Battery charger $25 on sale

[Hedges]

Harbor Freight has their 12V 4A automatic battery charger on sale for $25

4 Amp Fully Automatic Microprocessor Controlled Battery Charger/Maintainer

Amazing deals on this 4 Amp 12V High Freq Battery Charger/Maintainer at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

I use this for FLA and AGM batteries, to bring to nominally charged and keep at float.

For a battery needing equalization (including old AGM), after this charger drops to float I switch to a CV/CC bench supply. For my AGM, I use 14.5V/1A to ensure full charge, followed by 15.5V/1A for several hours to equalize.

 

[MrNatural22]

DOH!! I should have waited for this sale ?
Bought one two weeks ago. Hard to get outta that place without buying something.

 

[Hedges]

I just checked and no discount on the clamp ammeter I bought two days ago. No general-purpose coupons either.

CM1000A 1000A T-RMS AC/DC Clamp Meter

Amazing deals on this 1000A T-Rms Ac/Dc Clamp Meter at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

Maybe time for you to buy a new battery charger, then do a return? If it's worth the time for $12 off; my minutes are too valuable. Have to be part of another purchase trip.


Some of their products I'm able to resist buying. Like stainless steel hose clamps with carbon steel screws.
But I have quite a bit from there, including A/C manifold gauge set and vacuum pump. Lots of auto repair tools. Some cordless yard equipment.

 

[A.Justice]

People S*#t on Harbor Freight brand stuff, but I like them quite a bit for what they are. I like being able to get a cheap tool that I may need only once, or to try something out before I buy a nicer version.

I work on pool equipment, and it's nice to be able to have the throwaway tools because chlorine damages them so fast. Plus, they have a warranty on a lot of their stuff, so even if it is crap, you just get another one.

 

[Hedges]

One time standing in the checkout line, a guy ahead of me held up a rake that fell apart in his hands (before he even got to buy it), and called out, "It broke! Can I get a refund?"
The rest of us customers of course laughed. We know.

 

[sunshine]

Harbor Freight has their 12V 4A automatic battery charger on sale for $25

Being solid state/ high frequency, the case and leads would be the high cost components and even those would be less than than the Viking brand value/Harbor Freight markup,

Paint it blue and sell it for double the price!

 

[Hedges]

Back again, $30 this time:

4 Amp Fully Automatic Microprocessor Controlled Battery Charger/Maintainer

Amazing deals on this 4 Amp 12V High Freq Battery Charger/Maintainer at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

I tried using it to top off eight, 6V batteries one at a time in my 8s, 48V string. While in a running system. I didn't get any better balance between them. I would imagine Sunny Island was fighting me the whole way, keeping 48V battery at float whenever I raised voltage of one 6V battery. Some day I'll power the system down and try it that way.

How closely matched should AGM cells/batteries in series be?

SunXtender SoC
7/4/2021​
Checked voltage of each battery, tried to top off with HF battery charger "* Std 6V"
(While connected in series as 48V battery in Sunny Island system)
Starting from most negative			Deviation from mean
Initial	After		Initial	After
6.76​	6.7​		0.002​	-0.016​
6.73​	6.67​		-0.027​	-0.046​
6.78​	6.69​		0.023​	-0.026​
6.75​	6.71​		-0.008​	-0.006​
6.76​	6.73​		0.002​	0.014​
6.74​	6.73​		-0.018​	0.014​
6.8​	6.74​		0.042​	0.024​
6.74​	6.76​		-0.018​	0.044​
			float	float 6V
6.800​	6.760​	max	13.4​	6.7​
6.730​	6.670​	min	13.2​	6.6​
6.758​	6.716​	mean
0.023​	0.029​	stdev
0.070​	0.090​	span
13.515​	13.4325​	mean of 12V battery