On Thursday, January 28, 2021 at 5:24:29 PM UTC-5, Bob F wrote:
On 1/28/2021 1:47 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 27 Jan 2021 23:15:13 -0600, Jim Joyce
wrote:

On Wed, 27 Jan 2021 23:52:11 -0500, wrote:

On Wed, 27 Jan 2021 18:03:16 -0600, Jim Joyce
wrote:

On Wed, 27 Jan 2021 16:56:57 -0500, wrote:

On Tue, 26 Jan 2021 20:36:10 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 1/26/2021 2:44 PM, alan wrote:
My 40 year old steel case 6 amp automotive battery charger finally died.
I only want to replace it (and I don't want a contraption that jumps cars).

I just want a new 120VAC simple sturdy 12VDC automotive car battery
charger.
And I don't get out to the stores much lately.

Mine had an analog meter, and a 6V/12V switch (which I never used at 6V).
If they still come with an analog amperage needle, that would be nice.

Any advice where to get a good simple sturdy 12VDC battery charger online?

Chargers are good for dead batteries but battery tenders keep them from
going dead. The new AGM betteries and all the electronics are more
touchy than ever.

Ger something like this
https://www.stingrayforums.com/threa...-charger.7036/

It is hard to beat a solar battery maintainer. I have one on my boat,
one for my lawn tractor and one for the truck we seldom use. I am
going to get one for my wife's car now that she isn't driving much.

"solar battery maintainer" doesn't tell me much. Solar obviously refers to
the less important aspect of how power comes into the charger, but nothing
about the more critical aspect of how power is applied to the battery. Not
only that, it sounds like it may not work well at night or in an unlighted
garage. I guess I'll pass on that idea.

I agree in a garage, maybe not so much but the sun shines every day if
your vehicle is outside.
It is plenty to keep a battery up with the advantage that it works
without needing AC power where you are. No extension cords to screw
with when you drive away.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

7.5 watts? That doesn't sound good at all. That would be midday in direct
sun, so even less before and after that. I'll stick with my Battery Tender,
which has been working well for more than a decade now.

Whatever works for you but 7.5w (0.625a) 5 hours a day (How solar
collectors are rated) is plenty to replace the parasitic losses in a
battery that is just sitting there.

The losses are probably higher in any modern car with all the
electronics they have consuming power.

What would those be? Very little needs to be powered up when the car is
just sitting. Alarm, entry system. The BMW X5 here is supposed to pull 45ma
when sitting, it actually pulls about 70ma, IDK if that is due to design or some
small fault somewhere. That's an order of magnitude less than Fretwell's solar
charger puts out.