On Aug 19, 1:33*am, mm wrote:
How cheap can a cheap battery charger be? *

Do all chargers except the very cheapest turn off when the battery is
charged, or are there still some big expensive ones that don't do
that, as for a golf cart? *Or is the difference more subtle than that,
and important?

That is, the people with the golf-cart (see follow-up post on that
adjacent to this one) bought a new charger, mail order, from a site on
the web that is about golf carts only.

The thing costs 360 dollars!, not what I would call cheap. * But on
its label it says, "Check the charger periodically to avoid damaging
batteries. Initial charging rate should be [I forget, 15 maybe] and at
the end the rate should be 2 amps." *Does this imply they should turn
off the charger when it's charging at 2 amps? Or it will damage the
batteries? * *This is it:http://www.buggiesunlimited.com/product.asp?sku=3618* It doesn't say
much but it calls it an automatic charger. *Doesn't that mean it turns
off? But is that still not good enough and the fancier one below is
needed to keep the batteries from being damaged?

The more expensive charger in the catalog they sent is about $455, and
the first words in its description in the paper catalog are "Avoid
over-charging batteries". *Does that mean this one has auto-turn-off
and the one for 360 doesn't? *Or are they just not mentioning it for
the cheap one to get people to buy the expensive one? Here's the
expensive one:http://www.buggiesunlimited.com/prod...20EZ2%20002*It
says *"How often should you charge your golf cart’s batteries? A good
rule of thumb is to plug them in after as little as 15 minutes of
driving. However, you also want to avoid overcharging your batteries,
which causes water loss and subsequent failure. With the Buggies
Unlimited 48-Volt Microprocessing Charger, you don’t need to keep tabs
on your golf cart while it’s charging – this smart charger
continuously monitors your battery voltage and charges it exactly as
much as it needs – no over- or undercharging.

[One of the chargers on Amazon for 310 dollars said the user had a
choice of 4 charging protocols. *They were all similar, but there must
be some worthwhile diffence, or no? *The one I just quoted just says
"Exactly as much as it needs"!!]

You’ll get more daily power and extended life from your batteries.

* * * Features “full float” charging capability, which holds your
batteries at an appropriate voltage, ensuring that they're fresh and
ready to go even after long periods of storage *[If the cart is used
every day 9-5, M-F, and never has long periods of storage, does this
matter?]
* * *.... * *
* * * LED status lights show the charging progress from 0% to 100% [it
has 6 led's.]

Harbor Freight is selling a device that senses charge and supposedly
avoids overcharging, and they are running a special on it. Normally
about $9, special at about $5.