Thanks all.

Based on what everyone wrote, I've been looking for an "automatic" battery
charger. I checked Harbor Freight and one person suggested.

Here's the instruction manual for one Harbor Freight battery charger:

http://www.harborfreight.com/manuals...6999/66783.pdf

On Pages 8 and 9 of the manual, it talks about not leaving the charger on
and the possibility of the battery overheating with the charger on. So, I'm
a little confused. Does the automatic shutoff actually work or not?


"BetaB4" wrote in message
...
I posted a question in the newsgroup "rec.boats" about recharging a
lead-acid battery for an electric boat motor after returning from a
boating/fishing trip. The original question was about whether it's okay to
leave the battery charger on for a few days to a week. I found out that,
unless I have the more modern automatic type of battery charger, that is a
bad idea -- due to overcharging the battery.

Then someone suggested just plugging the battery charger into a timer and
setting the timer to turn the power off to the battery charger after say
12 hours.

My question now is,

"If I do the timer idea, could the fact that the battery charger will
still be set to "ON", and will still be connected to the battery after the
timer cuts power to the battery charger, cause the battery to discharge
and drain back through the battery charger?"

I tried a Google search but didn't find too much info that I could use.

On Fri, 22 May 2009 21:02:40 -0400, "BetaB4"
wrote:

Thanks all.

Based on what everyone wrote, I've been looking for an "automatic" battery
charger. I checked Harbor Freight and one person suggested.

Here's the instruction manual for one Harbor Freight battery charger:

http://www.harborfreight.com/manuals...6999/66783.pdf

On Pages 8 and 9 of the manual, it talks about not leaving the charger on
and the possibility of the battery overheating with the charger on. So, I'm
a little confused. Does the automatic shutoff actually work or not?

Check out any of the Sure Charge family as sold by Northern Tool.
I keep my generator plugged into one, 24/7. It starts when I need it
and has for the past 9 years [Same battery].
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...2128&R=1212 8

Thanks, but that wouldn't work for me. I need a battery charger for
recharging a boat battery (that operates the electric motor) after running
the battery down during a fishing trip. And, I sometimes need to be able to
leave the charger on for a week or more without it overcharging the battery.
So, I need a battery charger that will recharge fairly quickly but can be
left on the battery.

starrin wrote:
On Fri, 22 May 2009 21:02:40 -0400, "BetaB4"
wrote:

Thanks all.

Based on what everyone wrote, I've been looking for an "automatic"
battery charger. I checked Harbor Freight and one person suggested.

Here's the instruction manual for one Harbor Freight battery charger:

http://www.harborfreight.com/manuals...6999/66783.pdf

On Pages 8 and 9 of the manual, it talks about not leaving the
charger on and the possibility of the battery overheating with the
charger on. So, I'm a little confused. Does the automatic shutoff
actually work or not?

Check out any of the Sure Charge family as sold by Northern Tool.
I keep my generator plugged into one, 24/7. It starts when I need it
and has for the past 9 years [Same battery].
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...2128&R=1212 8

BetaB4 wrote:
Thanks all.

Based on what everyone wrote, I've been looking for an "automatic"
battery charger. I checked Harbor Freight and one person suggested.

Here's the instruction manual for one Harbor Freight battery charger:

http://www.harborfreight.com/manuals...6999/66783.pdf

On Pages 8 and 9 of the manual, it talks about not leaving the charger
on and the possibility of the battery overheating with the charger on.
So, I'm a little confused. Does the automatic shutoff actually work or
not?


I think the problem is that the Chinese engineers hired an English major
to write the manual, and the author tried to make sense of it in a hurry.

Page 9 makes it sound as if the 10A mode is not regulated. That's the
one where you have to keep an eye on it.

It says in the auto mode (apparently 2A), you can go away, and it will
turn on only as needed.

I'm curious about the note of Page 8: "This charger is not recommended
for batteries with a built in Hydrometer eye. The reading of the
built-in eye will conflict with ammeter readings."

I imagine what it means is that you should ignore the eye while charging
because tiny gas bubbles from charging could make the eye read falsely.

On Sat, 23 May 2009 12:54:48 -0400, E Z Peaces wrote:
BetaB4 wrote:
Thanks all.

Based on what everyone wrote, I've been looking for an "automatic"
battery charger. I checked Harbor Freight and one person suggested.

Here's the instruction manual for one Harbor Freight battery charger:

http://www.harborfreight.com/manuals...6999/66783.pdf

On Pages 8 and 9 of the manual, it talks about not leaving the charger
on and the possibility of the battery overheating with the charger on.
So, I'm a little confused. Does the automatic shutoff actually work or
not?


I think the problem is that the Chinese engineers hired an English major
to write the manual, and the author tried to make sense of it in a hurry.

that'l be a first.

On Sat, 23 May 2009 13:50:31 -0500, AZ Nomad
wrote:

On Sat, 23 May 2009 12:54:48 -0400, E Z Peaces wrote:
BetaB4 wrote:
Thanks all.

Based on what everyone wrote, I've been looking for an "automatic"
battery charger. I checked Harbor Freight and one person suggested.

Here's the instruction manual for one Harbor Freight battery charger:

http://www.harborfreight.com/manuals...6999/66783.pdf

On Pages 8 and 9 of the manual, it talks about not leaving the charger
on and the possibility of the battery overheating with the charger on.
So, I'm a little confused. Does the automatic shutoff actually work or
not?


I think the problem is that the Chinese engineers hired an English major
to write the manual, and the author tried to make sense of it in a hurry.

that'l be a first.

Chinese English Major - not an engineer or scientist or anyone with
knowledge of both the product and English - so you get Chinglish.