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How to Use a Trickle Charger, And Which One Is Our Favorite
Ideally, you'd hook up a car battery charger every night, but in the long run it really wouldn't make much difference. Heading out toward a week, you might start thinking about it, especially if you have an older battery. At one month, we would definitely use a car battery charger or maintainer, whether it's in a vehicle or not.
A good car battery charger will also not only charge an existing low battery, but some like the NOCO will attempt a repair cycle, as well. New batteries can cost as much as $300, making even multiple car battery chargers (or one that can charge and maintain multiple batteries at once), an easy expense to justify.
Step 1: Locate your battery terminal and ground location
Start by popping your hood and locating your battery terminals. Most cars have a hood release button by the driver’s footwell although a few have more complicated ways to access the area where your battery and the terminals will be. When in doubt, look to the vehicle owners manual.
: Slow build up of EV chargers in the US may actually be a good thing (Straight Arrow News)
There are two important parts to the battery: the positive and negative terminal. You can usually tell these apart because they’re color-coded, or under a colored plastic cover. The positive terminal is red and the negative one is black. If they’re not color coded they’ll probably have a positive symbol (+) or a negative symbol (-) nearby.
You don’t always need to use the negative terminal. A good alternative is a ground location. This will help close the circuit in a safe way. Look for exposed metal or a part of the car’s frame, or a bolt that is attached to the car’s frame.
Step 2: Disconnect Battery
Now that you’ve located the battery and its terminals, detach the battery in this following order: remove the negative connector first.
Then remove the positive connector. Again, this can be identified by color, as the negative part of the battery will be black, and the positive will be red.
Step 3: Attach the Trickle Charger
Now attach the trickle charger in the opposite order. Take the red clip and attach it to the positive terminal, then take the black clip and attach it to either the ground location or the negative terminal.
Step 4: Turn on the Trickle Charger
After the charger is connected to the battery, its time to plug it in, turn it on and start charging the battery. Before you plug in your charger, some models come with additional features, including how strong of a charge, and for how long of a charge. A car battery can be maintained with as little as 750 milliamps. More basic chargers won’t have these features, so just plug it in after its all connected.
Step 5: Finish Charging
Leave the charger and cables in place while it does its thing. Some owners advise keeping the hood open while you charge a battery because it can give off hydrogen gas in the process. This is why a well-ventilated space for your car was previously mentioned.
Step 6: Remove the Charger
When its time to bring your car out of storage there are a few steps to follow as well, but it’s mostly the previous steps but in reverse. Start by unplugging the charger from the outlet. Then disconnect the cables from the battery, starting with the negative clamp and then the positive.
Remove the charger from the car and then reattach the battery to the terminals, starting with the positive terminal, and then the negative one.
Editor's Pick: Battery Tender Plus 12 V, 1.25 Amp Battery Charger
Our top pick balances performance and price and is ideal for most car owners. The Battery Tender Plus is both a trickle charger and a maintainer, and is equipped with a temperature compensation feature that allows it to maximize charge voltage based on ambient temperature. The Plus will fully charge your car's battery before automatically switching to float charging to maintain its charge. That means it won't overcharge and keep your batteries safe, no matter how long your vehicle is sitting unused. Manufacturer Deltran says this can extend an unused battery's life by up to 50%. The whole package is only 4.87 x 3.25 x 2.93 inches, and it weighs 1.45 pounds.
Reverse polarity detection will alert you if you have the connection setup incorrectly by flashing the lights on the front of the charger. Those lights will also indicate the various stages of charging. The Battery Tender Plus car battery charger is compatible with all 12V lead-acid, flooded, AGM, and gel cell batteries. It comes with both ring terminals and alligator clips, and Deltran offers a 10-year warranty, plus lifetime technical support.
Pros
10-year warranty, charger and maintainer, compact and lightweight
Cons
Short cables, Wi-Fi interference, only 12V battery charging
