Best type of battery chargers for 743

[brambleberry]

My last battery charger finally bit the dust and I want to get a nice one this time around. Looking into the options for diesels is frustrating, there's a million of them and hard to decipher what is real advice and what's just marketing. Main thing I'm trying to figure out is getting a portable smart type engine start pack or a plug-in high amp engine start charger. I love this forum for getting advice, seems like there's a general lack of a**holes taking up the space ???? So I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences if you don't mind. TIA BTW, my other machines are a Pasquali 988 with Lombardini 914 air-cooled diesel, and a ferguson TO 35 deluxe gas. So nothing crazy huge. Just want to be able to get them started quickly if I need to.

 

[Wayne440]

The best thing I have seen for starting 12 volt vehicles was fabbed up by a friend. He has a two wheel hand truck with a group 31 battery, 10 amp "automatic" charger and about 20 foot jumper cables attached. The hot lead of the jumper cables goes thru a battery disconnect. Roll it up, hook it up, flip the switch- start.

 

[AtlantaBill]

The best thing I have seen for starting 12 volt vehicles was fabbed up by a friend. He has a two wheel hand truck with a group 31 battery, 10 amp "automatic" charger and about 20 foot jumper cables attached. The hot lead of the jumper cables goes thru a battery disconnect. Roll it up, hook it up, flip the switch- start.

I have three: 1. basic 2 amp / 10 amp 'automatic' charger from auto parts store which is good for overnight restoring a low battery, 2. a small Li-ion jump battery which is good for hauling around in the car, 3. cheap solar panel 'battery maintainer' which I keep on a machine driven only once a month or so. Pardon me but if you regularly need a battery charger, perhaps review the basics. Good alternator output (14.1 volts, check with a meter). Tight and clean terminals (baking soda). Clean grounds. No stray current losses / parasitic battery drain (trunk light off?). Good battery (does it need water?). Run them *regularly* (once a week for 30 minutes, minimum?). I now have only 7 machines, including cars and trucks. And *this month* (knock on wood) all are keeping their batteries up. I turn the key and they fire up. I've wasted a lot of time in my life trying to milk a few more months out of an old battery - jump starting, charging, etc. Now when they're beyond 3-4 years old and they fail to start, I give them only 1 or 2 chances. I give them an overnight charge. I check the alternator output. I clean the terminals. I check for current flow while everything is switched off. I might even take the battery to the auto parts store for them to run their test. Then if there's another failure to start, I go ahead and get a new battery. We have a rarely used 30 year old farm truck where the alternator bearing has been squealing a couple of years. I had my teenage son install a new alternator. Amazing how much better everything on it works! Dashboard lights! Heater fan! I didn't know it had a seat belt buzzer, ha, ha.