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Battery Float Charger


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I recently bought a battery float charger from harbor freight. I connected the charger to one of the batteries and then both the batteries with a small gauge jumper cable set. Looks like one of the batteries is std and the other is deep cycle. I left the compartment open but the storage cover is on. Anyway, is this safe? I don't want this to happen...

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As long as both batteries are the same , wet, agm,etc you,ll be fine

Those float chargers are 2 amps or less

You should only have to connect to one battery

Turn the perko switch to 1 and 2

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Not a battery expert but I understood a deep cycle and a starting battery should not be tied together unless through an isolator (different charging profiles)... again not an expert... open to discussion.

I personally would not use a $10 harbour freight charger on my $400 worth of batteries. I do use a charger but it is a CTEK ($80) which is decent but not a pro level charger.

The float charger I found on Harbour Freight.com is a 500 mA, if that is the one ; with your batteries tied together and and if your stereo has a constant draw for memory functions etc you may be working it pretty hard.

Edited by G-Mack
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I definitely agree with G-Mack on this one. First is you can't charge both with the same "floater". You need to use an intelligent charger like the CTEK or a Pro Mariner Dual bank charger that is capable of charging the battery based on type and requirement. But I don't think your current setup is "physically" unsafe. You will probably just ruin one of the batteries.

Not a battery expert but I understood a deep cycle and a starting battery should not be tied together unless through an isolator (different charging profiles)... again not an expert... open to discussion.

I personally would not use a $10 harbour freight charger on my $400 worth of batteries. I do use a charger but it is a CTEK ($80) which is decent but not a pro level charger.

The float charger I found on Harbour Freight.com is a 500 mA, if that is the one ; with your batteries tied together and and if your stereo has a constant draw for memory functions etc you may be working it pretty hard.

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A tender/trickle/minder/maintenaince charger is absolutely fine for a motorcycle, 3rd car, tractor, ATV, etc where the battery is put into storage fully charged.

But deep cycling a battery as you would with a stereo at rest, creates sulfation and a tender/etc type charger has no de-sulfation properties. Failing to correctly condition a deep cycle battery after depletion will lead to diminished amp/hour capacity and a shorter battery lifespan.

So I would recommend a multi-stage dual-bank charger from Ctek (using two), ProMariner (or ProSport), Guest, Dual Pro, Xantrex or Intelli-Power just for example.

David

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I think he just wants to keep the batteries topped off over the winter.

I pull my batteries but use the same HF charger over the winter. Seems to work just fine

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