6/12 Volt battery charger choice

[phredathevanet]

Does anyone have an opinion on a 6/12 volt charger to buy?

I am using two 6 volt deep cycle batteries in series for my 12 volt system. After two years of use my 12 volt charger will only charge my batteries to 11.8 volts. I wanted to charge the batteries individually to check for a bad cell. I someone else charge them and they totaled 12.8 volts. Great, not a bad cell in a battery, but a bad charger.

Phred

[Dale M.]

For basic charging any 6/12 charger should do... I have good luck in past with "Schumacher" brand ...

Dale

[48Rob]

I've been very happy with my 5 amp deltran smart charger.
It is permanantly connected to my two 6 volt golf cart batteries.

Rob

[jonw]

I have a CTEK charger I bought from etrailer.com. I don't remember which model but it has a mode specifically for charging and maintaining deep cycle batteries. I've been very happy with it so far.

[deceiver]

I use a waterproof charger made for boats. You can get them online and I've seen them at sporting places like Cabelas. They're usually made to mount to a wall and have two charging cables for two batteries. Waterproof, durable,a and they have an auto feature so they don't over charge. They can be a bit pricy though.

[Shadow Catcher]

A great deal depends on what your goal is, battery maintaining or recharging. To recharge quickly and fully I would recommend a Progressive Dynamics http://www.progressivedyn.com/power_converters.html We have one of their power centers which make wiring easy.

[Aaron Coffee]

I use a waterproof charger made for boats. You can get them online and I've seen them at sporting places like Cabelas. They're usually made to mount to a wall and have two charging cables for two batteries. Waterproof, durable,a and they have an auto feature so they don't over charge. They can be a bit pricy though.

I have one like this, except for a single battery, I first tried a walmart smart charger and found that whenever I used a 12volt device with the charger on it would shut the charger off, I went to one of these and it will charge while I am using my lights, or radio.

[wingnut]

Hi Phred,

If I understand correctly, what you're try to do, is fully charge a pair of 6 volt batteries. In that case Dale M is spot on. What you need is a charger like the Schumacker SE-125A. Or some other band that will charge in the 6/12 volt mode and also in the manuaul charge mode. To get a battery to completely charge you have to charge it in the manual mode and moniture the level of charge by using a hydrometer. Acharge of 11.8-9 volts is about normal for any charger operated in the automatic mode.

Jim K

[eamarquardt]

I'm not clear as to why one would want a 6 volt battery charger. I can't think of anything that runs on 6 volts. It is common to put two six volt batteries in series to get 12 volts. Most often the batteries are purchased at the same time and are the same brand. When done this way (two batteries that are virtually identical) it is essentially the same as having a single 12 volt battery and a 12 volt charger will suffice.

The only time I can see needing a 6 volt charger is if you are using "mismatched" batteries in series to get 12 volts. Because they are not "matched" (same brand, age, and service) you'd need to charge them separately. Doing so would be a slight PITA but doable. Having 12 volt batteries or matched 6 volt batteries would make things simpler and easier to manage.

Cheers,

Gus

[Dale M.]

I'm not clear as to why one would want a 6 volt battery charger. I can't think of anything that runs on 6 volts.

Gus

The are still early model VOLKSWAGENS running 6 volt systems on road today....

Dale

[eamarquardt]

I'm not clear as to why one would want a 6 volt battery charger. I can't think of anything that runs on 6 volts.

Gus

The are still early model VOLKSWAGENS running 6 volt systems on road today....

Dale

Yes and I have one, a '60 with a 36 hp engine. Many have been converted to 12 volts as doing so isn't difficult with a 40 hp or later engine. You just need a new generator, generator post, voltage regulator, light bulbs, fuses, cigarette lighter (if present), a dropping resistor or new motor for the windshield wipers, the bi-metallic heating element for the automatic choke, and the solenoid on the carburator or replace that jet with a non solenoid jet. The starter will work but if you wanna go to a 12 volt starter yer gonna have to replace the flywheel as the 12 volt starter uses a slightly bigger flywheel with more teeth. When replacing the flywheel a dial indicator (or the home brew work around detailed in the "For the Complete Idiot book) to ensure that the crankshaft end play is within specs (.003-.005 using exactly three shims). When I blew the engine in my '67 I borrowed the engine out of a friend's '66 (he had rolled it and I we were in the process of replacing the body on his '66 with a '63 ragtop sunroof body). With the changes noted above I was on the road with a 1300 verus my 1600 (I had replace the pistons and jugs already). My brother had a '66 (6 volt) and I had a '67 (first year with the 12 volt system) but the discussion was regarding teardrop trailers and I know of no one running a 6 volt system in a teardrop. There are probably some old English cars (with that fine Lucas electrical gear) running around with 6 volt postitive ground systems, but again, I know of no one that is running a 6 volt negative or positive or ground system in a teardrop.

Cheers,

Gus

[Dale M.]

What about neighbors FORD 8N tractor...

Not to be a charger "snob" but 6 volt capability is useful.... Some golf carts still use 6 volt cells and occasionally one needs to peaked up a battery individually ...

Dale

[phredathevanet]

I ended up buying a "NOCO Genius G3500 6V/12V Automatic Multi-Purpose Battery Charger and Maintainer"
I read good reviews on it and I got up to 13v+ on the first charge with it. The Schumacher 12v I was using worked OK to start with, but ended up only charging to 11.8v. Not being able to check each battery I could not tell where the problem lie.

As to why I needed a 6 volt charger. I was advised that two 6v batteries would last longer than one 12v. I often spend 3 to 4 days away from recharging, and need the CPAP machine to keep running.

[eamarquardt]

I ended up buying a "NOCO Genius G3500 6V/12V Automatic Multi-Purpose Battery Charger and Maintainer"
I read good reviews on it and I got up to 13v+ on the first charge with it. The Schumacher 12v I was using worked OK to start with, but ended up only charging to 11.8v. Not being able to check each battery I could not tell where the problem lie.

As to why I needed a 6 volt charger. I was advised that two 6v batteries would last longer than one 12v. I often spend 3 to 4 days away from recharging, and need the CPAP machine to keep running.

If you buy two identical 6 volt batteries at the same time you can hook them up in series and charge them with a 12 volt charger. Electrically the two sixes are the same as a single 12 volt, it's just that each has 3 cells rather than one battery with six cells. It is important that they be the same battery, purchased at the same time, and used only in series.

Charging them at 12 volts will be a bit simpler.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Gus