Best 24 volt battery charger?

[Rebar]

I am a new 5-ton owner and am really not trying to get flamed on this one. I have searched the forum and found way too many confusing threads on this topic. They are confusing only because I am terrible at all things electrical and do not have the electrical background to understand half of the things you guys are saying. That being said, I am just looking to purchase the best 24-volt charger/maintainer/jumper setup with slave cable for my M817. It has the single pin connector on the side of the cab and there was no slave cable to plug into it. I want the simplest setup possible--preferably just one that I can just plug in without rewiring everything and, if possible, without removing the 4 batteries every time. Is this possible: just a charger and single pin cable that I can plug in every time I park the truck (I drive it probably once a week--less in the winter). I appreciate your expertise, your answers, and your flame retardant.

Rebar

 

[Ferroequinologist]

They do make 24vdc charger/maintainers with boost (100amps or so).

A lot of marine and construction equipment is 24vdc as well.

Do they make one from a factory with a slave cable plug already on it? I don't think so, never seen one. You can purchase one, and get a used slave cable end, and take the clamps off the charger wires and wire to the plug, so that all you have to do is plug in, turn the charger on, and walk off.

Honestly, the best thing to do, is get another truck and cable, then you can jump one off the other! and in case those two are both dead, you'll need another truck.... That's MV math.

 

[swbradley1]

I would do it the same way I do my backhoe and tractor. Get a charger that can be mounted in the truck somewhere and run the plug out to the driver's side. Wire the charger directly to the batteries. When you walk up to the truck you will see the charger is plugged in, otherwise I can guarantee you will drive off at least once with your charger plugged in on the passenger side or anywhere else.

It is easy to wire one up as there are only two wires.

 

[Ferroequinologist]

Ok, so they did make one.

I suppose try to find one of these.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?46580-24v-military-battery-charger

 

[steelandcanvas]

Wire the charger directly to the batteries. When you walk up to the truck you will see the charger is plugged in, otherwise I can guarantee you will drive off at least once with your charger plugged in on the passenger side or anywhere else.

Good call Steve. Since my line cord for the charger comes out the shotgun side of the truck, I posted a sign in the cab that says "Don't take the battery charger with you."
Don't ask me why I did this.

 

[swbradley1]

Good call Steve. Since my line cord for the charger comes out the shotgun side of the truck, I posted a sign in the cab that says "Don't take the battery charger with you."
Don't ask me why I did this.

Experience is a good teacher and a harsh mistress.

 

[rrrr]

Experience is a good teacher and a harsh mistress.

I can vouch for that !

 

[Neophyte]

I used this set up with success this past weekend:

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200365179_200365179

 

[ca1517]

They do make a charger that has a slave cable end, or alligator clips, 12 and 24 volt, it just does not have a boost selection. They work great for charging, it is a RediPulse pro hd.

 

[steelandcanvas]

I used this set up with success this past weekend:

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200365179_200365179

Very good choice, I have used this same charger with great sucess.

 

[glcaines]

I have two Canadian Soneil 24V 2 amp chargers I bought from Batterystuff.com for $47.00 each. They accept 100 - 240 VAC input and don't have alligator clips. I got the clips from Radio Shack. I leave the chargers connected constantly to my M35A2 and M35A3 trucks and they keep my batteries topped off and minimize sulfation. I'm very happy with them. I also have a 10 amp Schauer 24V charger I use for both my vehicles and my airplane.

 

[wiggall]

I have NOS NATO Slace Cable Ends for $60.00 + shipping from Idaho.

 

[m16ty]

It's really better to charge each battery separately. Sometimes, when you have low voltage, one battery is drained more than the other. By charging them with a 24v charger you get one battery overcharged and one undercharged. The overcharged battery will be damaged.

A 24v charger is nice for just trickle charging or boosting the truck off but they are kind of expensive. I'd rather just pick up 2 small 12v trickle chargers and use another one of my trucks for boosting.

 

[glcaines]

It's really better to charge each battery separately. Sometimes, when you have low voltage, one battery is drained more than the other. By charging them with a 24v charger you get one battery overcharged and one undercharged. The overcharged battery will be damaged.

A 24v charger is nice for just trickle charging or boosting the truck off but they are kind of expensive. I'd rather just pick up 2 small 12v trickle chargers and use another one of my trucks for boosting.

Why would there be any difference between charging two 12 volt batteries in series or each 12 volt battery separately? In both cases, each individual cell is being charged in series with other cells. I'm not saying you are wrong, I just don't understand why there would be a difference.

 

[swbradley1]

Here we go....opcorn:

 

[phil2968]

Re: Best 24 volt battery charger???

Hey, I want to play! Why do 2 batteries get out of sync when charging?

 

[TMNT]

Best 24 volt battery charger???

The two batteries will have different charging demands. One needs a little more or less than the other. The charging rate or demand, is set by the battery that needs the most. The voltage in the circuit is the same through both batteries in series. The battery that needs less charge will be getting a higher charge voltage than it needs due to the demand of the weaker battery. That results in overheating and overcharging the "good" battery.

As stated earlier, you're better off charging each 12v battery individually and then connecting them together.

If you conductance test each battery and make sure the two are healthy and closely matched in conductance values, then charging them in series is ok. It's a lot cheaper and easier to charge them individually.

 

[TMNT]

Best 24 volt battery charger???

I work with DC power plants for telecom applications. We do big 24V and -48V DC power systems all the time.

Here's a decent link regarding battery conductance, but you can Google the term for other information as well.

http://www.skylark.co.uk/CONDUCTANCEQ-A.htm

 

[flibob]

Best 24 volt battery charger???

This is almost as good as the CDL debate!

 

[TMNT]

Probably not as good as the CDL debate. At least there is only one set of laws to deal with on this battery charging thing! The results and potential problems really depend on how closely matched the batteries are to each other. If they are matched pretty closely, then charging them in series is no problem. That's the way they're charged from the generator on the truck in normal operation all the time.

The problem could occur if the batteries were significantly drained, but not drained to the same level. Or, possibly one battery is newer than the other or they otherwise had different conductance levels. There's a bunch of reasons that could happen including acid level, specific gravity of the acid, plate degradation, temperature, etc. Then, if you charge them in series, the one bad or weak battery will cause the good battery to overheat and overcharge and possibly ruin it. Thats a whole bunch of possible's and maybe's and nothing definite. Sometimes its a problem and sometimes it works just fine.