Cen-Tech battery charger -Harbor Freight

Janderso

Janderso

Jeff Anderson
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Mar 26, 2018
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I had a long rough day at work. My wife and I are taking the RV out for a four day excursion to the mountains around Mt Shasta, Ca
I get home, change, run over to the storage lot to pick up the trailer. (I had two old Sears that worked great for decades, lost in the fire)
Can’t load the trailer, I left the battery switch connected, both dead.
No problem I says to myself. I’ll head over to Harbor Freight and pick up a charger.
$54.99 for a 2-10-50 amp charger.
I have one of the batteries from the trailer, set it on the bench and connect the Cen-Tech charger.
Nothing. No power, no red light, nothing.
What a PITA.
 
New chargers will not engage if they do not detect a battery. Meaning, if the battery is so dead as to appear invisible (electrically) to the charger, it will not 'turn on'
 
I have found that in the case above, ya gotta put another battery in parallel with the one you desire to charge, to prove to the charger there is actually a battery hooked up. Once your 'dead' battery comes up enough, you can remove the 'proxy', and get on with life.....
My old charger from the 70's does not care. It assumes you know what you are doing. Bloody nannies these days, anyway.....
 
westerner said:
New chargers will not engage if they do not detect a battery. Meaning, if the battery is so dead as to appear invisible (electrically) to the charger, it will not 'turn on'
Click to expand...
Really?
Ah, ok, I’ll take it and my battery to work and check it out.
 
Oh, yes. There is internal circuitry that will prevent the charge circuit from switching on if a load (battery) is not detected. I have seen it on every charger I have been around that was made in the last decade or so, or longer.

I assume the nannies are keeping us from throwing errant sparks around the shop.
 
I have 2 old school 10,50,200 amp chargers with timers on them. I even have an extra progressive dynamic with the gennie for boost mode.
 
OT Jeff , but I just watched a show on the Weather Channel about the Paradise fire . I'm glad you are still with us ! :high 5: That was a major tragedy to say the least .
 
It was an experience I never want to go through again.
Pitch black, explosions, fire.
 
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