Battery Charger?

[84gmcjimmy]

What does everyone do for a battery charger? I had a cheap one from Canadian Tire and it never seemed to wprk properly. I accidently left it outside in the rain for a week so now I think it's messed up beyond repair.

What do you guys use for a charger? It has to beable to do a trickle charge and also a quick charge. Also a handy feature would be an engine start mode. It also has to do maintence free and low maintence batteries.

Links, suggestions, comments?

Thanks

 

[diesel4me]

get a good one...

My next battery charger will be a bigger,roll about one on wheels like a real garage uses...my portable one has held up good,its a cheap sears one my dad bought in the 70's,but its only 10 amps ,with a trickle feature for small mower and motorcycle batteries...its too slow for me,if I want to get my truck going in a hurry with a dead battery its useless--better off jump starting it...

I'd avoid the "Shmaucher" brand chargers,I burnt 2 of them up in a week,when trying to use the "55 amp start" feature..they are dime store trash!..."Century" brand is so-so,I've seen them fail rapidly too..

I cant really recommend any certain brand--they all seem to be made overseas or in mexico,and stores just paint or slap decals on them with their brand name nowadays...a used older one from a flea market might be cheaper, and actually be better quality than some of the new crap they sell now..

I rigged up a GM alternator to an electric motor to use as a charger in my shop--but its kind of costly to run....I had plans to use a 5 hp gas motor instead,but noise and 3 bucks a gallon are the drawbacks to that idea..but at least I could use it in the yard,and get my truck going by letting it run 10-20 minutes..I might still do it anyway...