How To Use an Old school Analog Battery Charger

That's all there is to it. Also sometimes the amp meter just doesn't move. Buy a newer style charger.
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[compassandradio]

Exactly the video I needed. I got an old one too and wasn't sure how to tell when it was done. Thanks, man! 👍

[someotherdude]

Hey this video was a big help- I used to work on cars as a teenager, and I have one of these old analog chargers just like this. Still have it, did not realize you can go too far with it. Thanks for a good bit of knowledge on what/how it works! (I'm about to turn 62)

[ClaytheBMXer]

A 12 volt battery has six 2.1V (or slightly higher) cells. Most of the time descriptive battery voltages are nominal, even on little watch batteries. A 12 volt car battery at 12 volts is very dead. Fully charged is 12.6V or slightly higher. There will also be a surface charge immediately after charging with a charger or an alternator, due to the higher charging voltage. This can give an incorrect impression of the state of charge. An easy way to confirm state of charge after a battery has been charging is to turn on the headlights (approximately a 15 amp draw) for 2 minutes, THEN check the voltage after giving a couple minutes for the battery to recover to its resting voltage. Look up "State Of Charge chart for 12V car battery".

[rickturek]

Great video, explains the charger ammeter, just the info i needed. Many Thanks!

[DeusVoltage]

I have my Dad's old battery charger and literature is surprisingly hard to find. This video was very helpful. Thank you!

[blackmaxima]

As a general rule with these, the battery is fully charged when the meter shows about half the charging rate, or just under. That is under ideal conditions with a good battery, and assumes that the battery initially was drawing higher current and the current tapered down as it charged. Other battery conditions can cause other meter readings.

[robertdavis]

Need to get one of those old ones. My newer one has auto-shut off. Appreciate this info.

[SovereignKnight]

Great! Exactly what I needed to know. I had an old school 6v/12 10A battery charger from the late 80's and the instructions pretty much sucked. With your video, I was able to determine if the battery was near or full. /subscribed

[zentarion.]

thanks for the video, i got an old charger i've inherited from my grandfather presumble its about 10 or so years older then the one you've got in the video and all it really says on it is that its made in west germany

[tsc]

Thanks for the information I was looking for.
Perfectly explained.

[Thrunabulax]

even an almost dead battery will read above 12 volts when you measure it with no load.
Hook up some sort of load, like a 12V spot light, tire inflator, etc, let if run a minute and THEN measure the true voltage it is putting out

[gac]

Cool, just what I needed to know, thanks so much!

[jerryp]

Thanks. There is a ton of crap info out there. Even in the user manuals.

[Charlee-wu]

Last month turned the car on with a old school charger, yea battery blew up. Lucky no issue so far good with new battery.

[aust]

I still don't understand how to use a manual charger

[cagedtigersteve]

How do we use this with a newer battery charger you get from the store?

[rockalliance]

Lol that’s awesome thanks for the info!

[fallenone]

So pretty much when it gets to the stick below 5 it means its fully charged? What does it mean when its on start? I thought thats when it's 100%done.

[proteus]

I just turned over the engines and it wont start.Mine shows zero as i just connected it to charger.

[gg_in_alaska]

Can you recommend a decent-priced good quality NEW trickle / battery charger? Not even sure that a trickle charger and a battery charger are the same thing. My husband died and so did his van and all I have currently are two chargers that look similar to this Sears one. One is a Schumacher Dual Rate Battery Charger Model SE-82-6 that says 6/2 AMP and has two slide switches - one to switch between 2 amp and 6 amp and the other switch between 6 volt and 12 volt. The second device is a Schumacher 2/10/50 Trickle Charger/Battery Charger/Starter Charger Model SE-10-52 (12 volt) has only 1 switch that goes between 2, 10, and 50 amps. I have nice neighbors that would help but I need to learn how to do this myself. Between the two "analog" devices I have, I'm not sure which is better to use until I buy a modern one -- based on the recommendations I get here. Thank you, g in alaska