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Battery maintainers

J

JDemaris

Well-known Member
I'm curious about other's experiences with 1-2 amp, on-board battery maintainers.

I ask, because I do not believe some of the "reviews" I've read.

Last year, I started getting a little fed up with batteries going dead in newer cars that don't get driven much. Many newer cars will kill a battery in 4-6 weeks if not started. First, I put battery disconnects on a few. Then I got in trouble with New York MV inspection. They fail you if your battery has been unhooked "recently." I had to drive my Dodge Grand Caravan 200 miles before it would pass. My daughter's 2002 Ford Focus did the same.

I've also got a dozen tractors sitting around with batteries in them.

So, about a year ago, Harbor Freight started selling 1.5 amp, on-board, three-stage maintainers for $11 each. For that price, I figured I'd try a few. I now have 10 of them without a single failure.
Now, their price is up to $20 each and I've been wanting a few more.

Here's my problem with reviews.

NAPA ran a sale on Black & Decker/Vector 2 amp maintainers. Model VEC080. On sale for $22 each. So, I bought two. Absolute pieces of junk. One didn't work new out of the box, and NAPA gave me a new replacement. Within two months - both died. I got my money back - but will never, ever - use anything with the Black & Decker/Vector name again. I had a similar go-around with their 4000 watt inverters. Chinese junk with no product support - with an American brand-name.

Now I want a few more. HF wants $20 plus shipping.

Schumacher sells the exact same unit as HF and charges $24 for it.

I'm wondering if there are any other brands, in a similar price range, that have held up well for people.

My ONLY complaint with the HF units is - if they turn "on" in full 1.5 amp charge mode, they knock out any AM radio reception within 100 feet.
A minor issue.

HF unit is exactly the same as the Shumacher model SE-1-12S for anybody that cares. Both from China but very good quality.
 
I have 6-7 Battery Tender brand chargers. Use them on my collection of motorcycles. Been in service many years, work great. Much longer battery life on bikes that sit a lot,,,, can't ride as much as I would like.... maybe someday.

Few years a ago a motorcycle magazine, Motorcycle Consumer (rates products, no advertising) rated theirs best, they tested many.They were also rated very well at bringing a new battery live after you put the acid in.

L.
 
JD: Go to HF and ask about their ITC offer for club members only ! And, after asking ask if you were to join the club would you be able to receive a substantial discount on a number on maintainers ?

"Even though, " they may not be on sale for club members only at that time via ITC !!!!


I have done this on a few occasions after talking to the MANAGER and they were very hospitable to my needs.

It's worth a shot given your mention of the quality " and don't forget to mention the GOOD quality of their chargers "up front" when you ask. Hope this helps.
 
I have one of the HF units that I use on my lawn mower all winter, it's alright. I also have six Sears Craftsman units that have 6 or 12 volt choice, that I use on some of my tractors. I am very pleased with the Craftsman units. They normally sell for $29.95 but go on sale periodically for $19.95.
 
Switch what around, the batteries? Are you kidding? I've got three diesel trucks, one with two batteries, one with four batteries, and my 92 Dodge-Cummins has one big one.

I've got over a dozen farm tractors, backhoes, and dozers with batteries.

I've got five cars registered and sitting with batteries in them.

How in heck could I possibley "switch" around?

Also note that many cannot be switched anyway. Some have side posts, some top posts, and some have pos and neg in opposite places. Subarus use opposites and nothing around here will fit into them.
 
I use one of HF's 5 watt solar panels to maintain the charge on (4) 12V batteries, it's worked for the last 4 years.

A friend uses (2) of the 5 watt chargers to maintain a 12 V battery used for a wheel chair lift, it's worked for about 3 years.

HTH
 
You must have an awful lot of sun. I have two plow trucks with 15 watt panels hooked to them, and they just barely keep the batteries maintained. I have one old diesel backhoe with a 50 watt panel and that does a good job.

A 5 watt panel can charge a 12 volt battery with - at best - 1/3 of an amp and that's only in bright sun with the sun pointing straight at it. It would never work in my area of NY.

I wish we had more sun, but it's not going to happen. And with winter, it's at a terrible angle.
 
I know some of them (Battery Tender) and also some of the Shumacher brands work very well. But, not in the price-range I'm talking about. Some stores charge $60 for the little Battery Tender 1.25 amp charger and it seems to be less charger then the ones HF sold for $11. It's also not waterproof - according to the Battery Tender - so it's not supposed to be mounted under the hood of a car or truck. The HF (or Schumacher) units are sealed and come with brackets to mounted under the hood.
 
I recently bought one of the 6/12V Craftsman chargers for $17.95. I think they are now back to $19.95. I've recently used it to charge/maintain 13 or so batteries, both 6V and 12V. So far, so good.

I find it more convenient than using the half dozen or so HF 12V only "maintainers," which are actually merely float chargers, and a seperate HD charger for the 6V batteries.

Dean
 
watch pennysaver/weekly for h/f 20% off coupons, sometimes find them in the Gazette Sunday section

next time you hit Albany go to their place on Central Ave and buy them one at a time, also get free LED flashlite each time

don't know how they keep the doors open at their prices, that digital vom meter is junk
 
I've got a dozen of their digital VOMs that I bought for $1.99 each. They've been fine. Very rugged and hard to burn out. These are the red ones with a 10 amp scale for current-flow checks and fuse protection. The previous yellow VOMs from HF quickly burnt out on me the first time I made a mistake. All you had to do was be in "resistance" mode, and hook to power and they'd fry.

My only problem with the cheap red ones is slow response for voltage reading. So, if you want to check something like power on a turn-signal circuit that blinks, on and off -they're too slow to read. Otherwise for $1.99?? I think they're a great buy.

I've never been to the Albany store yet, but did go to Utica a few weeks ago. They had some fantastic, unadverstised deals there. I bought a 2000 lb. transmission jack for $249 and am very impressed with it.
 
I think he meant to switch the battery tenders around, not the batteries- but that would be a hassle too, and something I would surely neglect to do. I have a hard enough time keeping up with the "necessary" chores!
 
All depends on what you call covenient and what you call "float." Float voltage is usually around 13 volts and the HF units can charge 1.5 amps at 14.8 volts. I like having small maintainers hard-mounted under hoods of cars, truck, and tractors. No screwing around with moving a charger back and forth. Also, the HF units are weatherized and meant for use in moist areas.

I wouldn't call them just "float chargers" since they are three-stage up to 1.5 amps charge rate at 14.8 volts. That's a bit beyond "float."

They suggest to use them on batteries no bigger then 50 amphours. But, I've got two of them hooked to big, dual battery setups and they've worked great. Main thing is . . . you don't want to hook them to a big battery that is already discharged.
 
The HF "maintainers" that I have, though labeled Maintainers, are float chargers, commonly called trickle chargers. As evidenced by the sizes of the low voltage leads and the power supply, they certainly cannot charge at a rate any more than a few milliamps. These cost $7.95 regular price but I bought all of them when discounted to around $3.00.

I do not leave them connected for more than about 10-14 days at any time.

Dean
 
I've pick up about half a dozen of the red HF DVMs with free coupons. Been giving them to friends. They work fine but one cannot expect them to tolerate improper use.

Dean
 
i have a couple of the battery tender units, they work well, also ai bought a couple little maintainers from oem tractor parts. they are about 17 dollars each, and they work well also. if you want to go up in price, the marine charger/maintainers work very well, but are up in the 40-70 dollars range. here is a link to westmarines chargers.
poke here
 
That's not what I'm talking about. Those would be pretty useless for what I want. These are HF item # 99857 and came out about 1 year ago. They were $11.99 then and a great bargain. Now they are $20. Had I known at the time, I would of bought a dozen of them. Like I said, Schumacher also sells the same one now for a bit more then HF.

Three stage, water resistant, comes with a set of hard-wire leads and also a set of leads with alligator clips. Also comes with steel mounting brackets. I tested mine and it does charge at a full 1.5 amps at 14.8 volts at the high rate. Flips down to 2nd lower rate once 13.8 battery voltage is sensed, and sometimes turns completely off.
 
That's pretty much what I did for years. Carry a battery charger outside and . . . if I thought of it . . . charge up batteries that had been sitting a long time. Doesn't work for me, not with over two dozen batteries around. End result is often - I need to use something that's been sitting for months - I try to start it - and the batteries are near dead. Happens with tractors and even faster with 1998 or newer cars and trucks that have built-in battery drains.
 
Harbor Freight runs full-page (discount)ads in many magazines; an on-line search will pull up all that are current; just print them out and there're accepted at the store(s).........no questions asked.
 
I agree.

I would have bought one or more of the HF maintainers of which you speak at the introductory price but I missed them then, probably because I was looking for 6/12 volt maintainers.

The Craftsman 6/12V maintainer is OK for my purposes but I probably will not buy more at $20, let alone the regular price of $40. It charges 12V batteries at 2 amps and 6V batteries at 4 amps before switching to float/monitor mode upon full charge.

Unlike more expensive maintainers, it does not preform an automatic desulfide operation but the switching power supply with little or no output filtering should help prevent such damage to batteries in periods of non use.

Model No.: 200.7129

Dean
 
(quoted from post at 13:12:10 12/08/10) That's not what I'm talking about. Those would be pretty useless for what I want. These are HF item # 99857 and came out about 1 year ago. They were $11.99 then and a great bargain. Now they are $20. Had I known at the time, I would of bought a dozen of them. Like I said, Schumacher also sells the same one now for a bit more then HF.

Three stage, water resistant, comes with a set of hard-wire leads and also a set of leads with alligator clips. Also comes with steel mounting brackets. I tested mine and it does charge at a full 1.5 amps at 14.8 volts at the high rate. Flips down to 2nd lower rate once 13.8 battery voltage is sensed, and sometimes turns completely off.
Click to expand...
Circuit reveals that SE112S has a bit more guts than a simple float chgr:
float_chgr.jpg
 
Shumacher probably makes them for HF since they they make battery chargers for a lot of bigger retailers. Dave
 
JDE ; How do you test these chargers/maintainers ? to see if they actually shut off ?

I have one of the HF 42292 mentioned below. I hook it up , but don't trust it to leave it hooked up so after a few days I unhook it. I used a volt meter on it the other day while hooked up for awhile and was getting something like 15.80 volts ? I could here this small car battery bubbling.
 
It's possible Schumacher designed them, but either brand is made in China. Many companies who actually design and build things still also buy premade stuff from China to stay competitive. Just like Chevy selling Korean Daewoos, John Deere when they sold Echo or Homelite chainsaws, etc.

I suspect this unit is designed and built in China, and rebranded and sold by many companies.
But, I have no proof but the specs appear identicala and the manuals read pretty-much the same - with a hint of Chinese-to-English translation.
 
Hook one of the battery leads in-series with a small amp meter. When this HF unit shuts down, it draws, intermittently around 50 milliamps in "standyby" mode, off and on.

1st stage - 1.5 amps at 14.8 volts.

2nd stage - 200 milliamps trickle charge at 14.8 volts.

3rd stage - monitors battery voltage and turns on if voltage drops below 13.5 volts.
 
I went to Northern Tool and picked up a couple of BatteryMinders for around $100 each back in October of 2009. I brought into the garage, 11 batteries from tractors and vehicles and parked a late model Buick inside the garage. Every battery was trickled charged individually before being hooked up in parallel to the BatteryMinder. Each BatteryMinder can desulphate and maintain up to 6 12V batteries if connected in parallel with 18 gauge wire. So the 2 BatteryMinders were set up maintaining the 11 batteries and I used long 12ft leads (18 gauge) to connect the onboard battery in the car so it too was maintained without messing up the security system.
I came back from Florida 3 months later and every battery was in top shape. I did have a neighbor periodically check on the setup but he didn't have to touch a thing.
So this year I may leave more batteries onboard and just park the tractors close together.

I was under the impression that the onboard units mounted under the hood were for high use vehicles to guarantee a good alternator-battery balance since many high use vehicles (ie taxis, UPS vans, County Roads dept vehicles etc) spend much of their time idling and hence stressing batteries more than the alternator.

Hope this helps
 
Jde. Sometime back when you had this subject on YT ,I asked where you got em and if they were safe to leave on. Some responders said there was a fire hazzard if left on ,un -attended. Took a chance and went to F& Fleet and got one.See LINK. We didn't give what shows up in the price .Got it on the 706 ,have it on since November, Still on. Tractor is outside with tarp over it. WIll use it for accumulating snow over what the truck can push. would be interested in your comments on PEAK ., Reguards LOU& VICTOR

http://battstore.stores.yahoo.net/pe2amp12vauf.html
 
You probably have the Peak 1.5 or 2 amp model PKC0AF? I've seen them at $22 to $38. Might be fine. I never tried one because Black & Decker does not provide full specs or a full manual, on-line for it. It's called "semi-intelligent" and I have no idea what that is supposed to mean. I think it's what teachers used to call me in high school. I've had nothing with trouble with anything Black & Decker has sold the past year from Vector in China. Black & Decker recently bought the Vector company and product support is absolutely terrible. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with your charger, though.

I had three 2 amp Vector battery maintainers fail (different models then your's). I also had four brand new inverters sent to me - bad out of the box - and that's whey I finally gave up on B%D/Vector.

About fire hazards? Anything with fuel and electricity can be a hazard. Many of these battery maintainers are made to be left "on" and hooked up full-time. Just because they are on, it doesn't mean they always doing something.

I know that some people on these forums say whatever they want, even if any facts exist. Note I said "some." Not "all."

Show me one verified event - where a battery maintainer caused a fire. I bet nobody has such an event to show us. Not unless somebody drilled a hole in one, and then pour some gasoline into it - while plugged in.
 
I've never heard anything about on-board maintainers for "high use." Makes no sense to me. What does a lot of engine idling have to do with it? If this was 1963, and a car had a brush driven generator - and the lights and AC were on - yes - there's be a discharge at idle. But today? Most cars and truck can charge 30-60 amps at idle - to offset the possibilty of low-engine-speed discharge.
 
It could be a supplier for Schumacher and the HF ones still go through Schumacher. Either way, they probably come out of the same factory. Dave
 
The other alternative is a good set of jumper cables, and a diesel pickup with a couple of mondo batteries.
 
I did fire reports for our fire dept.Spent 35 years.Too old now.Battery chargers and maintainers have started many fires.I have seen flames coming out of the top of battery chargers.Heres what happens.Lightning strikes the power lines miles away.The high voltage spikes short circuit the diodes in your charger.The tranformer is now working into a dead short.Its wound with heavy gauge wire. there no fuse in the primary. The 15 amp breaker or fuse dosent open. The trans former burns.
 
Yes, and that's why alternators have voltage-regulators.

Large alternators are often installed to keep up with high demand at low speeds. That because a car or truck might have headlight. fog lights, large stereo amp, DVD player, AC, etc. all drawing power at once. Come to a stop light and have the engine idling, and an alternator might to supply 60 amps just to prevent battery drain.

On a side-note, my diesel trucks with dual batteries easily call for 60 amps after first starting. That's only 30 amps per battery.
 
Thanks for the reply Jde. I was really reluctant to leave the unit on the battery until we needed the tractor for snow removal.Seems your right about "SOME OF THE ADVICE" is almost like yelling "FIRE" in a crowded theater,Isn't true but brings out fear in those who don't know about such things. .Victor is looking at the Northern tool Cat 2010 and they show one called "N POWER (item # 457807-2101)=$29.00 also shows a trickle maintainer for $19.99 #167951-2101. Don't know any thing about em. Look At Northern Tool.COM they have 3pages in their catalog on battery charger/maintainers. Thanks .Reguards LOU&VICATOR.
 
I don't believe it for a second. We're talking about an on-board 1.5 amp maintainer with 18 gauge wires on the output and 16 gauge wires on the input, and a 5 amp fuse-link at the line input. A spike on the grid is not going to make that charger get hot enough to be a hazard to anyone or anything. It might go "poof" however.

And about lightning strikes and fires in general? Households have numerous appliances plugged in and/or hardwired all the time that are slightly more apt to cause a problem. And when and if it happens, I'll blame it on the lightning strike. Not some small battery charger.

Tell me a model of a 1-2 amp battery maitainer that you claim "caused" a fire because of a lightning strike or verified design defect.
 
JD, I see the ones you are talking about, and I am off to HF tomorrow to get one.

There is sale that shows "Lot No. 99857 1.5 amp Three Stage Automatic Battery Charger" for 19.99 sales price, regular price 29.99.

The same sale shows "Lot No. 42292 Sutomatic Battery Charger with Floating Circuit for 9.99, regular 12.99" A separate sale shows this on at 4.99 or 61 percent off 12.99.

Based on your tests I will buy the Lot No. 99857 for 19.99, and then use one of those 20 percent off any single item, makeing it 15.99 if they will allow it.

Thanks for giving us some real experience to use.
Tom
 
My Aunt"s lawn mower fried the stator so it would not charge. The new stator is over two hundred dollars. So I got a Schumacher battery maintainer and hard wired it under the hood. She just hooks it up when she is done moving. It has only lasted that way forrrrrrrrr? Twelve years plus she only has replaced the battery once in that time.
I put one on my mower four years ago just because the batteries where not lasting more than a year or two. It seems to have helped them last longer.
 
Battery chargers do not have a line fuse .I have added a 5 amp line to my chargers.I use them outdoors.I have seen flames coming out off the top of a small battery charger.I have done fire reports where a battery charger started the fire.A battery charger started a fire in the town of Morril that burned 3 houses flat.A fellow lost 2 tractors and a truck to a Harley Davidson battery maintainer.That was on the Ford Barn sitealso one poster found a battery charger burned to a crisp beside his car.He had left it on the ground so the car didnt go with it.I have seen cordless phone chargers melted.Power tool chargers have started many fires.I know a fellow who left home one morning and remembered he had left a power tool battery charger on in his barn shop,went back and found the charger on fire.My son in law law always had a couple of power tool chargers runnig in his dining room.I warned him about the fire hazard.He didnt listen.Later I saw 2 bad burns on the hard wood floor.Asked my grandson about it.He said you were right Grampa.I know these small chargers can catch fire,You dont so dont tell me they are safe.Lets see if I can explain what happens when lightning strikes the power lines.There are 2 dodes in most chargers.Lightning strike shorts the diodes.Transformer is now working into a dead short.No line fuse.A 20 amp protected ac line will keep feeding power so the transformer will burn.Chargers that have a cicuit breaker in the DC side wont open as they only open on reversed polarity.AC DC welders have had their diodes shorted by lightning went left plugged in.Lightning jumps on off switches with ease.When summer lightning storms came in the TV service calls took off.Shorted diodes and scrs are common in fence chargers.Ive seen many transformers burned to a crisp when half wit owners replaced 1 amp fuses with 30 amp fuses.The metal case prevented a fire.Ive found pieces of drill rod and copper wire in fuse holders.I have been in electronics since the early 50s.I repair battery chargers and welders so I know far more about them than you do.A good 14 volt center tapped trans former at 3 amps will cost me 12 to 14 bucks.If you trust china electronics you will have a fire.Right now power tool chargers are #1 in starting fires.I answered fire call where a car was burning with a battery charger connected to it.Lightning happens every month of the year.a boy was killed in January while sliding by a lightning strike near here.A customer called me on Jan 1 last year, said he saw lightning strike his fence.When I opened the case the transformer was shredded.Friend saw smoke comming from a 6 amp charger he had put on his tractor.I asked if he had connected wrong polarity.He said meter read 3 amps when he left it.I found 1 shorted diode and an open fuse that is imbedded in the transformer winding.Cost for the transformer is high but the 13 buck ship charge makes the charger scrap.What you dont know can hurt you.
 
Lou,this refers to power tool chargers but have a look.I did a search on battery charger fires.Looked at Toolcrib.com R.Meserve says A Ridgid dual charger with 1 lithium ion battery destroyed my barn and home in 30 minutes.Ive seen flames coming out of a battery charger that was on my tractor parked in the barn many years ago.I unplugged it and used water my milk cow had left in her pail to put out the fire.I have two 5 gal pails full of transformers I have taken out of fence chargers and battery chargers ,About 1/4 are badly burned.
 
First of all, your general statement "Battery chargers do not have a line fuse " is rediculous. Neither you nor I have a thorough knowledge of every model battery charger in exisitence. So, please stop with your generalities. Now, if you claim you indeed DO, okay - please post your schematic for the HF 1.5 amp three-stage maintainer for all to see.

Second - I've pulled apart a few small maintainers that do indeed have a small fusible link inside that seems to fry if you even look at it wrong. That is exactly what went wrong with the last Vector 2 amp battery maintainer I had (that failed).

Also a similar problem with the last Vector 5000 watt inverter I had. It had one-time-blow, line fuses right at the AC input before the transformer.

Also just has such a problem with a TV signal amp/power supply with 120 VAC at the input. The 1/2 amp fusible link fried after a distant lightning strike. I just repaired it. If you like, I'll post photos and a schematic.

Now, to be specific with the 1.5 amp units HF is selling? With 16 gauge wire on the AC input, an internal breaker, and 18 gauge wire on the output - there is no way a voltage spike is going to make that wire 16 gauge "burst into flames" and make an arc big enough to cause a fire - considering it's mounted on metal - and not flammable material.


Also - if somebody wires their house with slow-blow fuses designed in the 1920s, instead of more modern GFCI, or AFCI breakers - who is at fault when lightning strikes a grid-line or house and something catches fire? A $20 battery maintainer? Come on ! How many lead-cords are laid across carpets and wood floors in houses?

Arguments like yours amaze me.

One more time. Post specifics about even one real event - with what caused the spike, what household components failed from the service entrance and on, and what specific model battery maintainer was alledged to be the cause.
 
Many newer cars will run a battery dead in 4-6 weeks? I have never had that problem. I have 3 vehicles that I store all winter, probably 3-4 months. Is it any particular brand or model that does this? On all my old tractors, Farmall Bs, Ms, Hs, 450s I put a battery disconnect switch on them. Costs about $25. Took care of all the dead batteries I would sometimes have in the spring because generally dont use them in the winter. I even put on my combine and that is a 1998 model. Mainly because it only runs twice a year. Can you get away with putting a battery disconnect on your Caravan? I know you would have to pop the hood every time and maybe it wont pas inspection.
 
not a good idea to disconnect the battery. the computer will loose memory and the car will need to re-program, kind of a pia. also many of the vehicles have anti theft radios in them, and if they loose battery power, the radio locks out until your user code is entered in the radio. you have generally 4 trys to get it right, after that, a fusible link blows in the radio, disabling it until it is replaced.
 
I'll say the statement about running batteries dead is TRUE

My dad and I have 2004 and 2005 Chevy pickups.. If I don't drive mine at least once every 2 weeks, it will no doubt have a dead battery.. Has done it to my BRAND NEW battery that I put in in August. Dad's is the same way. I can't say they both did it when new, as when new, we both drove them every day.. But since I got my company truck, and he's not doing contracting any longer, they sit alot now.

The 05 ford I drive for work runs the batteries down sitting, but takes longer, as it's a diesel and has 2 batteries.

I asked the chevy garage the first time my truck did it, they "claim" it has to do with the radio and whatnot.. But could just be a way to get out of working on it, as it was on warranty back then..

Brad
 
They drain because of computer flash-memory, clocks, radio presets, electronic rust preventers,etc. The OBII and newer computer system seems to be biggest "key off" battery drain.

I'm a little new to cars and trucks built after 1995. I did not want to own anything with an OBD-II computer system - but finally had to give in.

I've got an 95 Subaru Impreza, 99 Kia Sportage, 2002 Subaru, and 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan that all have OBII. All will drain the battery to a point it won't start in 4-6 weeks if not started at all. All my vehicles without have no such problem.

My 99 Dodge owner's manual cleary states the battery will discharge if not started at least once a month. It says to pull certain fuses for long term parking.

My original "fix" was to install battery disconnects. That works fine - but that caused me problems with NY motor-vehicle inspection. I finally installed the maintainers and it was the best fix for me.

Somebody that does not have mulitple vehicles that sit a lot is likely never to notice this "new technology" problem.
 
Are you saying they sit for 3-4 months and never started even once during that time?

Battery disconnect works fine. But, you have to drive the van sometimes over 100 miles, after rehooking if a motor-vehicle inspection is due.

Owner's manual states clearly - the battery will discharge if not started at least once a month. That a 99 Dodge Grand Caravan. Our Kia and Subaru do the same. In fact, the Kia dies a little quicker, but . . . it also has a smaller battery then the Dodge.
 
You are a full blown nut. I have been there and seen what happens when people come home wnen their homes are on fire.I have fought fires in my sleep.I have been burned at fires .I have seen burned children and pets.
 
You are a full blown nut. I have been there and seen what happens when people come home wnen their homes are on fire.I have fought fires in my sleep.I have been burned at fires .I have seen burned children and pets.
 
What on earth does that have to do with small battery maintainers? Are you blaming all the hurt and suffering that certainly exisits from house fires - on these little 1.5 amp maintainers?

Hmmm. And, you're calling ME a nut?

Since you've "been there" and "seen it all", please enlighten us -with specifics please- not emotional hyperbole.
 
Right off the bat, all lead-acid batteries self-discharge just sitting around even if there is NO drain on them. Much depends on how much antimnony is inside them, and how hot they get. ?The hotter the weather, the faster they discharge. But, the hotter you engine is, the less likely you're going to notice.

Here are typical discharge rates:

Flooded Lead-acid (antimony) - 8%-40% per month - faster discharge when hot

AGM and GEL (calcium) - 2-10% per month

Nickel Metal Hydride - 30% per month

Ni-Cad - 15–20% per month

Lithium - 2–3% discharge per month


Diesel tractors aren't an issue, nor are cars and trucks made mid-90s and back. The newer cars and trucks draw current while parked and all will drain the batteries to some degree. Usually 50-80 milliamps, but some loaded with accessories drain up to 400 milliamps. Some new Fords draw 1000 milliamps for 15-20 minutes after every shutdown, then cut own to a lower drain. It's just a matter of how many drains they have and how big the batteries are.

A typical car or truck battery will have a 50-80 amp-hour rating.

A 50 AH battery can approx. handle this much drain NOT accounting for the natural discharge:

1 amp drain for one day
400 milliamps drain for 2-3 days
100 milliamps for 10 days
50 milliamps for 20 days
10 milliamps for 3 1/2 months
 
A part-time use "power tool" charger has little to do with an on-board auto-battery maintainer . . . which is designed for full-time hookup.

You don't have a clue as to what the difference is?
 
I parked my 96 ford F150 for 2 months when it blew a rear wheel brake cylinder in jan.Ordered the part and fixed it early march.The battery was fine.
 
If d1 and d2 short from lightning the transformer sees a dead short.Do a search on battery charger fires and tell us what you find.
 
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