Why You Need a Car Battery Trickle Charger

How Batteries Lose Charge

Keep a car stored in the garage for a few months, and there’s a good chance there won’t be enough charge in the battery to start it.

Batteries for all types of vehicles commonly lose energy over time. They self-discharge by about one percent each day they aren’t in use. Your vehicle has an alternator that maintains a healthy battery when the engine is running, but it won’t recharge a dead battery.

Batteries that sit for long periods can also experience sulfation, where lead sulfate crystals build up on a battery cell. Sulfation is the main reason a good battery goes bad. Batteries are also subject to degradation in extreme hot or cold temperatures.

Trickle Charger vs. Regular Charger

A trickle battery charger puts out a low charge of just one to three amps.

Black and Decker 1.5 amp battery maintainer / trickle charger

A standard battery charger is designed to deliver a higher constant voltage for a quick charge. In terms of amperage, car battery chargers have an output of between one and 50 amps, with some also having a jump start mode with up to 200 amps. That’s what it takes to turn over most starter motors.

Read: How to Clean Car Battery Terminals

How a Trickle Battery Charger Works

A trickle charger replenishes your battery at low amperage, roughly at the same rate it self-discharges. The recharge energy is transferred in a trickle so that the battery can be left for extended periods without overcharging. A trickle charger’s low amperage and slow recharging method results in a more reliable and longer battery life.

Battery Tender 1.25 amp battery charger/maintainer

There’s a wide variety of trickle chargers on eBay, but we recommend using a smart (or automatic) trickle charger—instead of a manual trickle charger. Smart units automatically shut off or go into float mode when the battery is fully charged. Some units turn off and back on according to the required battery charge level. You don’t have to monitor your battery and unplug the charger when the battery is sufficiently recharged.

A trickle charger can overcharge and damage your battery if left on for too long. Smart charging is an excellent feature for maintaining a fully charged battery when storing a car, golf cart, motorcycle, or the like. In this case, charging faster isn’t better.

How to Connect and Use a Trickle Charger

Locate the battery. Most often, it’s located next to the engine under the hood or off to one side. Some vehicles’ batteries are in the trunk or rear compartment of the car. Consult your owner’s manual if you are unable to locate it. For motorcycles, the battery is often located beneath the seat.

Set the switch. There is a switch on the front or the top of the trickle charger to set to the correct voltage for the battery. That voltage level is usually indicated on the battery.

Connect the twin charging leads to the battery. The trickle charger leads look like metal-toothed alligator clips on jumper cables. They’re color-coded red for positive and black for negative. Sometimes, the clips are marked to indicate which positive or negative terminals they connect to. Connect the red (positive) lead to your battery’s positive terminal (+) first. Next, connect the black (negative) lead to the negative terminal (-) to ground it.

Plug it in. Plug the charger into a standard home electrical outlet, and the charger will begin to charge the battery. Under no circumstances should you plug the charger into the outlet before you have the red positive and black negative leads securely in place. A misstep could result in sparking, a blown fuse, or electrical shock.

Schumacher 2 amp – battery charger/maintainer

There is a good chance that jump-starting a stored vehicle will get the engine running. However, jump-starting does not recharge a depleted battery. If you shut the car off, it will likely not start again.

The engine’s alternator will, over an extended time, recharge the battery to some level, provided that the battery and alternator are healthy. If you need to jump-start your car regularly, it’s a strong indication of an issue with one of these components.