Attery Chargers/Starters

I am considering a Harbor Freight battery charger on sale for $ 29. The specs show 10 A charging current, 2 A trickle charging and 50 A emergency car starting.

Will 50 Amps start modern cars? I thought it was higher than that.

Reply to
Walter E.
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It takes quite a bit more than 50 amps to start a car and a charger like that could only produce 50 amps for (perhaps) a fraction of a second.

That said, if your battery is in good condition but simply too cold or run a bit too dead to start your car...an inexpensive charger like that would certainly be useful.

Basically you'd need to allow it to charge your battery...at least partially...to get your car going.

Ten minutes might be enough...might take longer.

Reply to
philo

50 amps would provide 600W. I recall typical starter today being around twice that.

I have a charger like that and I use it by first charging the battery for as long as I can at 10A. If you have enough time, you can charge it in a couple hours so that the car will then start. If I need to start it right away, then I charge it for whatever shorter time I have, even 10 mins, then put the charger on 50A mode while cranking it. Whatever you can put in the battery before the attempt, can help supplement the charger. It's always worked for me. If you had no battery assistance at all, 50A might be enough, but I think it might be marginal.

Reply to
trader_4

IDK about the HF charger, but I have a Sears charger that also puts out 2/10/50 and it can go a minute or more on 50A.

Agree, I posted similar. Charging it at 10A for whatever time you have available, then using 50A when cranking works for me.

Reply to
trader_4

If there is a half dead battery involved, the charger only needs to provide about half the cranking current. and SOME new vehicles with gear reduction permanent magnet staters WILL start on 45-60 amps.

Reply to
clare

You probably got that back when Sears was still a good brand name.

Many of those cheap chargers can only put out a lot of current momentarily...but at any rate...for a battery that is only partially discharged such a charger is probably good enough.

Reply to
philo

Depends on the car, state of the engine, outdoor temperature, etc.

The starters on small cars are obviously less demanding than on bigger engines/diesels. A big diesel that's been soaking in a

-10F Chicago winter obviously presents a bigger load.

FWIW, I think a Civic's starter is in the 1KW ballpark (worst case). That doesn't mean it is running *at* capacity each time you start the vehicle.

It also ignores any charge available in the battery -- as well as any charge that your charger *dumps* into the battery between the time you hook it up and the time you turn over the ignition.

Reply to
Don Y

over 40 years ago i bought a expensive sears 100 amp charger 200 amp boost battery charger. my mom and grandma yelled at me to return it. boy am i glad i didnt i must of used it 50 ties, for me, neighbors, friends etc.

there are on rare occasions something you buy and make very good use of.

for me its that battery charger.

with chargers go big.

i had one diehard battery that died hard at less than a year old.

a connection must of seperated internally. i came home, picked up some parts and upon leaving within 10 minutes battery was stone dead.

so i used the charger, and went directly to sears who did a free replacement..

without the 200 amp boost i wouldnt of gotten to the store

Reply to
bob haller

My old 225 Dart generally started on less than 75 amps at normal daytime spring, summer, or fall temps (60-80F)

Reply to
clare

I've bought two of those. They work great. Here's a tip if you buy one. If your battery is really low and you use the charger on the logical settings, like "charge" on the 10 amp setting, you may fine the "charge complete" light will come on right away but it won't have charged the battery. That's got something to do with how the thing senses the ability of the battery to take current, apparently really low batteries fool the charger into thinking no charge is needed. The way around that is to leave it on the 10 amp setting but put the other switch on "boost" instead of "charge". As to the 50 amp thing, that's about all you are going to get out of that small a transformer in a small charger. I know when a battery is low and you put it on boost the meter needle bangs over to the right from the high current. A starter on old V-8s typically would draw 150 amps to start the car. I would guess a 4 cylinder with a battery too weak to start it, but not ruined and shorted, could be started with the 50 amp boost. You might need to give it a 10 amp charge for 15 minutes first and then switch to boost. Or a few minutes set on 50 amp boost to force some charge quickly into the battery. I would expect the charger to overheat if you used it that way very long.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

I keep a couple of charged batteries in the garage (to power an irrigation pump, act as a bulk power source for UPS during outages, act as a "spare car" to "jump" another).

SWMBO has discarded one of her golf caddies (is that what it's called? just a little two wheeled cart to drag golf clubs around behind you). I plan on converting it to carry the batteries so I can just wheel them to they are needed.

Reply to
Don Y

Golf club cart might work. I suspect it will be top heavy, clumsy, and might tip over.

Kids' Red Ryder wagon might work better. More flat, and bigger foot print.

- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .

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Reply to
Stormin Mormon

A caution when using 12 volt boost. Please don't wiggle, move, or unclamp the terminals when using boost. I did see an old farmer explode a battery one time. Using boost, and then squeezed one of the charging terminal clamps. The resulting spark lit off the hydrogen. It sounded like a gun shot. I may never forget the next words "get some water for my eyes."

Unplug the charger and wait a couple seconds before wiggling or removing either of the cable clamps.

- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .

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Reply to
Stormin Mormon

I am considering a Harbor Freight battery charger on sale for $ 29. The specs show 10 A charging current, 2 A trickle charging and 50 A emergency car starting.

Will 50 Amps start modern cars? I thought it was higher than that.

-- Walter

NO it will not start you car 50 A. it is similar to 10 just that is not regulated and not filtered to be good DC. 50 A. will speed up charging, suggestion not to use longer then 15 minutes at time or less.

Reply to
tony944

Jump packs are becoming very popular now, since the charge lasts for months (lithium ion battery), you can jump multiple times between charges, and they're small enough to keep in the glove compartment.

Here's one:

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Where I work, we can call our company's parking dept. if we need a jump or a tire change. I once called the assistance guys needing a jump, and instead of maneuvering their truck next to mine for a conventional jump start, they just used one of these jump packs. I was taken aback - but it worked.

Reply to
Moe DeLoughan

A neighbor swore by one of these! I've not looked into them in detail -- and suspect a lot depends on the state of charge in the battery in question.

Most of the times that I've needed to jump a vehicle I discovered a dead alternator (which led to the battery's demise) *or* loose cables at the battery (big IR drop there, poor charging, etc.)

Reply to
Don Y

Last Christmas, I gave a friend one of those. It looked too small (at

1*3*5 inches) to start a vehicle, but it did (the vehicle was a Jeep SUV).

BTW, this battery also has a USB port for cellphone charging. During last May's power outage, it ran a USB fan most of the night (maybe longer, but then it got too cold and I didn't need a fan).

Reply to
Mark Lloyd

That's astounding. I've got some thing of the same idea, but with a lead acid SLA cell. Cost more than that, and holds about the same amp hours.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

I bought that charger but brought it back because it didn't have an ON/OFF switch. Personal quirk but I believe all electrical devices, especially potentially dangerous ones, should have at least an ON/OFF switch and hopefully an ON/OFF indicator as well.

Reply to
Robert Green

If the battery has ANY power left in it, the 50 amp setting WILL start most cars. If the battery is stone dead, it won't. Never leave the charger on the 50 amp setting for more than a min ute or two. Proper procedure is to use the 50 amp ONLY when cranking so you don't get excessive voltage to your electronics - if, for instance, you have an intermittent open circuit in the battery, or a bad battery cable to battery connection.

Reply to
clare

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