Battery charger woes

[Richb77]

Hi all.

I have a Silverline charger which has always demolished fuses. Every time it get plugged in or connected the in rush current blows the stock 15A fuse.

I'm not driving my daily driver (ST150) much at the moment and its drained the battery twice (not dead but low enough) and each time I have hooked I up, pop. Last time 8 gave up after 20 (TWENTY) 15A fuses and jammed a paperclip in there. Now I'm not pleased with that but at least I can charge my battery.

Is there a way I can add a soft start power switch to the charger or can anyone recommend a good charger (not a trickle, but traditional 12v type).

Cheers

R

[Miniliteman]

Is it the mains fuse that goes or the fuse for the 12V output?

[Richb77]

It's the 12V side. 15A blade fuse

[Graham]

what sort of battery is fittted to your car? AGM batteries cannot or should not be charged with a normal battery charger, they can hover up huge amounts of current

[stevieturbo]

Clearly if it is blowing fuses, there is a major problem somewhere. Does it only do it on that one vehicle, or all batteries ?

And why not a trickle ? all 12v battery chargers are 12v.

[Miniliteman]

Only a 12V battery that is almost discharged is 12.0 Volt. A trickle charger is used to keep a battery charged in the so-called "float-stage"; current is under 1 Amp and voltage is approx. 13.5 V for a normal lead-acid battery and 13.8 V for an AGM battery.
Charging voltages are higher for lower temperatures, that's why you see some chargers advise to charge AGM batteries
in the "winter-mode" which means a charging voltage slightly higher than for lead-acid batteries.

[stevieturbo]

Only a 12V battery that is almost discharged is 12.0 Volt. A trickle charger is used to keep a battery charged in the so-called "float-stage"; current is under 1 Amp and voltage is approx. 13.5 V for a normal lead-acid battery and 13.8 V for an AGM battery.
Charging voltages are higher for lower temperatures, that's why you see some chargers advise to charge AGM batteries
in the "winter-mode" which means a charging voltage slightly higher than for lead-acid batteries.

C-Tek does both, and many options

[stevieturbo]

Only a 12V battery that is almost discharged is 12.0 Volt. A trickle charger is used to keep a battery charged in the so-called "float-stage"; current is under 1 Amp and voltage is approx. 13.5 V for a normal lead-acid battery and 13.8 V for an AGM battery.
Charging voltages are higher for lower temperatures, that's why you see some chargers advise to charge AGM batteries
in the "winter-mode" which means a charging voltage slightly higher than for lead-acid batteries.

C-Tek does both, and many options

[dt36]

I have the Noco 10, but had to have it replaced within it's warranty period.
It's a really good unit when working, but it seems to be common that they fail early, so be aware if considering.