up the spec of my batteries though because I remember them saying that they were suitable for complete discharge. Turns out I've carbon fibre technology (that's as specific as they get) that prevent sulphation.
Tbh i'd say my battery isn't lasting as long as they did but then again the lights are running a lot longer in winter.