On 3 Dec,
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:

In article ,
Terry Fields wrote:
No need to pay silly prices for a sophisticated battery charger. Lidl
and Aldi in the UK both do similar ones for about 14 gbp. They pulse
charge a flat battery, change to a normal charge, then switch to a
maintenance one. Get the same thing with a 'name' on it and you'll pay
four times as much.

As the battery in the appliance seemed to be a SLA, getting maximum life
out of it demands using an appropriate charger rather than a random
wall-wart.

Of course. True SLA (gel) should be charged at constant voltage. They're
not so tolerant as car batteries in this respect.

I use an Accumate to keep both a SLA and a motorcycle battery
in good order - I don't have any experience of the Lidl or Aldi chargers.

These things tend to have different brand names depending on who sells
them - but most are simply a wall wart with a few pennies of extra
components. Usually not worth the premium price.

My Aldi power station seems to use a basic unstabilised wall wart. However,
it seems to charge up to a reasonable voltage, then cease charging (or go to
a very low current) I've been using it to power some electronics, and I've
been monitoring its voltage. It seems to cut out somewhere between 13.5 and
14 volts.

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