I created a thread recently about a battery upgrade and it was very informative.

 

Because of my own driving habits it is clear to me it would be best if I connect a trickle charger to my new battery in situ.

 

When trickle chargers are mentioned everyone starts banging on about their CTEK and with good reason, they are good by all accounts.

 

But my days are gone when I could just throw money at things, now I have to think about budget.

 

The Ring RSC808 has good reviews, has some odd quirks, the main one for me is, if I understand correctly, if the battery level/charge is below a certain level, it sees the battery as defective and won't charge.

 

As one reviewer put it, " a battery charger that won't charge a dead or below a level unless you charge battery first ".

 

With that in mind does anyone here have or used the  Ring Automotive RSC808 and what they think of it?

 

34 minutes ago, cado said:

The Ring RSC808 has good reviews, has some odd quirks, the main one for me is, if I understand correctly, if the battery level/charge is below a certain level, it sees the battery as defective and won't charge.

 

That's where you need an old fashioned dumb charger, just to put a little charge in a dead battery (or below a certain voltage level) and then connect the smart charger as the smart charger isn't always smart enough to know when a dead battery can be brought back to life.

 

It's the same with NiMH AAA/AA/C/D/PP3 batteries. If the voltage has dropped to a very low level, a smart charger won't charge them because it thinks they are defective. Hence, use a dump NiMH charger to bring them back to life, and then put them on the smart charger. Actually, many smart chargers for NiMH batteries don't work very well and will often overcharge them. This is very damaging for the battery and will massively reduce their life. I've recently purchased a SKYRC NC1500 AA/AAA smart battery charger, and so far hasn't missed when the batteries are full. However, I always set the charging current to the lowest 200mA setting. With batteries, a slow charge is better than fast, as the battery lasts longer...and with NiMH batteries, if the smart charger misses when the battery is full and keeps charging, less damage is done. However, like I've already mentioned, this SKYRC NC1500 hasn't overcharged yet, and I doubt it will. SKYRC obviously know what they are doing with the algorithms.

 

Edited 9 February, 20233 yr by Carlston

Aldi/Lidl used to do a good battery charger at a reasonable price,

sorry I don't follow their advertisments nowadays so I cannot say when.

59 minutes ago, cado said:

As one reviewer put it, " a battery charger that won't charge a dead or below a level unless you charge battery first ".

Just connect the flat battery up to a good battery with jump leads to fool the battery charger in to starting the charge.

 

 

43 minutes ago, Carlston said:

I've recently purchased a SKYRC NC1500 AA/AAA smart battery charger

Bought a smart AA/AAA battery charger in Dec 2012 along with some good Eneloop ( was Sanyo now Panasonic ) batteries.

Yet to have any of these batteries degrade. Most still charge up to more than they're rating after 10 Years of use.

 

Thanks. AG Falco

1 hour ago, cado said:

Ring Automotive RSC808 and what they think of it

The higher power the charger the more they cost.

If you have time on your hand then a lower powered one might be cheaper and better for the battery.

 

56 minutes ago, Carlston said:

With batteries, a slow charge is better than fast, as the battery lasts longer.

If your battery is a 60AH then the suggested maximum charge is 10% of this.

So the 6 Amp or even the 4 Amp would be good enough for you.  

 

I use a 3 Amp charger and just put on in the evening and leave it all night.

 

Thanks. AG Falco

1 hour ago, Carlston said:

 

That's where you need an old fashioned dumb charger, just to put a little charge in a dead battery (or below a certain voltage level) and then connect the smart charger as the smart charger isn't always smart enough to know when a dead battery can be brought back to life---------

Thanks Carlston, all made sense.😀

@cado Older model, but I've used a Ring RSC 608 for a few years now and can recommend it. Output is selectable between 2-8 amps and has all the charging modes you would normally need. 

1 hour ago, AGFalco said:

Just connect the flat battery up to a good battery with jump leads to fool the battery charger in to starting the charge.

 

 

Bought a smart AA/AAA battery charger in Dec 2012 along with some good Eneloop ( was Sanyo now Panasonic ) batteries.

Yet to have any of these batteries degrade. Most still charge up to more than they're rating after 10 Years of use.

 

 

Hi,

 

Are you saying connect the dumb battery charger and the trickle charger to the car battery at the same time?

 

When I first started vaping, I used Eneloop for my mod' decent batteries.

4 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

@cado Older model, but I've used a Ring RSC 608 for a few years now and can recommend it. Output is selectable between 2-8 amps and has all the charging modes you would normally need. 

Thanks Warrior, much appriciated.

If a lead acid battery voltage has fallen below the threshold trigger voltage of a smart charger, the battery will almost certainly have suffered serious internal damage.

Just replaced the EFB battery in my Yeti with a Bosh EFB 027.

 

The old battery had been dormant for some 3 years but I wanted to see if it was posible to bring it back to life first by kick starting it with a standard battery charger to get some life in it, then let a trickle charger take over.

 

I didn't even get that far, the old battery would simply not take/keep a charge, no point in flogging a dead horse, so scrapped the battery, pity I wanted to see how effective my new Ring battery charger would cope.

I bought a CTEK One to maintain the battery on a summer car. Cost a bleedin fortune but it does what it says on the tin. Just hook it up, anyway round you like, it sorts itself out.

On 09/02/2023 at 21:55, cado said:

Hi,

 

Are you saying connect the dumb battery charger and the trickle charger to the car battery at the same time?

 

When I first started vaping, I used Eneloop for my mod' decent batteries.

No. Get a working battery and connect it to the very weak battery using jump leads in parallel (+ve to +ve, -ve to -ve). Then connect the smart charger. The combined voltage of the two batteries should now be high enough for the smart charger to kick in and do its thing.

 

On 09/02/2023 at 19:38, cado said:

When trickle chargers are mentioned everyone starts banging on about their CTEK and with good reason, they are good by all accounts.

 

 

 

A Ctek is not what I would call a trickle charger but they seem to be favoured by dealers and other professionals, I've had the 7 amp one for around 10 years but its not like it gets used every day so not sure I can give it a glowing review but it does what it says on the tin.

 

 

1 hour ago, SuperbTWM said:

 

 

A Ctek is not what I would call a trickle charger but they seem to be favoured by dealers and other professionals, I've had the 7 amp one for around 10 years but its not like it gets used every day so not sure I can give it a glowing review but it does what it says on the tin.

 

Hi,

I'm not expert enough to give an opnion on the Ctec, for argument sake call it a smart charger that has trickle charge capabilities.

 

I am on a budget and could not justifi forking out £80-£100, knocking around in the back of the car owning a Ctec and getting used  only when required.

 

The Ctek however is a smaller then the Ring charger I purchased so makes tucking it away neater.

 

Still the Ring does everything the Ctec does, it is just larger, put up with that, then the price is pretty good to to carry in the back of the car to get used when required.

1 hour ago, SuperbTWM said:

 

 

 

I use Optimate charges on my bikes, and you can pick up and Optimate 1 for £30-£40 but not sure it suitable for car batteries but cant see why not, it would just take a lot longer to charge a relatively flat battery, and they can recover almost flat batteries too (actually a smart smart charger).  Aldi/Lidl do ones to for less than £20 and have a car battery on constant trickle charge and it does seem to keep it charged.  Dont know about the ctek/ring options but hth.

2 hours ago, cado said:

Hi,

I'm not expert enough to give an opnion on the Ctec, for argument sake call it a smart charger that has trickle charge capabilities.

 

I am on a budget and could not justifi forking out £80-£100, knocking around in the back of the car owning a Ctec and getting used  only when required.

 

The Ctek however is a smaller then the Ring charger I purchased so makes tucking it away neater.

 

Still the Ring does everything the Ctec does, it is just larger, put up with that, then the price is pretty good to to carry in the back of the car to get used when required.

 

I have the Ring RSC808 and I had no trouble finding space for it in the engine bay of my Superb (2012 CR170). I've only just bought it so I can't comment on long term performance but it's doing the job fine for now.

3 hours ago, chimaera said:

I have the Ring RSC808 and I had no trouble finding space for it in the engine bay of my Superb (2012 CR170). I've only just bought it so I can't comment on long term performance but it's doing the job fine for now.

Hi,

 

Engine bay isn't the problem.

 

I like to carry in the back of the car get out of trouble tools, the 808 is a little large to stack/hide tidly away.

 

Like you I have just purchased mine, I was just a bit surprised by its size, still I'm not complaning, good price, good tool.