Battery Charger

Hey all, I need to get a new charger for my batteries this winter, I've always had the old school charger that once it's charged you disconnect everything. Does anyone recommend a specific one that won't break the bank or is just going to Walmart good? I want one where I can just hook it up and not worry about the battery draining through the winter. Is there a difference from the "trickle charge" and a "maintainer"?



Thanks and merry Christmas everyone!

I like the schumacher stuff, something like this, it has a engine start helper too.

http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SC-...h+engine+start

Battery tender jr. I just got one for this winter. Great price, great reviews. I rotate the one charger every two weeks between my two batteries.

One size charger doesn't fit all. So you need to begin with how much battery reserve capacity you have plus how you in particular use your batteries. First, how deeply are they typically discharged according to your usage and second what level of charge do you typically have when placed in storage.
A tender/trickle/minder/maintenance charger is perfectly fine for batteries that are placed into storage with a 'full' charge....such as a tractor, snowmobile, jetski, ATV/UTV, motorcycle, airport car, weekend car, etc. However, if you run your stereo bank down when at rest, have a large battery capacity, have a large stereo, and don't burn enough gas to fully charge the batteries before trailering or docking the boat, then you need a charger with a higher amperage capacity that is ideally matched for your particular case.
The typical 2/5/10 amp home garage charger is not a healthy choice for anything but an emergency situation. I would not turn my back on one for any lengthy period and they certainly have no conditioning value.

If you have 2 batteries, you can get away with using a good 20amp charger. I have 3 batteries at at approx 375 amp hours so I went a little over the top with a ProMariner Pro Nautic 50 amp so I could add a 4th battery in the future if needed.