Page 2 - Chargers

I was doing some research the other day and came across an article that sounded promising. The blog article “Make Your Battery Last” dealt with proper maintenance for motive batteries installed in lift trucks, forklifts, and electric pallet jacks.

However, as I got deeper into the writing, I began to suspect the article was written by a paid guest; an outsider to the industry. It started to have a regurgitating-freshly-learned-information feel, rather than one that came from an experience-based authority on the subject. I grew uneasy when I read: “each charge costs a cycle” in a section talking about opportunity charging.

Make the Most Out of a Forced [Bad] Battery Decision

Let’s face it, no matter how many times we preach proper battery usage, life gets in the way! We’ve all been there! Like the time when you just arrived at your favorite fishing hole only to discover the trolling motor won’t work. After some fiddling you determine one of the batteries has crapped out.

Under duress, you are suddenly forced to decide whether to save-your-long-overdue-fishing-weekend-extravaganza or to surrender defeat, head home angry and potentially explode on the first person you meet when you walk through the back door. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?

There is so much to unwrap in that scenario including your overall life attitude, planning and preparation as well as cost / reward analysis. But rather than turning this into a psychology paper on your mental fitness or impulsiveness, let’s focus on one thing: you decide to stay.

Can an Improper Marine Battery Pairing be Salvaged?

So, you’ve decided to stay,

Lestronic II and other Lester Electrical Chargers are being discontinued as of December 21st, 2018. Lester Electrical has determined the following battery charger brands will be discontinued: E-Series, X-Series, E-Series II, Lestronic II and Manual Timer chargers. There will probably be plenty around the first half of 2019, but thereafter what are your options?

You have two options: Change to Lester’s newer and smaller Summit Series II switch mode charger or stick with a reliable and familiar transformer-based (and USA made) Quick Charge charger.

Summit Series II Replaces Lestronic II Chargers

The new Summit Series II is smaller and lighter compared to the older Lester models and Lestronic II chargers. There are two Summit Series models available: the 650W and 1050W. There will be a 1425W model introduced by 2020.

The 650W model measures 11.30 x 7.17 x 3.64 inches.

The 1050W model measures 10.97 x 9.25 x 4.00 inches.

Compare that to previous chargers measuring 10.25 x 8.70 x 8.75 (and bigger),

How can you tell what's going to be the best marine battery charger for your situation? Not every charger designated ‘safe’ for the maritime environment will be waterproof.

Some are simply designed to withstand the harsh high moisture environment up to certain limits while others will still operate while completely submersed in water. This is where selecting the best charger can weigh heavy on knowing the meaning behind the IP rating.

Understanding the IP Rating

The Ingress Protection Rating or IP rating refers to the degrees of protection provided against the intrusion of dust and water. The first number classifies solids like dust and dirt. The second number refers to water intrusion. Generally speaking the highest number for solids is six (6), while the second digit goes as high as eight (8) i.e. IP68.

A marine battery charger will be assigned an Ingress Protection Rating between 61 and 68. In most boating or damp environment scenarios you need consider no less than a weatherproof or

The BatteryMINDer Plus 12117 was replaced by model 1500 and 1510 several years ago. So what’s the difference between the BatteryMINDer 1500 and 1510?

Essentially nothing as it pertains to the actual charge, maintenance and desulfating functionality. Both units are a 12-volt 1500 mA charger maintainer with SmarTECHnology® built in. They both have Hi/Lo temperature compensation with auto-temp sensor and automatic pulse desulfation. All the normal safety features, such as wrong polarity detection and spark free use come standard. The 1500 and 1510 are guaranteed to never overcharge your batteries. And the best part, there are no buttons to push!

The difference between the two new replacement models is in the packaging, warranty and included accessories. The improvements in relation to the old model 12117 are tremendous!

Model 1500

The BatteryMINDer Plus 1500 comes with their standard 1 year, 100% money back guarantee and 5 years “no hassle” warranty. This warranty is standard for all of Battery

On May 16, 1986, the iconic movie Top Gun was released. Part way through the best-on-best flight school training Maverick turns to Goose and says (with Goose joining in to finish the line) “I feel the need—the need for speed!” This immortalized string of words seems to personify American thinking. Our insatiable need to go faster, work faster, be faster is intertwined into our DNA. The underpinning of this mindset brings us to an often-asked question, how fast can I charge my battery?

Yikes! That sounds like a simple question, right? But there is so much more wrapped into those eight words that makes answering harder than one may think! Not harder in the sense of complicated, but harder in the sense that you need to understand what type of battery you actually have before connecting the Godzilla of chargers to your car. A basic understanding of battery type and chemistry will go a long way to help prevent catastrophic battery failure.

Safe Rule of Thumb for Charging Your Battery

If

In this addition of What’s What we will be comparing the ever popular IOTA DLS-55 M Series converters to the new 55 amp SDC Series converters. Both of these units are a DC power supply that can be retrofitted to become a smart charger. We first introduced the SDC series back in August 2016 where we highlighted its features and Iota Engineering’s legacy of excellence. We thought it would be useful to list the attributes of both the 12V 55A variations side by side to better contrast the changes.

During the summer of 2016 IOTA Engineering unveiled their new dual function Solid State DC Charger Power Supply. This SDC series converter charger incorporates design suggestions from both commercial and retail users that currently enjoy the very popular DLS series power supplies and chargers. Let’s take a moment and review some of the highlights.

Solid DC Charging Performance

Have you ever experienced erratic AC power fluctuations? Perhaps the rolling brown-outs in California or the sudden voltage spikes that occur in rural America are something you are familiar with? Or does your generator put forth an erratic modified AC wave form instead of a pure sine wave? The IOTA Solid-DC Series keeps your DC loads operating perfectly, with clean, safe DC power. This avoids potential damage to your systems caused from errant DC voltage. No matter how unpredictable your AC line voltage, the SDC1 provides unparalleled protection against such dangers. To say it another way, they can handle the roughest