Meanwell SE-200-15

Mex - yes, a "good" solar charger will do much better charging job than cheap AC chargers. Such a solar charger would meet all of the 8 requirements that you listed, and I've already got used to having this to the point of taking it for granted. Such a charger typically costs over $150. In that previous thread some decent AC chargers were mentioned, and those were also not cheap.

Yes, equalization has to be manual. You HAVE to be nearby and see what's going on.

Wonderful.

A fully-charged then maintained with a maintainer battery was checked by me last week and found to have cell gravity ranging from 1.262 to 1.275.

Brand new overpriced maroon Trojan RV battery was fully charged and hydrometer tested last June. Total power outages to his house for 10-months 6.2 hours. Nothing connected to the battery except a forty-dollar maintainer. At least I got my power outage time totalizator back.

Folks who believe flooded battery charging and maintenance can be made fully automatic, may also believe a dishwasher does as good a job as washing by hand.

I am carrying the Der Vunderbar automatic charger back to the states day after tomorrow to be returned via UPS.

The Trojan is now undergoing a MANUAL equalization, with a FOUR DOLLAR 120vac to 16.0 volt, 3.75 amp power brick I purchased from mpj.com

I now hold an opinion that some of the more sophisticated solar voltaic controllers do a notably better job than AC "Phart" chargers.

It is not the responsibility of a seventy-nine cent ROM chip to maintain a battery. It is the responsibility of the battery owner to totally lose the plug n pay attitude. battery maintenance can be greatly augmented by three-stage charging but that's a long long long way from achieving autonomy.

Lessee, after the battery cycle completes the fifth push-button charging reset. Push the equalization button over and over six-times and the battery should get to 100% charge. Wotta hoot! Behind the rear wheel that sucker goes.

1. Adjustable absorbsion voltage
2. Adjustable time spent at absorbsion voltage limit
3. Temperature compensation
4. Adjustable float voltage
5. Adjustable amperage limit.
6. Adjustable equalization voltage
7. Adjustable equalization amperage
8. Adjustable equalization timer

Oh wait! This cannot be done. Forget about the Trace 2500 SB inverter of THIRTY YEARS AGO. That Inverter's charger was an optical illusion. All 120 amperes of it. Yes it was a three stage charger but an intelligent one.

Alternator is charging at 14.5-15V, this is (usually) too high, but we have no choice there. I needed a charger for when the battery was stored for a few months, so it needs to be charged BEFORE running an alternator. Also, to equalize it from time to time if necessary.

50 years would've been a good lifespan for a cheap charger, though 50 years ago it wasn't exactly cheap in terms of both quality and price. Times changed since then. Another thing is - if the charger "always worked", this doesn't tell much, other than it was outputting some amps and volts. Like I wrote (and in more details a month ago in another thread on this subject), amps and volts in unregulated chargers are often not in the correct range.

That's news to me...I've used a small Sears charger for my boat for 50 years when necessary and it always worked. I'm curious why you'd need to choose anything but the alternator already in the vehicle. Do you keep stuff on all the time and discharge your battery to the point that the car won't start? Sorry to ask more questions but in browsing through these forums for a long time this is a first.

Puttin, all the "taper chargers" that I've seen, are cr-ap. They charge at God knows what voltage like 14V-15V, and either don't taper at the end, or switch to 17V desulphation mode when they feel like, and stay in this mode for God knows how long. Most of them - at least those under $120 - have none or very limited voltage adjustment, and those that are "smaller", have a smaller current as well. With high failure rate, every 5th unit going up in smoke within a few months.

ALMOT,

Are you using this to charge batteries? How come you don't just by a taper charge unit that is smarter and conditions the batteries as well? Just curious...

(disassemble and reassemble) to substitute 10-turn five hundred ohm potentiometer for original pot. Not a job for novices.