Best battery chargers according to redditors
We found 91 Reddit comments discussing the best battery chargers. We ranked the 8 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 91 Reddit comments discussing the best battery chargers. We ranked the 8 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
Yep. These devices are made for that application.
If you store your car outdoor, I'd recommend getting a car cover similar to this (get one that fit your car), which will reduce paint damage from UV exposure. I also put the car on a tarp to reduce rust under it (I live in Canada, this is good for winter especially).
If you live in an area where it can go below freezing, leave your fuel tank completely full.
Fuel stabilizer is a good idea, but not necessary for 5 months.
If you want, you can also over inflate your tires to prevent them from flat spotting. Again, this is not necessary, more like the cherry on top.
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So, to summarize, get a battery maintainer and a tarp if outdoor. Change the oil when you come back. If you stay for like 6 months, then leave the oil in the car when you leave and change when you are about to drive it.
If there's a plug nearby, you might want to pick up a battery tender. This should monitor and keep a "float" charge on the battery.
Example: http://www.amazon.com/Deltran-Battery-Tender-021-0128-Charger/dp/B00068XCQU
There's a cheaper Jr version that might be more appropriate for you.
Also, your battery may need replacement anyway since deep discharges damage the battery chemistry.
If the battery is getting weak (especially in these colder temps), check the charging level of the alternator. If it's ok, pick up a battery charger that will automatically switch to float once reaching full charge. Throw the battery on there overnight.
Keep cold out of your gear. Like in hiking, being cold is worse than wet since it'll sap your energy. I wear a balaclava around my head and just picked up a fleece neck warmer to keep cold wind from entering my coat and helmet.
Pinlock visors are great at keeping your visor from fogging up if you wear a full face helmet.
Reflective tape on your helmet, bike and gear will add to your visibility.
Keep track of your tires and brakes. Give yourself 20 minutes to gear up and check the bike before you leave. You don't want to forget a piece of gear because you were in a rush.
Don't override your ability in lousy weather and know alternate, safer and slower routes if you need to get off the highway. It happened to me once in Skagit Valley when a rainstorm pushed me three lanes over (I shouldn't have been going so fast in the left lane) so I exited and took a really slow trip on some farming roads, then the old 99 highway all the way to Seattle.
Be aware and cautious, especially in the dark and wet around the unmindful cagers in this town, but have fun! These cold, sunny, dry days have been a blast to ride.
Personally for local or camping (not air travel) I like the 35-55 AH AGM SLA scooter batteries. (SLA = sealed lead acid aka non-spillable) If you turn of heated hose & humidification (passover humidification is okay) they will last a few nights. See the ResMed battery guide for more detailed run estimates at https://www.resmed.com/us/dam/documents/articles/198103_battery-guide_glo_eng.pdf.
Basic list of parts you need:
Depending on which CPAP machine you have:
Edit: the cigarette adapter is only optional for ResMed since it comes with a clamp adapter - Philips does not. I'd still get one though since it can bolt to the battery terminals.
I have a different idea for you. A guy I work with has a 2007 that had the same issue, but he simply did not have the money for a new one. He was stranded at work, again, when we were talking about it. His battery was in terrible shape; he put it on the charger every night to be able to get to work.
I thought about getting him an extension cord, but he was 200' from the closest outlet, so I told him that if he tried one of these solar trickle chargers, I would buy it from him if it did not work. He has managed to get to and from work for over a month in this North Dakota weather with no issues. I just plugs it in when he parks.
you got some good replies... just want to be a little more specific. something like a battery tender is good to leave connected. it will cycle on and off to keep the battery charged... Trickle chargers are manual and push a constant amount of amps until you turn them off.
the manual type are still not obsolite... for one you can charge a battery quicker because you can choose the amperage to charge at. Another benefit is if you have a very discharged battery, the newer battery tender types will not charge it because it's measuring too low of voltage and is programed to assume it's damaged... the manual type, sometimes you can set it very low and charge it up enough to switch to back to the battery tender type.
I've lived in MN all my life and have not had problems with batteries sitting in the cold unused.
My rig sits all winter and about once a month it gets started and sometimes I put a battery charger on before I start it.
So in other words you shouldn't have it draining in less than a week. Chances are something in the vehicle is putting a drain on the battery when it sits.
You could disconnect the ground cable when parked in order to fix a phantom drain.
You could also get one of these and have it plugged in whenever it's parked. I would recommend one of these for any vehicle parked for an extended period of time.
It's an ideal use of a Leaf. Your only issue is the little 12v battery won't get charged in short trips.
Either use the windshield wipers on every trip (the leaf charges the 12v faster when the wipers are on and for 2 mins afterwards) or buy an external charger like https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B004LWVEKS and charge the 12v every month or two.
Really you can drive it and not worry but if you want to be preventative so you don't have to deal with a dead 12v someday by surprise you can do so.
Note this isn't true just for the Leaf, it'd be the same for any car you drive on that short of a trip.
You would still need to plug the charger into an AC outlet. This is one I own that has an adapter for the accessory port.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051D3MP6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Theres probably other ones that have Lithium batteries that could be used to charge it instead if you park your car far away from an outlet.
You should be fine. Hook it up to a battery charger though. http://www.amazon.com/Deltran-Battery-Tender-021-0128-Charger/dp/B00068XCQU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422682919&sr=8-2&keywords=battery+tender
Those are great to own. Really helps prolong the life of the battery.
Shouldn't be a problem at all, batteries are made to be charged and discharged. Everyone should invest in a Battery Tender, they're really great chargers (and great for intelligently keeping a battery topped up for cars in storage). Not too much more expensive than shitty harbor freight ones, and they work and will last a long time.
Personally I’d consider selling it and get another when it’s time. Don’t you think it will sell for at least what you owe? Didn’t need payments or insurance when I helped raise my two boys, bought another later. But if you can’t decide and choose to store it, here’s an exhaustive checklist.
http://www.clarity.net/~adam/winter-storage.html
Here’s a great battery tender.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00068XCQU/ref=cm_sw_r_em_api_i_c_3wB7AbK953D28
Congratulations and a hope all goes as planned, take care!
I also have an AirSense 10 Autoset. The power "brick" provided with the unit is a conventional 120-240 VAC to DC converter. With the Ego Lawn Mower and Inverter you're converting electricity from DC to AC to DC. There will be substantial power-to-heat losses due to less-than-optimum efficiency of the power conversion.
Additionally, the AC output of the Ego Inverter (see manual, page 9) is limited to 150 Watts. At 120 Volts, this means that the current maximum it allows is 1.25 Amp. The maximum current demand that the AirSense 10 requires is 1.50 Amp. This is why the inverter's overheat is being triggered and it cuts power to your APAP; too much current is being demanded by the unit for the inverter's circuitry to handle.
I recommend following Resmed's Battery Guide using stand-alone, deep-cycle batteries.
I take my AirSense 10 camping and I recently purchased the following items, totaling to $205.56
12V 35AH batteries ship factory-charged. If used with tube heating and humidification switched off, and maximum IPAP pressure of 16 cm H2O then a single battery will last you for two 8-hour nights. See Page 7 of Resmed's Battery Guide for details of power consumption if using any of the heat settings.
I hope this helps. Feel free to ask me questions.
Been using this one for a few years, I like it.
https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Maintain-Damaging/dp/B00068XCQU/ref=sr_1_6?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1539371358&sr=1-6&keywords=battery+tender
If it sits a lot then use a battery tender like this. You leave an adapter always connected to the battery then route it somewhere like the front grill. When you get home, plug it in if its going to sit a while into the adapter on the tender. That's it. It will keep it charged and ready to go. We use the smaller ones (not the one I linked) for the house generators out here and they work great. Still would be a good idea to start it and run it around the block every few months
I use this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Maintain-Damaging/dp/B00068XCQU/
But this one would probably also do the trick:
https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0123-Junior-Charger/dp/B000CITK8S/
Should be able to find them at your local auto parts store, or even Walmart or someplace like that.
Don't listen to this guy. WTF? If the battery is getting drained that has nothing to do with compression. The most likely scenario is an alternator issue. A brand new battery will work great until it gets drained and then it will stop working. What I would do is buy a $20 trickle charger and leave it on the battery. If it continues to start fine, it's because you're keeping it charged with the charger and that would imply that your alternator isn't charging your battery. I have had similar issues when not driving mine for a while because the battery will slowly drain over time from the onboard computer and alarm. My alternator works though so i just use the charger when I'm not driving mine.
This is what I bought and it works great: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-BM3B-Battery-Maintainer/dp/B0051D3MP6/ref=pd_sim_sbs_auto_3
Seriously dude... why would this guy start saying scary things about compression when that has literally nothing to do with a constantly draining battery?
Edit: I missed the part about it not starting again even while jumping it. This is possibly because of flooding. If you don't let rotary engines warm up all of the way, they can flood. Best way to avoid this would be to leave the car running until it the temp gauge gets to the middle where it is straight up and down. I still think you main problem is the alternator though.
Another question I have is whether or not the engine is turning over or if your starter is going bad.
I got two PM's about the battery/inverter rig so here is what I told others and a bit more.
I seem destened to live in areas with crappy power so when I moved to my new apartment and again found that the power here flickered like a candle in the wind I hit up CL and found a nice big APC backup PSU that had no batterys for $50($600 new), also on CL I found a set of two Exide sealed Gel cell marine Deep cycle batteries for $50 each($200/ea new). The system has run for 3 years now flawlessly, the computer will run for 7 hours on backup power.
When the hurricane hit I knew I could use the batteries to charge stuff with my inverter but they weigh like 80lbs so I wasn't about to drag them down to my car to charge them so after talking to a neighbor who is a boat guy I hit up a marine supply place down the road and picked up the biggest(that I could afford) solar charger, it was about $120, the next step up was over $300. I didn't think 20w would totally make up for energy drain so my computer use was very limited but I was able to keep my cell and ipod charged for the duration. I just hung the solar charger off my balcony(its a 2'x2' square of 4 1' square PV cells) and left the batteries where they were out in my storage closet on the balcony and ran an extension cord outside to it, the inverter runs on demand so I never had to mess with it. The inverter is a 1500w unit that I got from HomeDepot about 8 years ago to run some power tools at a camp site, it is way over kill for the use but given that I already had it oh well. If you just want to run a TV or computer you could get away with half or less wattage, heck a 500w unit would be fine for most non power tool or appliance uses and can be had for under $50 from radioshack.
The solar panel looks like 4 of these in a collapsable frame, the writing on it is all Chinese...
http://www.jamesdysonaward.org/projects/micro-wind-turbine/
I'm always wary of someone promising me a thing without technical specs, or hooking up a multimeter to the output under either ideal (wind tunnel) or real life conditions. But in the most ideal method, to generate the stated 5w of power, that thing's spinning at ~10hz, and I'm not seeing it spin at ~10hz. While the closest solar panels are around ~1ft x ~1ft for the same max wattage. https://www.amazon.com/Sunforce-50022-Battery-Trickle-Charger/dp/B0006JO0TC
I'm also curious if it going to be anything more than an interesting concept, I expect that in october there's going to be a delay or a problem, and the next "new release" date will be sometime middle next year.
So color me skeptical.
You pretty much have your question answered but I wanted to show some winter car accessories that I use and they have made life easier.
When my car is parked overnight I use a cover like this and it keeps ice and frost off your windshield. There are various types and sizes of these. Mine had side mirror pockets to hold it on and covers the wipers too. Putting in on and taking it off is much easier/quicker than defrosting and scraping.
Very cold temps can result in a dead battery, or one too weak to start the car. This happened to me yesterday and I used one of these to jump start it. I have jumper cables too, but with this I didn't need anyone's help.
When I got home, I trickle charged my battery with this. I just parked in my driveway and ran the charger's 25 foot cord under the garage door and clamped them onto the terminals under the hood. Started nicely today.
I also keep an air compressor in my car all the time. If I'm out on the road and my tire pressure sensors start beeping I can pull over anywhere and top them off.
https://www.amazon.com/Deltran-Battery-Tender-021-0128-Charger/dp/B00068XCQU
You don't need a special thing. It's just a trickle charger with constant voltage charging.
Just kickstart it and ride around for a while. Order a battery charger, they're cheap.
BLACK+DECKER BM3B 6V and 12V Automatic Battery Charger / Maintainer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051D3MP6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_W73XAb4VHZE2K
I used a CTEK 7200 (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FRLO9Y) on the Hobbit Hole and it worked great in the same setup
I think it's very odd that your multi meter only goes up to 8v unless it's a dedicated 8v battery tester. Some multimeters have a fuse that prevents them from overloading so if you did try to test a 12v battery I would expect the needle to pin to the top for about half a second before that fuse blew and then it wouldn't read anything until you change the fuse. So it could be a bad fuse on your tester.
I recommend a smart charger like this: https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-G1100-UltraSafe-Battery-Charger/dp/B004LX3AXQ/ref=pd_sbs_263_12?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B004LX3AXQ&pd_rd_r=3be48e80-db93-11e8-8b2a-43f93729c796&pd_rd_w=yGlNN&pd_rd_wg=trGW4&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=7d5d9c3c-5e01-44ac-97fd-261afd40b865&pf_rd_r=JD2NDBVDGT98STE29GAZ&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=JD2NDBVDGT98STE29GAZ
They'll condition the battery and you can usually get a better life out of them. It'll tell me when the battery won't take a charge so that I know when to replace it.
Awesome Thx... I'll try that. Few questions
I have this one that I'm happy with.
It'll do moto and car batteries and has an "exercise" type mode that will drain a battery and recharge it a couple of times to try to loosen up some of the "stuck" material that causes a battery to go dead.
Maine here. A good AGM battery and a smart charger if you're getting some extreme temps in the winter. My batteries are a few years old but they are still 13v and hold a charge like they are brand new. By no means do you have to charge the battery when you're not using it, as AGM's are much more resistant to the cold, but it's not a bad idea to charge it over the weekends.
Do you have a battery trickle charger at home? I would charge the battery for ~24 hours. I have one of these, and plug my battery in once a week.
Also recommend getting a Battery Tender. They're good if you leave vehicles sitting for a while, to prevent the battery from slowly discharging over time.
https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Maintain-Damaging/dp/B00068XCQU
I use a 35ah deep cycle SLA battery like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HC57NXC/
SLA doesn't require any venting and works fine even upside down. They can also be left trickle charging forever, which makes a great backup if the power ever goes out. I get 3-4 nights at 14/18 on BiPAP without the humidifier. Humidifiers can be used, but it more than doubles the discharge rate. I still hook up the humidifier, but I leave it set at zero. This gives a bit of passive humidity. Your trolling motor box is fine. I use a toolbox with some plastic glued in to keep the battery in position. All the wiring can go inside (just like your trolling box), with a 12v cigarette adapter on the outside. This makes for a compact unit.
A voltmeter on the outside is really handy to know how much juice you have left. Also, I leave it charging all the time, so the voltmeter lets me know that everything is 100% ready. This one I picked up has USB too:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QKDXB8E/
I use this cheap charger (The "Battery Tender" ones are recommended, just a bit more expensive):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051D3MP6/
The total cost was under $125 (plus a DC to DC adapter, which it sounds like you don't need).
Shoot me a message if you need a hand getting setup.
edit: here's some pics
http://i.imgur.com/5AQaiw9.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/sHb3sQr.jpg
Here's some good, firsthand info:
Choosing a Battery
A sample of other components
How long will a battery last with/without humidifier?
I have just put together a system for a remote barn on my property. It may be overkill for what you are trying to accomplish, but thought it might help.
This is connected to a 12v deep cycle marine battery that you an find at NAPA.
Depending on frequency of use, you may be able to get away with a lower wattage solar panel, or, if it is rarely used, scrap the solar components all together and just lug the battery back to your house once a month a stick it on a trickle charger.
This may be a bad idea, but off the top of my head, maybe you could use a small inverter plus a battery tender to recreate a setup similar to your old one.
Edit: Also these are not cheap but there is a company called All In Charge that makes setups for charging your boat or RV battery while you tow.
Edit2: If these guys are still in business, they offer a solution that some people really like. Their website really needs some work though, I would bet its best to just email them.
Edit 3: Found one more solution for you from PowerStream.
If you know you are going to park the bike for over a week, put the battery on a tender. If you are parking for a week, usually it ends up longer.
So the solution for camping and common power outages are pretty close to the same.
If you live somewhere where the power goes out often, get yourself a 12v adapter for your machine (varies by machine), buy a AGM deep cycle trolling motor battery (~$100) and a Battery Tender. Plug the battery tender to the wall, hook it to the battery, then hook the 12v adapter to your machine. Congratulations: the battery tender keeps the battery topped off, the CPAP runs off the battery, and you never miss a beat when the power goes out. If you're looking to lose power for more than one night (say you regularly have to wait out hurricanes) you'll want a bigger capacity deep cycle battery if you want to run the humidifier.
For car camping just leave the battery tender at home and turn off the humidifier. Fully charged battery should easily last you 5 nights.
If you're more of a backpacker/rough camper pick up a large USB battery pack that supports 12V out. People with Philips Respironics machines report that pack gives them 2 nights without humidifier. If you have a Philips machine it actually comes with the right size barrel plug, so no 12v adapter needed.
A good battery will bounce back and give you enough juice to start. Do that enough times and the battery says "F this. I quit."
Get yourself a battery tender and leave it plugged in when not riding.
I use this one for dual batts on a Ford F350. It does very well throughout the winter.
I got my '15 PCX new in early 16 for around $3000 (if I remember correctly) + extra to build it and shipping fee. I think the build fee was like $100-$200 and another $100 for "shipping" it to the dealer. I think your getting an average deal.
Make sure the helmet you get is Snell certified. From what I remember the Snell cert is higher than the DOT cert. If this is your first helmet and you don't know what your doing, have the dealer fit you for a helmet. Its very important that it fits properly or it wont be as effective in an accident. When I got my PCX I got an HJC helmet from the dealer since I had no idea how to size one correctly. They are very nice helmets.
As far as bluetooth, make sure you read local laws. Some places make it illegal to use headphones while riding. Also, if your a new rider I would suggest not using them for a while and concentrate on the road.
As far as other stuff to buy, I would suggest a good jacket with pads and good padded gloves. If you hit the ground, you will be happy you had them.
Before winter, get yourself a small battery tender to maintain the battery while its in storage. If not, you may be buying batteries every year. My step dad has a Harley, never puts a tender on it over winter and wonders why he needs a new $125 battery every year. I got this one and it works great:
https://www.amazon.com/BLACK-DECKER-BM3B-Automatic-Maintainer/dp/B0051D3MP6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1525264919&sr=8-2&keywords=battery+tender+black+and+decker
been using this: http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Plus-Charger/dp/B00068XCQU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1347520065&sr=8-5&keywords=Battery+tender+jr
for years.
The optima suggestion isn't going to solve the battery drain issue. Yes, it's a heavier duty battery. But if you keep pouring out 1/2 cup of water out of a jug and only replace it with 1/3 cup of water, you'll eventually run out of water.
Really needs to do a battery tender and get in the habit of plugging it in when they get home. A setup like this would be a good idea. http://s279.photobucket.com/user/NotMoneyGuy/media/IMG_3749_zps1edf0d2c.jpg.html
Have a quick disconnect say dangle through the grill of the car and plug the charger in nightly.
Edit: I like the Battery Tender brand myself.
https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0123-lightweight-automatic/dp/B000CITK8S/ref=sr_1_3?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1494516072&sr=1-3&keywords=battery+tender
Or the faster charger:
https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Maintain-Damaging/dp/B00068XCQU/ref=sr_1_5?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1494516072&sr=1-5&keywords=battery+tender
There are stupidly simple, just plug/connect them to the battery and they're automatic.
here ya go: $30 bills
Sweet, no problem. Hopefully that works well for you. If you need charger recommendations, I got a 12v black and decker charger/maintainer off amazon for about $25. I hook it up to my battery after every outing and it has worked well for 6 months.
Edit: It’s $14 on Amazon right now, and $15 at Walmart
>Anything under 12.0V and it is likely too low to get the engine started.
Interesting, I can go and check it with my multimeter. Thanks for the advice, I'm not sure why I didn't think of that, it is a battery after all.
In my original post, I stated that I would be buying this charger.
I am getting the 3.5 amp version.
Do you think this charger will be able to bring the voltage back up to above 12V? I could charge up most of the battery with this charger slowly and then maintain it with the alternator by running the car for a half hour or so every week or two? Or I could just connect the charger every week and top the battery off.
Only problem is that some people on Amazon are saying that this charger actually requires a tiny bit of power in the battery in order to diagnose it correctly so it can send the proper current. I never thought leaving the battery for 1-2 months would drain it so fast!
First, check to make sure the battery connection is tight; second, check to make sure battery has a charge; lastly, do you have fuel? When the bike is parked, keep it on a trickle charger. Attach a pigtail to your battery so you hook it up easily when you get home every night. If you're getting a click-click-click when trying to turn it over, it's probably the battery. I bought this trickle charger a while back and haven't been sorry at all. It also comes with a pigtail. Good luck.
I use a a small NOCO Genius. I can either charge car batteries, small SLA or small AGMs. Good to have around, IMO!
Power / Inverter Question:
With out going into too much detail, let's just say my rig will be connected to shore power on most excursions, call me a weekend warrior.
Somewhere down the road I will probably add Solar but that is not within the next 1-2 years.
When connected to shore power my LED lights would still be on 12v power. So here we go...
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Thanks!
IMO, any and all of the "power stations" are overpriced.
It's just a battery...in the case of most of the "power stations", it's not even a very good one for its task.
You could :
Find a 35Ah (twice the capacity) deep cycle (superior technology for what you're using it for) battery for about $30
Buy a nice red LED flashlight for $5-$10
Throw together a power distribution panel with whatever types of plugs you like for $20-$30 or so.
Finally, for our purposes, any reasonable 12V battery charger will do.
Now you've got twice the capacity, all the same gadgets, customized hookups that suit your needs, and you've spent $50 less. :)
If the bike is going to sit for months at a time, get a tender, but you should be able to find a good one for $20 USD or so. They all charge the battery the same way to the same 12V+ level, no matter what brand. I bought one from Black and Decker for $20 USD since I now have two bikes and one sits for longish periods.
Your solar panel produces DC energy while a charging station offers AC energy for a different type of charging system.
You could bypass everything and use a conventional battery charger. What type of battery(s) are you charging?
This one on amazon
First off, whoever said there isn't a drain on the battery could easily be wrong. Cold temps dont drain batteries, it just reduces the battery's potential output current. A cold battery cant put out as many amps as an equally charged warm battery. If there is a drain it can be really hard to find, you basically need to monitor the drain on the battery while disconnecting one thing at a time to see what makes the drain on the battery drop down to where it should be. Try turning on the headlights for a few minutes before trying to start the car, if the problem is that the battery is too cold to push the amperage you need to start, that might warm the battery up enough to start the car.
if the headlight trick doesn't cut it, you might want to get a battery charger, it will continuously trickle-charge the battery so it stays fully charged throughout the winter. I would ultimately recommend that you find someone who knows how to diagnose battery drains, but this could be a decent way to handle things in the meantime.
here's a cheap one I found on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051D3MP6/ref=emc_b_5_mob_t
I have a couple of these but was looking for something more "integrated" or internal to a project box.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051D3MP6/
THD is total harmonic distortion, basically if it's over a certain point it begins to affect the sound quality.
The easiest option for power is a standard lead acid battery, they're a bit heavy and large but are also safe and cheap.
Here's an example.
And because they are standard you could use a small car charger to charge it up like this one.
There are many battery conditioners that would most likely help your batteries. It is not a novice event. Most are 12v and would need to run about 20 hrs approx to break down the sulfate in the battery. If it were my system, I would disconnect every single battery and test. I am going to guess that there is a single bad battery with a single cell or 2 that is causing problems. Since the generator kicks on based on voltage, one single cell in one battery could be causing your problem.
To test, after disconnecting individual batteries they should all be reasonably close to the same voltage. Assuming they are 12v batteries each cell is 2V The batteries charged should be about 12.6 approx depending on the makeup. I am 95% sure that you will see one that is in the 10 zone. If you recondition that battery (if not able to be reconditioned replace that battery and you will be at worst back to original.
Back to the question of why does the generator kick on, it's because sulfate builds up on the plates of the batteries when the voltage drops. The battery conditioner breaks down the sulfate.
https://www.amazon.com/CTEK-56-353-12-Volt-Battery-Charger/dp/B000FRLO9Y/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1484954290&sr=8-3&keywords=ctek+battery+charger
I bought that one years ago and it has been a great tool!
Source - owned an worldwide known auto customizing shop and have fought every 12v problem you can think of!
You're good on the kickstand, just roll the bike forward a few inches every few weeks so the tires are not always resting on the same spot all winter. Also, you can pick [this Black and Decker] (https://www.amazon.com/Decker-BM3B-Battery-Charger-Maintainer/dp/B0051D3MP6) tickle charger up for $20. If you don't have the $23 to spend to get a trickle charger, well you mentioned Christmas gifts. Ask for one and wait another 25 days.
Is this the charger that you're referring to? The 1amp charger is only good for charging up to 40AH; probably have to step it up to a 3.5amp charger.
http://www.amazon.com/NOCO-G1100-UltraSafe-Battery-Charger/dp/B004LX3AXQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1426701823&sr=8-3&keywords=1+amp+battery+charger
You may want to look into something like this then.
Get yourself a Deltran battery tender
This so what I have: https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Maintain-Damaging/dp/B00068XCQU/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1539529909&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=battery+tender&dpPl=1&dpID=41GJoSjcVrL&ref=plSrch
Paired with this pigtail lead which sits in my glovebox: https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-081-0069-6-Terminal-Disconnect/dp/B000NCOKZQ
Verify your stator is healthy before you throw a new battery on your bike.
Do you keep the bike on a battery tender when you aren't riding it? You definitely should.
As for batteries, any AGM battery will do fine. The very best batteries are the Lithium Ion models from Shorai, but they are VERY expensive (about $150-$250), but they deliver massive cold crank amps which is exactly what you need, especially if you are trying to start a 1200 conversion with the 883 starter/gearing.
Deltran Battery Tender, that's all you need.
How long had it been since you last started it up?
If you're leaving it to sit for weeks at a time I would either disconnect the negative battery cable or, better yet, put a battery tinder on it to maintain the battery charge.
If the battery is running down when you leave to sit a few days then you have a parasitic draw. You can test for this but unless you are up on your electrical troubleshooting and automotive wiring it's often easier to just have an auto electric shop diagnose it for you. Old Chrysler products can be a pain in the butt when it comes to parasitic draws.
Yeah, everyone who wants to maintain their battery (especially for storage and through cold weather) should put it on a battery tender. $40 will save you a new battery and many headaches.
Plus, you can get a usb adapter for the quick-disconenct that comes off your battery, or a voltage meter to check your battery status.
Sorry to bother again... This looks reasonably convenient, is it more or less what we want?
https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Maintain-Damaging/dp/B00068XCQU
Here's the one I use:
"Fully Charge and Maintain a Battery at Proper Storage Voltage without the Damaging Effects Caused by Trickle Chargers"
https://www.amazon.ca/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Maintain-Damaging/dp/B00068XCQU
Here is the tender I'm using, which says it's also a charger: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00068XCQU/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Should this be sufficient to charge the battery, or do you still think I should get a separate charger?
What should I be checking with a digital meter?
I recently installed a 5wt solar trickle to maintain my Aliner battery.
Imgur Too early to tell how well it works.
https://www.amazon.com/Sunforce-50022-Battery-Trickle-Charger/dp/B0006JO0TC
Get a solar trickle charger that sits on the dash and trickle charges the car while it sits. something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Sunforce-50022-Battery-Trickle-Charger/dp/B0006JO0TC More watts is better than less..
Something like this...
Thanks for the recommendation. Only issue is that my battery is 14V and all the related battery charging systems are 12V. I guess it shouldn't matter right?
Edit: shopping around I think I want a system with fairly high amperage that is designed for RV/ marine use. The only problem is the 12V/14V issue.
I'm between https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-022-0157-1-Waterproof-Charger/dp/B002DU3S9A/ref=sr_1_1?m=A2U296R8AN80PO&s=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1478634974&sr=1-1&keywords=Battery%2BTender%2B022-0157-1%2BWaterproof%2B12%2BVolt%2BPower%2BTender%2BPlus%2BBattery%2BCharger&th=1
And the 24V version. Maybe I should stick to 12V because it will actually charge to 14.4V? May need to experiment.
If you want to keep it permanently mounted, I would adapt influx's idea to a 120v signaling relay, that connects the wire between the tender and the battery. Plug it in, relay closes, tender gets connected. Unplug it, relay opens, tender can't pull juice.
Also, I don't know how many places you plan on charging your bike up but the Delran tenders have detachable cables. When I want to put it on the tender, I untuck the cable from the storage compartment, plug it in, and when I'm done, unplug and tuck again.
Are you going to be using them in parallel for 12v or series for 24 volt? If your end goal is 70ah of 12v you can just connect the charger to the batteries positive and negative respectively with the two batteries still connected together.
If you dont plan on draining the batteries much or don't mind longer charging times something like
this will work just fine. If you want faster charging time or plan on draining more amps out of the batteries then I would buy one of the higher amperage charger offered in the link.
Nah it's just a standard 12V battery. You don't need a fancy tender. Anything that connects to your connector will work. And all the ones I've seen come with the pigtail so you can yank yours and install it.
I like this one because it has a few more amps for quicker charging if I'm in more of a hurry:
https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Maintain-Damaging/dp/B00068XCQU
But any tender will do.
I wonder if I need something like this would suffice, or if I'd need something like this.
Yep, quick google search will show you where they are, Ive had alot of people cause problems by jumping it there. Here is a link to the charger I use on my M cars, I just bought 3 battery leads so I can keep one charger at home and charge any of them. Heres the lead
https://smile.amazon.com/Schumacher-WM-12-Connector-Battery-Maintainer/dp/B003WDDLTO/ref=sr_1_18?keywords=trickle+charger+lead&qid=1557669815&s=gateway&sr=8-18
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B004LX14Z2/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?pd_rd_i=B004LX3AXQ&pd_rd_w=VsD2p&pf_rd_p=46cdcfa7-b302-4268-b799-8f7d8cb5008b&pd_rd_wg=Edh2V&pf_rd_r=QSZC2Q9P4WH3TEHVZ4J0&pd_rd_r=d60460a4-74be-11e9-a9da-2171f603c15c&th=1
just put the stablizer in, close the cap, the pump your front forks up and down to mix it.
Also, buy a Batter Tender and keep it hooked up all winter (they are pretty cheap). For example: https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0128-Maintain-Damaging/dp/B00068XCQU/
And go out and start it up and let it run occasionally if you won't be riding it.