The Best Trickle Chargers for a Healthy Car Battery

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.

The NOCO GENIUS1 is a high-performance, fully automatic battery charger designed to charge and maintain a wide variety of battery types, including lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries.

One of the standout features of the GENIUS1 is its ability to automatically switch between charging modes, depending on the condition of the battery. For example, it can charge a severely depleted battery using its "Recovery" mode and then switch to a "Maintenance" mode to keep the battery at its optimal charge level. This makes it a versatile option for automotive, marine and powersport applications. Another advantage of the GENIUS1 is its safety features. It is designed to protect against overcharging, short-circuiting, and reverse polarity, and spark-proof technology. Additionally, it has built-in smarts to be to detect a bad or damaged battery.

On top of that, the GENIUS1 is versatile. It’s capable of charging and maintaining a wide range of battery chemistries, including AGM, Gel, SLA, VLRA and LiFePO4 batteries. This means that it can be used for a variety of applications, such as charging car, truck and motorcycle batteries, marine batteries, and even golf cart batteries, without needing to purchase additional chargers.

Overall, the NOCO GENIUS1 ability to automatically switch between charging modes and its safety features make it a safe and convenient option for anyone who needs to charge and maintain batteries year-round.

If affordability is your first priority, BLACK+DECKER's car battery charger will satisfy your budget. It's really light on the wallet, and at 5 x 3 x 8.9 inches and one pound, it's literally light, as well.

Fortunately, it comes with a few unique features and safety nets. It's got one-touch automatic charging and both O-ring post and alligator clamp terminals for both battery post styles. It works on all 6- and 12-volt AGM, gel, and wet batteries, so it's great for all kinds of other machines that have smaller batteries. It does only charge at a rate of 1.5 amps, but it has a reverse polarity check to make sure you don't damage your battery in any way.

Buyers note that the device is reliable, but with its limited charge rate, it's not going to do anything very quickly. It's a great trickle charger for occasional use, but we'd upgrade if we were counting on it to maintain an expensive battery.

Replacing the popular Schumacher SpeedCharge SSC-1000A, the new SC1304 Fully Automatic Battery Charger Maintainer keeps everything that made the old model great, and adds additional capacity and features at a comparable price. Peak charging is up to 15 amps, which is more than enough for any automotive battery; and it's capable of charging 6 and 12 volt standard, AGM, and deep-cycle batteries.

It does lose the low-amperage two watt charging of the SSC-1000A, but has a three amp maintaining cycle that is suitable for most modern batteries. It's still a compact battery charger, measuring ‎10.3 x 8 x 3.7 inches, and weighing three pounds. Its best feature is automatic, walk-away charging for both 6 and 12 volt batteries, which it detects and charges appropriately. Then, when the battery is fully charged, it switches to maintenance mode to keep them topped off and healthy for months.

You do need to know and select the battery type; and there's a button for powersport or automotive/marine batteries. Cables store onboard behind the retractable carry handle. It only comes with alligator clamps and not ring type; and it doesn't work as a jump starter, which other models in this price range can, although they may not have the same extensive feature set. A two-year warranty is shorter then we like for a car battery charger in this price range.

If you've got sun and a battery, you don't need to charge in a hurry then you can keep it ready to go with SOLPERK's low-power, maintenance-free solar battery charger. With an output of 50 watts and 2.78 amps at 12 volts, it's going to struggle with a fully depleted battery—it's best suited for one that's at 50% or more, like in a car you park for part of the year. The big advantage is you only pay for it once, and you don't have to worry about extension cords.

The SOLPERK comes with a waterproof controller capable of bulk, boost, and maintenance float charging, so you can install the whole thing on a post or the side of a building. Overload, voltage protection, short circuit, and back current circuits are built in. The controller supports all 12V battery types, including wet, gel, MF, EFB, and AGM,

The frame is anodized aluminum, and the monocrystalline solar cells are protected with a waterproof membrane and tempered glass panel. Solar battery chargers like these are also very popular for RVs and offroading. It's also perfect for things like an automatic gate controller, fence charger, or anything else that needs to sit out in the weather and get charged.

A solar battery charger is much larger than a plug-in one, measuring 21.3 x 21.3 x 4.45 inches, not counting the controller, and it weighs 9.4 pounds. It does cost as much as a professional charger/maintainer/jump starter and only has a 12-month warranty. SOLPERK's free 24/7 technical support is rated as excellent.

Clore Automotive is a well-known name in battery technology and makes the jump packs you'll find in most tow trucks. So we expect a high level of quality and features from their car battery charger, even in an entry-level home device like this. Clore has done well delivering in both, in the little triangular CHARGE IT! 4506. It charges and maintains all types of 6- and 12-volt batteries, including AGM, deep cycle, gel-cell, and maintenance-free. There is a low 6 amp charge cycle, which means it will not be fast. A 2 amp maintenance mode must be selected manually, as well as the battery type. It will shut off when your battery is fully charged, so we're not sure how well the maintenance function will work.

The lowest-price model in the line doesn't offer the digital display or higher 12 and 20-amp capacity of the other CHARGE IT! chargers, but it's the only one that also works with the 6-volt batteries in ATVs and lawn tractors. It does have the same Smart Clamp technology to prevent short circuits, as well as an automatic soft-start to charge severely depleted batteries. Users do report it will not charge a completely dead battery, though.

The Clore is only 1.1 pounds and has short cords that wrap around little legs on the underside. It's 8 x 7 x 4.5 inches and is designed to sit under the hood close to the battery when in use.

Cleveland-based NOCO* has come to dominate the jump starter market, even being sold as a factory option in some new cars, and is known as an industry leader. The genius5 is no exception, combining battery charger, maintainer, trickle charger, and desulfator functions in one very small unit.

Replacing the G3500, the genius5 is 35% smaller than the old model while providing 60% more charging power. It operates at 6 and 12 volts, with 5-amp, 75-watt charging for lead-acid automotive, marine, and deep-cycle batteries, including flooded, gel, AGM, and maintenance-free, plus lithium-ion batteries. Unlike many car chargers, its automatic function works with as little as 1 volt remaining, or you can manually override and attempt to charge a fully dead battery. NOCO also claims it will detect the performance loss from a damaged battery and enter a repair cycle. It also has a thermal sensor to account for external temperatures, so you can use it from -4°F/-20°C to 104°F/40°C. Once a battery is fully charged, the genius5 automatically switches into maintenance mode for as long as you leave it connected.

The trickle charger is 4.61 x 3.43 x 7.95 inches and weighs 1.59 pounds. A mounting strap and screws are included if you want to tuck it away permanently under a hood or strap it to a battery on a shelf. Voltage, damaged battery, reverse polarity, and temperature warnings and safeguards are built in. NOCO's fix-or-replace warranty is five years.

*NOCO means "No Corrosion," for a product the company founder Joseph Henry Nook developed in 1914 ( and which they still sell). NOCO is still run by the Nook family.

The big green Forney 52755 is the sort of thing you'd see in a shop, capable of not just regular two amp trickle and 10 amp standard charging, but a 40 amp quick charge and full 200 amp engine starting that will turn over just about anything.

For about the same price as one good battery, the Forney offers all the charging, maintaining, and even repair functions of a smaller unit, with the added capacity to work with large engines and batteries in trucks and equipment. It automatically switches over to a float battery maintainer cycle when a charge is complete, so will work with 6 and 12-volt batteries that are in or out of vehicles. Short circuit, overheating, and reverse polarity protection will not operate if clamps are reversed. Heavy gauge six-foot cables will reach into most engine bays.

At ‎40.3 pounds and 13 x 13.75 x 21.75 inches, you'll want to use the handle and wheels and keep it in the shop. Users report it will not charge fully dead batteries, and there isn't much information in the user manual. Fortunately, there is a US 800- number for assistance.

What are Car Battery Chargers, Trickle Chargers, and Battery Maintainers?

Can a Trickle Charger Revive a Dead Battery?

Can a trickle charger ruin a battery?

How to Use a Trickle Charger for Your Car's Battery

When Should You Use a Trickle Charger?

Step 1: Locate your battery terminal and ground location

Step 2: Disconnect Battery

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

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.

Conclusion

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