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Old 06-11-10, 11:11 AM   #161
jwxr7
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Default Good deal alert!

I stumbled on to this charger at Sam's club recently. You could get 4 of these for around $72 total, and they should be a connect and forget smart style charger.

Sam's Club-Power On Board 25 Amp Battery Charger

I bought one for just under $18 and am very happy with it so far. It's light weight and micro processor controlled. Has good quality cables and clamps and a high current fast charge. It has a display that shows charge current, battery voltage, and other stuff. It can supposedly tell you if you have a shorted or open cell. It even has a desulfate feature to revive a battery that's been sitting for a while .


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Old 06-11-10, 12:28 PM   #162
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That does look like a great deal. Thanks for posting that. If I didn't already have a nice charger I'd probably buy it.

However, I am looking to get onboard chargers. I don't want to use the clamps on the batteries. I just wanna plug it in and let it charge. I know, I'm picky.
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Old 06-13-10, 12:00 AM   #163
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you may want to try this first.. i use the same type on my mini ride on but the 24 volt version.. your batteries will take 2-3 days to charge, but it is better for your batteries to slow charge.. your batteries will have a longer life span that way..as long as you don't need it you mower the next day this will work.. and changing you gearing to a 3 to ! ratio will help even more for a longer range on your cutting...
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Old 06-13-10, 07:09 AM   #164
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Thanks for the tip. I think I'm going to head down the individual charger route though. I've already replaced half the batteries once. If it ever happens again down the road, I don't want unbalanced batteries to become a problem. The individual chargers fixes that. I also plan on picking up an individual voltmeter readout that monitors each battery. A guy from the local EV club has been working on getting some made up.
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Old 06-15-10, 01:24 AM   #165
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You might like this battery charger it is small enough to make into an onboard charger plus it automaticaly changes into a float charger. If you dont like the spring clips you can change them out for ring terminals.
harborfreight.com/6-12-volt-electronic-battery-charger-and-maintainer-with-lcd-display-65834.html]6/12 Volt Electronic Battery Charger and Maintainer With LCD Display
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Old 06-15-10, 06:15 AM   #166
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Thanks for the suggestion. If I go with onboard chargers though, they need to be fully automatic. That means I plug it in and it goes, no pressing buttons to get things going.
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Old 06-16-10, 05:36 PM   #167
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I need to comment on those HF item no. 65834 chargers. I bought a trio for my elec-trak. They seriously under-report the voltage, and so consistently undercharge your batteries. They do seem capable of making the full rated amperage, though. And they have a high failure rate, as in they just go dead.

To replace them, I am trying three 3 amp "battery defender pro" chargers from batterymart.com. They seem to work (gave me a LOT more range with a full charge), but get hotter than fire during charging, so I can't use those as-is, either. Sigh. Maybe they will work if I open the cases and add cooling, but like you, I want simple, plug-it-in-and-forget-it charging, and I'm still looking.
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Old 06-16-10, 08:46 PM   #168
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Good to know. Thanks David!

I'm currently looking at using four 3A Soneil chargers. This would give me overnight charging, and they seem to be very nice chargers, but the cost isn't cheap.
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Old 07-16-10, 09:55 AM   #169
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Any news on the mower? Decision on chargers?

Are you still mowing with it?
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Old 07-16-10, 10:13 AM   #170
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I'm still planning on going with the 3A Soneil chargers, I just haven't worked on it yet. I'm still mowing with it at 36V, but I cringe every time I touch the motor after mowing.

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