Harry.Krause wrote:
wrote:
Harry.Krause wrote:
My old diesel tractor wouldn't start the other day because the ancient
battery on it finally gave up the ghost.
I have a small car battery charger, but it is limited by the length of
its extension cord.
So, I'm wondering about several products:
1. The "combo" battery jump starter/charger devices I see around these
days. Don't know anything about them. Might be a good thing to have on a
boat, if you remember to keep its battery charged.
2. A really good battery charger, rejuvenator.
Suggestions?
Thanks!
I've got one of those power pack type starter devices from Northern
Tool. Just okay in my opinion. Might be okay for an outboard, so I'm
thinking of keeping it in the boat. If your tractor, like mine often
gets discharged because of infrequent use, then what I did was get a
smallish solar charger, and keep it hooked up as a trickle charger all
the time. That works well for me.
A solar charger with a cut-off to prevent cooking the battery?
No cut-off needed. 5 PEAK watts, and that's at 100% efficiency.
Nighttime, nothing, cloudy, nothing, partial sun, very little. At 5
watts, it's still just a trickle, and wont' cook the battery. I've
checked mine at full sun, and the battery never has boiled. What's
more, with a trickle, I think it's actually better for the battery than
discharge/charge, let sit for six months, charge/discharge.