12V Charger For AGM Batteries

[Troutman]

Fellas, what chargers are you using to charge and maintain your battery? I'm thinking the Noco Genius 5 or Ctek Mx5 seem OK and generally get good reviews. Been using my nephews Supercheap Auto 10 Amp Smartcharger and find it crap. Runs hot and shuts down etc.

[LeCheese]

Never heard a bad thing about a Ctek.

Keep the camper's AGM batteries topped up with a Repco home brand while away and lacking sunlight and never had an issue either. Goes without saying, just make sure whatever you buy is suitable for AGM

[drover]

A multi stage charger capable of charging AGM's is most important and not just an old calcium battery charger as they will just cook it...........
If you only want it to keep a battery topped up or the odd heart start then a small 5amp job is fine but if looking at using it on a regular working battery then higher amperage is the go.

I use a small 5amp Ctek MS5 unit, had it for years and it's small enough to travel with but only used when needed, my shed 12v battery for testing stuff and my boat batteries are kept charged by a couple of old solar panels on the shed roof via 2 old simple solar regs from caravans..

[Troutman]

Originally Posted by LeCheese

Never heard a bad thing about a Ctek.

Keep the camper's AGM batteries topped up with a Repco home brand while away and lacking sunlight and never had an issue either. Goes without saying, just make sure whatever you buy is suitable for AGM

Yeah I had a good look at a few contenders and went with a Repco 16 Amp 9 stage unit as it had the most control over charge rates and an LCD I can cycle to see Volts, Amps, and state of charge in percentage. Also built solid with a cooling fan as well. Charged my battery overnight to 12.5 Volts, which indicates a probably rooted battery as most sources say between 12.7 and 13.5 Volts for a fully charged AGM battery. The battery is less than a year old and covered by 36 month warranty....might have to see how good that warranty is and how Supercheap Auto handles it.

[OLMATE]

I have this mounted on the Garage wall and connect the supplied leads which are fixed to vehicle, never had a problem

https://www.jaycar.com.au/12v-5-stag...rated/p/MB3604

[drover]

Originally Posted by OLMATE

I have this mounted on the Garage wall and connect the supplied leads which are fixed to vehicle, never had a problem

https://www.jaycar.com.au/12v-5-stag...rated/p/MB3604

Thats all thats needed and is very similar to mine ..............



@Troutman it does sound like its stuffed, secret to AGMs is never run them below 50% and 12.2v, then the things will last many years, I have prefered to keep mine charged using solar as then it gets brought up to speed during the day and has a rest overnight instead of constantly kept at 100%, I get many years out of mine, in van and in shed.....

[Troutman]

Yeah I'm aware of AGM idiosyncrasies mate, I think my problem is I haven't been driving as much as usual. I'll keep an eye on voltage for the time being and charge the battery if it drops much. But your setup sounds the goods. Can you recommend appropriate solar panel size and power regulation needs?