[richard groves]

As title really.
I've a 55 AH leisure battery. I think I've a really crappy charger from Lidls ( a couple of years old ) and looking for something better.
My local auto spares shop had a vast array of chargers from about £25 up to £140  .
Any recommendations and links ?
many thanks 

[Jonny 87]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160927753460

 

I always recommend this one. Ctek are the dogs doodas. Really makes your battery perform better for much longer.

My leisure battery is 3 years old now and performs like new. The charger is awesome.

[jk999]

There you go jonny your battery will probably die now you have said that lol 

[SeanK]

I used to use an old cheap charger that belonged to my father and after my last battery failed I invested in a smart charger
not joking the old crappy charger done as good a job and have went back to it after my last battery only lasted half the time
when charged on the smart.
For an overnight charge cheap and cheerful will do the job we need it to, so don't waste your money on those expensive
chargers because I honestly believe they wont make a difference other than lighten your pocket more.
A timer plug will stop you overcharging the battery over the weekend.

[Spruce]

I found the opposite to SeanK.

I've had a starter battery charger for years. Our first wfp batteries didn't last long when using it every night to recharge the battery. I thought this was normal.

8 years ago I invested  in a 'new' van and new setup. Included was a new leisure battery and I purchased an intelligent leisure battery charger. What I liked about it was that it is designed to be left on all winter if required. Since then my leisure batteries have done well. This is my 3rd leisure battery in 8 years; the current one was replaced 18 months ago.
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[M & C Window Cleaning]

CTek for me as well, after I went through several cheap ones.

[Rob clarke]

How long does a ctek  take to charge a big 110ah battery?

[Jonny 87]

I found the opposite to SeanK.

I've had a starter battery charger for years. Our first wfp batteries didn't last long when using it every night to recharge the battery. I thought this was normal.

8 years ago I invested  in a 'new' van and new setup. Included was a new leisure battery and I purchased an intelligent leisure battery charger. What I liked about it was that it is designed to be left on all winter if required. Since then my leisure batteries have done well. This is my 3rd leisure battery in 8 years; the current one was replaced 18 months ago.
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+1 to that.

[Jonny 87]

How long does a ctek  take to charge a big 110ah battery?

I use the trickle "recondition setting" and in a morning it is always fully charged. So less than 12 hours.

[Smurf]

I use one of theses for my pf trolley battery  http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bulbs-blades-batteries/car-battery-chargers/halfords-fully-automatic-battery-charger

I just cut the croc clips off and replaced with the connector plug that came with the old pf charger that broke.  I also bought another one not long after and left as is so could charge other batteries up using croc clips as got feedup having to keep swapping them over.

It's also handy I've found to keep in the van for longer exterior cleaning jobs as can be plugged into customers power to recharge at the same time can run the pf trolley pump as it's charging.  I'm usualy using customers power anyway for the gutter vac so makes no odds really.  Doing this has also got me out of trouble more than once when I've forgot to charge the battery up and it dies whilst out and about.

[Rob clarke]

How long does a ctek  take to charge a big 110ah battery?

I use the trickle "recondition setting" and in a morning it is always fully charged. So less than 12 hours.

Cheers jonny

[SeanK]

I found the opposite to SeanK.

I've had a starter battery charger for years. Our first wfp batteries didn't last long when using it every night to recharge the battery. I thought this was normal.

8 years ago I invested  in a 'new' van and new setup. Included was a new leisure battery and I purchased an intelligent leisure battery charger. What I liked about it was that it is designed to be left on all winter if required. Since then my leisure batteries have done well. This is my 3rd leisure battery in 8 years; the current one was replaced 18 months ago.
-

+1 to that.

+1 to what ? three batteries in 8 years is nothing special and  nothing to base buying a more expensive charger on,
some people can see the wood for the trees.

[SeanK]

I use one of theses for my pf trolley battery  http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bulbs-blades-batteries/car-battery-chargers/halfords-fully-automatic-battery-charger

I just cut the croc clips off and replaced with the connector plug that came with the old pf charger that broke.  I also bought another one not long after and left as is so could charge other batteries up using croc clips as got feedup having to keep swapping them over.

It's also handy I've found to keep in the van for longer exterior cleaning jobs as can be plugged into customers power to recharge at the same time can run the pf trolley pump as it's charging.  I'm usualy using customers power anyway for the gutter vac so makes no odds really.  Doing this has also got me out of trouble more than once when I've forgot to charge the battery up and it dies whilst out and about.

Wouldn't recommend that charger, I was about to change my battery as it wasn't lasting over the day even though I was
charging it every night with that same charger.
Went back to my old cheap job and the battery has been grand ever since, I get the feeling it was reading my battery as fully
charged and stopping the charge too early.
I also get the feeling that it was charging the battery too quickly as I was forever topping the battery up with pure something
I haven't needed to do since going back to my old charger.

[jk999]

I also had that same charger from halfords didn't seem to be charging my battery's properly so I took it back got a different one a bit dearer ,up to now not had a problem

[Smurf]

I use one of theses for my pf trolley battery  http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bulbs-blades-batteries/car-battery-chargers/halfords-fully-automatic-battery-charger

I just cut the croc clips off and replaced with the connector plug that came with the old pf charger that broke.  I also bought another one not long after and left as is so could charge other batteries up using croc clips as got feedup having to keep swapping them over.

It's also handy I've found to keep in the van for longer exterior cleaning jobs as can be plugged into customers power to recharge at the same time can run the pf trolley pump as it's charging.  I'm usualy using customers power anyway for the gutter vac so makes no odds really.  Doing this has also got me out of trouble more than once when I've forgot to charge the battery up and it dies whilst out and about.

Wouldn't recommend that charger, I was about to change my battery as it wasn't lasting over the day even though I was
charging it every night with that same charger.
Went back to my old cheap job and the battery has been grand ever since, I get the feeling it was reading my battery as fully
charged and stopping the charge too early.
I also get the feeling that it was charging the battery too quickly as I was forever topping the battery up with pure something
I haven't needed to do since going back to my old charger.

I can only say from my own experience it work very well for charging this type of battery that's fitted to my old pf trolley that I've not had to replace yet. http://www.purefreedom.co.uk/pumps-controllers/batteries/yuasa-12v-24ah-golf-battery.html  Same goes for any other leisure, car and van battery I've used it on so far. I'm sure it's not as good as the more expensive battery chargers but seems to work well for what I need it for.

What can catch some people out using that halfords charger is that as soon as you connect the charger to a battery the light will come on even though you haven't switched the power on yet so you think it's charging but obvioulsy it's not. It will also not regenerate old/knackerd faulty batteries that don't take and/or hold a full charge. 

[AuRavelling79]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160927753460

 

I always recommend this one. Ctek are the dogs doodas. Really makes your battery perform better for much longer.

My leisure battery is 3 years old now and performs like new. The charger is awesome.

And me - but now I rarely need it as I have a relay in the van.

[Spruce]

My late brother in law had (still has) a very old battery charger he got from his late father (my late father in law.) It has got to be the best part of 60 years old.

It has a switch and a volt meter. The switch has two settings - one for trickle charge and the other for fast charge. It has no cutout when the battery is fully charged so you have to keep your eye on it.
The trickle charge is so slow that you can leave the battery connected to it all night and cause no damage.

This is probably a similar old charger to what SeanK got from his Dad.

The battery charger I got is a cheap one that has a single LED light. It starts red (charging) then turns orange and then green for fully charged.
On green the charger switches off. There will be enough charge in the battery to start the car or van. But I doubt the battery is fully charged once the charger switches off. It does a basic job.

When I got my Tanya leisure battery charger I put my leisure battery on charge. Although the battery was fully charged with my car battery charger, the leisure battery charger still spend sometime adding additional charge into the battery.  I believed the experts when they say that an intelligent leisure battery charger will charge a leisure battery to capacity where a standard charger won't.

I'm pretty sure if I borrowed that old charger from my sister in law it would work much better than my cheap battery charger.

TBH I'm happy my leisure batteries are now lasting 3 years on average. I got through 1 a year on my trailer setup. Numax once advised me that they don't give warranty on batteries used by window cleaners because they don't last more than 6 months.

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[Jonny 87]

I found the opposite to SeanK.

I've had a starter battery charger for years. Our first wfp batteries didn't last long when using it every night to recharge the battery. I thought this was normal.

8 years ago I invested  in a 'new' van and new setup. Included was a new leisure battery and I purchased an intelligent leisure battery charger. What I liked about it was that it is designed to be left on all winter if required. Since then my leisure batteries have done well. This is my 3rd leisure battery in 8 years; the current one was replaced 18 months ago.
-

+1 to that.

+1 to what ? three batteries in 8 years is nothing special and  nothing to base buying a more expensive charger on,
some people can see the wood for the trees.

Calm down.......,

It was plus 1 to the fact that the trickle setting seems to be great for batteries.

I was recommended the battery by a friend, and since then have recommended it to many window cleaners, each one as far as I know having no issues with it, in fact saying it greatly increased the life of their leisure batteries.