Let’s just say that you own a vintage car with an older battery, or you are planning on taking a long vacation, and if you are unable to drive your car in the winter, and due to all these reasons, you need to store your car. The next thought that pop-up in mind is what if the car battery dies during storage period, then “How are you going to deal with a dead battery? How you are going to drive?”
If the same thing concerns you as well, then the solution to this is to buy a trickle car battery charger. Yes, a trickle battery charger for your car’s battery. Why? Because trickle battery charger work by liberating only a small amount of current, and by small we mean uniform to car’s battery natural self-discharge rate. This is done to match the charger’s current to the battery’s self-discharge battery, it helps by topping up the car’s battery to a fully charged level.
Trickle Battery Chargers are versatile and can be used with other automobiles such as ATVs, Motorcycles, Snowmobiles, etc. Trickle Battery Chargers are very common and come in different sizes, and features as well. The perks of using them include, battery charge at a high rate, comes with safety features and can be used to check battery charge percentage.
Their diversity is not limited to features only, but it includes price too. And, that’s why it’s a bit tedious to choose the perfect trickle battery charger for your car’s battery.
But you don’t have to worry because we are here to help you find the Best Trickle Battery Charger for your car’s battery. Keep on reading the article, and you will know how we are going to do it.
What Is a Trickle Charger?
A trickle charger is simply a battery charger with low power voltage. It functions by charging your car’s battery by delivering low voltage, which means that your car’s battery will be charged at a slow but steady speed. As mentioned earlier that a trickle charger feeds a charge uniform with battery’s self-discharge.
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One important thing to note about Trickle chargers is it should be disconnected only after the battery is charged, not before or after it. Next, let us take a quick look at how you can use a trickle charger to charge your car’s battery.
How To Use a Trickle Charger For Your Car’s Battery?
Using a trickle charger may seem a bit tricky at first, however it is not complicated if done correctly. To make it simpler for you, we have explained step-by-step guide on how you can use trickle charger to charge your car’s battery.
Before we start off, make sure to park your car at a well-ventilated & rain-free location. Make sure its engine is off and keys are out of ignition, trickle charger won’t function if done otherwise. Next, follow the steps provided below:
1. Locate your battery terminals & ground location
First things first, is to open the hood and identify battery terminals. Most often the red color is for positive terminal & the black one is for negative terminal. If not color coded, then they have a positive symbol (+) or a negative symbol (-) nearby.
You can also go for ground location to close the current circuit, instead of the negative terminal.
2. Disconnect Battery
Next, you will have to disconnect your car’s battery. Start by removing the negative connector, and then red connector. Always remember to remove the connector the exact way it is mentioned.
3. Attach the Trickle Charger
Once connectors are removed successfully, it is time to attach the trickle charger to your car’s battery. Start by connecting the positive clip of trickle charger (most often the red clip) to the positive terminal, then attach the negative clip to negative terminal present at the battery (most often black color). You can attach the negative clip of trickle charger to the ground location as well.
4. Turn on the Trickle Charger
After carefully attempting the steps mentioned above, next thing to is plug in trickle charger, and turn it on to start the process of charging all at once.
5. Finish Charging
Since trickle charger works at slow pace, you will need to leave the charger & cables as it is, while it charges up your car’s battery.
Remove the trickle charger: after your car’s battery is charged successfully, carefully remove the charger from. Start by turning off the charger, then unplug it from the power socket. Next, disconnect the clips from battery terminals, get going with negative terminal and then the positive terminal.
Then simply remove the charger from the battery. Lastly, reattach battery to terminal cable, first reattach positive terminal then the negative.
Top 5 Best Trickle Chargers For Your Car’s Battery
Let us now take a closer look at top 5 best trickle chargers:
1. BATTERY TENDER® Junior
Our top choice BATTERY TENDER® Junior, offers the perfect equilibrium of performance, efficiency and price. This trickle charger is especially designed to maintain your car’s battery percentage full. Along with this, the charger comes with a microprocessor which helps control the charger & the maintainer to extend the battery life.
The product comes with alligator chips & rings terminals, so you can easily connect to battery terminals. It can be used with lead-acid, flooded, or sealed maintenance free batteries including AGM & Gel cell, plus the charger is equipped with LEDs which helps specify state of the trickle charger.
The noteworthy feature of BATTERY TENDER® Junior trickle charger is that once the battery is fully charged, charger automatically switches to float mode. Its safety features include spark-proof, and reverse polarity. The company provides a 12-foot-long extension cord in the box, and you can buy 25-foot-long cord as well, separately.
Key Features: Budget friendly, Efficient, Powerful, offers safety features, Light-weight, Easy to handle.
2. BLACK+DECKER Automatic Battery Charger/Maintainer
Next, we have the most affordable option for you, I.e., BLACK+DECKER Automatic Battery Charger/Maintainer. As its name suggests, it is trickle charger with the extra feature to work as a battery maintainer once your car’s battery is fully charged. One important thing to note is the charger can only charge at a rate of 1.5 amps, however it is equipped with reverse polarity feature; so, make sure no damage is caused to your car’s battery.
The trickle charger is affordable, lightweight, and small & portable; and, it is equipped with safety features as well. Only downside of BLACK+DECKER Automatic Battery Charger/Maintainer, is its slow charging speed.
Keeping this one point aside, this trickle charger is a perfect if you want to buy one with basic features at low price.
Key Features: Affordable, Durable, Portable.
3. Sunforce 5-Watt Solar Battery Trickle Charger
As its name suggest, the next trickle charger on our list functions by using Solar Energy/ Yes, the solar energy, which not just makes it efficient but also eco-friendly. It is one of its kind chargers to use solar power to charge up your car’s battery.
However, there is no reason to intimidated, just plug in the charger right into power socket, and it will be ready perform its function. The solar panel of charger is manufactured using durable aluminum frame, and it is lightweight & easily portable. The product is budget friendly and multifunctional I.e., can be used for other applications as well.
The only downside of this product is that it is suitable for places that receive ample sunlight. Many users have also complained about shattered glass on the panel.
Key Features : Solar Powered Eco-friendly, Affordable, Light-weight, Portable.
4. Energizer 4 Amp Battery Charger + Maintainer
Next, we have Energizer 4 Amp Charger & Maintainer, I.e., it works both ways. It charges at 4 amp, which a stronger charger rate compared to other trickle chargers. Its unique feature is its charge rate variability, and a 9-step system to extend battery life.
Other features include, auto-voltage detection, protection against over-charging, reverse polarity, & safety against short circuits. It is an affordable product and comes with 5-year long warranty backed by the company.
Key Features: Affordable, Multiple charge rates, 9-step system, 5-year warranty.
5. SUAOKI ICS7+ 12V Battery Charger/ Maintainer
The last product on our list is SUAOKI battery charger/ maintainer. Even though it is last, but the product comes with some interesting features, that are worth checking out. It is a new high-tech trickle charger/ maintainer, with the power to switch between 7amp & 3.5amp; which means it can be used to charge your car’s battery quickly, or trickle way.
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It is designed with a handy screen, which allow you to understand & keep an update on charging process. Its safety features include, reverse polarity, overcharge protection, & overheating protection. Provided all the features, it is bit on expensive side.
Key Features: Multiple features, High-tech charger, Different charge rates, Safety features.
Concllusion
As a final point, trickle battery charger are handy products which help ensure that your car’s battery doesn’t die when it’s not being used. They help charger the battery of stored, & old engine cars without causing any harm to the battery. They boost a dead battery, and can be used as a battery maintainers as well.
Trickle chargers are quite easy to use, and comes with a number of different features, such as safety feature, multiple charging rates, multi-functional etc. Few of them also come with lights, indicators, timer function and more.
Trickle chargers are one of the must have car accessories, which help you in unfortunate times. So, we would suggest you buy one.
