Mark Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Getting a 24v charger for my landrover, if so where does one get one that is reliable ? are there any benefits as apposed to a 12v one and charging the batteries one by one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 sirhc Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 24V chargers are expensive, I wouldn't bother. The best thing you can do is not let the batteries go flat. Remove a lead when not in use, or fit a cut off switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest catweazle (Banned Member) Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 They are indeed expensive,look in marine chandlery,i bought mine at a sensable price when a chandlers was closing down,they dont sell many as most modern boats are 12v.but normally keep one on the shelf.I have to say it was money well spent,i lost 4 huge batteries due to lack of use and poor charging.The one i have is permantly connected and goes on float ,it also helps to run everything when in port.Previous to that i had 2 cheapie charges and a timer which came on once a week so it would start when i arrived.Couldnt live with out it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Mark Posted December 24, 2008 Author Share Posted December 24, 2008 If you dont have a 24v then I assume you have to charge each battery independently, (not being thick just confirming) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest catweazle (Banned Member) Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 If you dont have a 24v then I assume you have to charge each battery independently, (not being thick just confirming) Thats correct Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 fv1609 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Mark, yes you can certainly charge one at a time on 12v. But many of us will leave a battery on charge overnight. It's a real pain to then have remember to charge up the other battery. Not only is it a fiddle to remember both of them, but it doubles the charging time. A few years ago I got fed up up with piddly chargers in fragile fancy plastic boxes with LEDs & claims of having "intelligence". At the time Halfords sold this SIP charger & they were about £75. But it is 12/24v heavy duty in big metal box & has a proper ammeter. It has been well worth it in terms of reliability, sturdiness & the ability to start a vehicle (bit of a struggle with a diesel though) & you can have all those facilities on the 12v setting as well! http://www.aktivetools.com/sip-25077-professional-battery-chargerstarter-1224v-21030-amps-1034-p.asp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 MiketheBike Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 They have a nice little one in Costco at the moment for about £42. Its 12/24v, and also has a jump start (150A) built in....I think it was this one: http://www.ringautomotive.co.uk/product_detail.asp?prod=1925 Comes with proper size leads which is nice. Funny enough..had to call the AA out to get a jump start as I broke down a few miles from home the other week in the Ferret, and they used a plain 12V emergency jump start on one of the batteries and it started fine. He said he has started many commercial 24V vehicles just yusing 12V Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 ferrettkitt Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 Have a look on e-pay I quite like the sealey one as I want a trickle charger. Is it o.k. to use the jump lead socket on the Ferret with a suitable lead to trickle charge the batteries? Andy http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/10A-AMP-12V-24V-HEAVY-DUTY-CAR-TRUCK-BATTERY-CHARGER_W0QQitemZ380089546513QQihZ025QQcategoryZ82529QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Draper-62957-12V-24V-400A-Battery-Starter-Charger_W0QQitemZ120351969900QQihZ002QQcategoryZ30928QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sealey-Battery-Charger-Electronic-6A-12-24V-Ctronic24_W0QQitemZ300271062272QQihZ020QQcategoryZ30900QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 N.O.S. Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 I've always preferred to charge pairs of batteries together (i.e. charge in series at 24V) - you know they are balanced then. But having said that, if you have a decent 12V charger why can't you charge them in parallel? They might not be balanced (as charge will travel path of least resistance) but they can be done at the same time.... The pain here is that you have to disconnect the leads and re-connect for parallel, if charging at 24V you just clip the leads on and go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Tony B Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 I know it is a touchy subject with some here, and I can understand why. Keep an eye open for banruptcy sales in the area. Some god stuff may be about going cheap. If your going to buy now seems to be the time every supplier under the sun is chopping huge amounts off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 antarmike Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 You can get chargers with Bus-bars, specifically designed for parallel charging, so that you can clip individual batteries on and off at will, using in effect jump leads. Sealy, i know, do one with a bus-bar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 julezee001 Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 Hi Mark, I'd recomend one of the Accumate/ Optimate intelligent chargers which can be left on and top up the baterys as needed. Whilst the 24v one is not cheap at about £60, it's cheaper than losing one Landrover battery to the frost! I use one on my Militant occasionally through the winter, as it saves disconnecting and removing the batteries, as I don't have a spare space in the warm to store them in ideal conditions. It works well although it took several days to charge from flat, when the generator stopped charging, and it is probably better for the batteries than the workshop 24v starter charger. Jules Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 fv1609 Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 I've always preferred to charge pairs of batteries together (i.e. charge in series at 24V) - you know they are balanced then. Not really because if one battery is undercharged, by say using a take-off to run a 12v radio/CD player, then it needs more more current to flow into it. This current has to get there by flowing through the other battery. When this other battery is fully charged it can't pass any more current, so the weaker battery doesn't get charged up fully. Provided one doesn't take liberties by pinching 12v off then in principle always charging them in a series at 24v should be satisfactory. Unfortunately things don't always work out like that. Although I never pinch 12v off (as I have 24v radio/CD player) I had two 'identical' batteries same make, type & installed at the same time. I noticed after 3 years that one was not doing so well & despite the charging from the vehicle & supplementary top ups at 24v, this one battery would not maintain its full charge. That could only be realised by charging the weaker battery at 12v from time to time. The trouble was that I would forget to do this & inevitably the weaker battery became weaker because it was mostly (unless I topped its charge up at 12v) undercharged & eventually died. The other battery a year further on is still performing well in a 12v vehicle. So this one battery clearly let me down after 3 years & my lack of attention to its 12v needs accelerated its downfall. Although I have now put two new 'identical' batteries in the vehicle, from time to time I just check that they are behaving as equal partners. BTW, there were when I last looked, 13 companies selling 24v radio/CD players on line in the UK. You need to compare prices as there is quite a difference....but actually all these different companies share the same address! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Mark Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 Thanks folks all information greatly received, although I am now confused so I will end up charging them with what comes first which I think will be 12/24v charger then I have both if required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 N.O.S. Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Clive - I have to agree with all the points you raise. I'm just lazy!! Incidentally, it's even worse trying to find a half-decent charger to do 24v, 12v and 6v! I eventually found a Lucas LBC12/Mk11 which will charge at 12amps (6,12v) and 10amps (24v). Would recommend it for value and quality (it's very heavy). The only problem with these automatic ones is that you cannot trickle charge at a very low rate which is sometimes preferable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 fv1609 Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Clive - I have to agree with all the points you raise. I'm just lazy!! Incidentally, it's even worse trying to find a half-decent charger to do 24v, 12v and 6v! I eventually found a Lucas LBC12/Mk11 which will charge at 12amps (6,12v) and 10amps (24v). Would recommend it for value and quality (it's very heavy). The only problem with these automatic ones is that you cannot trickle charge at a very low rate which is sometimes preferable. Fair enough, wasn't trying to nitpick for the sake of it. But of course if the two batteries were in parallel at any time they would balance out the voltage by the stronger discharging into the weaker. As for the automatic "intelligent" chargers I agree with you. They are anything but intelligent & they get into their mind that the flat battery is "charged" there's nothing you can do! 6v is a problem these days. I was lucky enough to buy a Danish Army generator made by Honda that is 6/12/24V only & giving up to 20A. Nice little thing just the job for topping up batteries for a short while in the morning or going off to a shed to revive a vehicle where you have no electricity. One thing I don't understand is the H&S requirement that is often stipulated at shows. A generator such as this, which is exclusively low voltage & from which I could not electrocute myself, why must it be earthed with a spike into the ground? From a H&S point of view, in this instance just seems to increase risk of tripping over the spike or its wire! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest catweazle (Banned Member) Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Clive i think its down to cost,i have inteligent charger 24v,Its been on non stop for 2yrs,it runs the diesel heating for six months of the year whilst i am away,It charges 2 banks of batteries,Keeping the start batteries as its prioraty.It was less than half price at £200,from a swindlery that was closing down.I have one of those jennys saved us from an embarrasing situation in Bembridge harbour i forgot to isolate the engine battery.The domestic demands flattened the lot.But that was before the charger,i cant sing its praises enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 fv1609 Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 It was less than half price at £200, So that's in the order of £500, my only experience is a £25 one from Argos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest catweazle (Banned Member) Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 I guess so clive, and its BRITISH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 N.O.S. Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 I use an intelligent charger bought from Frank Jolley Engineering - switchable 6v/12v - and must say I'm jolley pleased with it. But annoyed now 'cos I just remebered I forgot to hook it up to a work vehicle over Xmas so will have yet another flat battery :argh: I was lucky to pick up a couple of these MOD (used by RAF) manually variable rate chargers for £40 each. If you ever see one of these in working order grab it! They can charge 3 x 12v batteries at a time. Only problem they are very heavy so require battery off or long charging leads. The manufacturer is no more. In fact this type of charger does not seem to be available from anywhere any more :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 antarmike Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 You can get chargers with Bus-bars, specifically designed for parallel charging, so that you can clip individual batteries on and off at will, using in effect jump leads. Sealy, i know, do one with a bus-bar. http://www.tools-n-all.co.uk/Items/Item.aspx?SKU=sea.bb8&caSKU=sea.bb8&caTitle=Sealey%20Bb8%20Multi-Charge%20Battery%20Bus%20Bar now available as a seperate add on for any large capacity 12 volt charger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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Mark
Getting a 24v charger for my landrover, if so where does one get one that is reliable ? are there any benefits as apposed to a 12v one and charging the batteries one by one.
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