Looked at the '90, put a flag in the bed for this weekend... I went to check on the battery status on the '00 Explorer as we were thinking of dragging it to the beach this weekend but the battery is flat (dumb thing has been getting worse at that, hard on batteries, gotta see if this one is under warranty) so it's Ranger instead... was curious how the sploder does in the sand with two engine mounts too... and headers, cam and a healthy engine...
Also started up my generator for the first time since like April, took a shot of carb cleaner (don't keep starting fluid around anymore, both are too spendy) for some flamables but ran like a top even on the old gas
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Tomorrow I'll get the Ranger on the trailer behind the camper and F350...
I’m sure all you regulars know all of this, but I’ll throw it out there for those coming up, or in case there’s one or two items someone’s not familiar with
For a simple device, batteries can be a real buzz kill. Not too long ago I had 17 vehicles, and I spent at least two or three hours every weekend farting around with one of the batteries. A couple things I discovered. This is all regarding trickle chargers and maintaining the battery, not charging them once they die. More on that later.
The little red and green felt washers under the terminals, worth their weight in Gold, and, of course, keep all the connections clean. Total common sense.
I tried a bunch of cheap trickle chargers, and I found three that work great, but….
Battery tender Junior is probably the best, but they’re about $50 walking out of the store.
Online (EBay), I found this 2A charger from China. Let me say there are a bunch of Chinese trickle chargers, I’ve probably tried half of them, and I am recommending this specific one. There are a few that look similar, but this has a voltage read out on it, and also tells you the amp hours. And then it has five lights underneath that tells you if the battery is 20%, 40%, 50%, etc.. These are about $10, and if you buy two or three or four at a time you could get 10 or 15 or 20% off that.
Like the battery tender Junior, if your battery is around 90%, it will charge it all the way up and then maintain it without overcharging. I think you can get an identical looking charger that does something like 6 A or 10 A. Don’t do it! I’m specifically recommending the 2A. Theoretically they can charge a battery that is dead, but after a few tries, this little yellow charger dies. I only use them for maintenance or when the battery is pretty much close to fully charged.
Even cheaper, is this one
And you can buy these in a four pack or a 10 pack and get them for under seven dollars. I only clip them on when the battery is fully charged from a charger, but it will keep it 100% charged indefinitely without overcharging it. It has a little red/green indicator light.
The other thing I’ve done on everything is I’ve wired a little pigtail to the battery that hangs under the grill, and then I have spliced in the same male female connector on the 12v feed out lines of the trickle charger.
I can use the trickle charger with its clips, or I can quickly pull the clips off and simply plug it into the pigtail on the vehicle (without even opening the hood). Two things to watch here. 1, make sure the pigtail you buy is at least about 18 or 16 gauge wire. Some of the cheap ones have pretty thin wire 2. When you wire the pigtail on the vehicle, do it so the exposed pin is the ground side, so, in case the coupler flops around it doesn’t short out. I also have one of these with about 20 feet of lamp cord spliced in on the 110 side. They all work fine. I guess my point here is the easier you make it to use, the more likely you will actually use it.
Last thought, these have had a little rain sprinkled on them from time to time, but I don’t think you can get them wet. I have mine set up with a little piece of permanent baling wire close to the device, so when I plug it in under the car, I can hang it under the car off the ground.
One last thought about using a smart trickle charger: it will extend the life of your battery, and it will improve the performance of your battery. The way the smart ones work, they actually cause the buildup on the lead plates in the battery to dissipate.
Charging the batteries when they’re depleted or completely dead is another story. I’ve had a half dozen battery chargers over the years, and most of them have been garbage.
I had an ancient Sears charger that I absolutely loved. It was about the size of a big shoebox if you cut 1/3 of the length off. I think it’s literally from the 50s. It weighed about 10-15 pounds. It was quick and had an automatic cut off, but old technology. The new smart chargers read the voltage, and click on when it needs to be topped off. The old chargers clicked off when the voltage peak was reached, but then the charger would just click on and off with a timer, which over the long run can over charge the battery. Mine got wiped out in a lightning strike. If I ever find another one, I’m going to snatch it up. Maybe two or three.
All the different brand chargers that are kind of like a sheet metal folded box over the electronics, in my experience, do the job, but barely.
When I got hit by the lightning, my insurance provided for a replacement. Even though the Sears charger was from the time of Christ, it was top-of-the-line at the time of Christ, and I was able to buy a top-of-the-line replacement. I got this diehard smart charger. I think it was about $200.
This thing not only charges batteries, it will analyze them. It analyzes every time you connect it up. If you connect it up and let it charge, and when it’s complete, you disconnect it and repeat the process, and record the data, you can go to the literature on this thing, and it will tell you more stuff than you ever wanted to know about your battery.
It also has the 40 amp quick charge feature, and the start up boost feature. I’ve had a lot of battery chargers that claimed to do those two things, but they didn’t work worth a crap. This one really works.
Finally, I have to be true to my past, and throw in a little chemical engineering. Even on the “maintenance free“ batteries, you should check the water levels. Don’t ever put tapwater in the battery. You can buy distilled water at the grocery or at the dollar store for pennies. You can buy a little bottle or bag of battery acid at the auto parts store for a couple bucks. Make a mixture of about 10 or 15% acid to 85 or 90% distilled water, and keep it on the shelf. Use that when your batteries need to be topped off. A gallon will last you a lifetime. Make sure you put it in an acid safe container. I put mine in a glass pickle jar, and I sit the pickle jar inside a plastic bucket.
If the battery is older and the plates are getting clogged, just the clean water won’t do a whole lot. Similarly, if you top them off with pure acid, it could have the opposite effect and still affect the battery negatively. A mild mixture of the two replaces the older lost fluid “in kind.”
Use gloves, use eye protection, and remember batteries generate hydrogen gas: don’t blow your head off. If you suspect an explosion hazard, get someone you don’t like to help you.
I hope it all helps. All comments and criticism welcome as always.
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