if the Battery Minder 2012 is plugged into AC power and the cigarette lighter of a Ford van for 6 days,why didn't it charge the 2-1/2 yr. old battery?
1522846
Usually the lighter on a vehicle is tied to the ignition switch. If the ignition is off, so is the lighter. If you have a voltmeter, you can check this out by probing the lighter socket, the edge is negative and the center (deep inside the socket) is positive. With the ignition off, if there is no voltage shown on the meter, you cannot charge the battery using the lighter socket.
1522847
I'm no expert, but these battery chargers are designed to be connected to the battery directly. I would suspect the cigarette lighter has an in-line fuse somewhere between the lighter and the battery that may be below the amperage designed for charging.
1522848
Battery may require a jump if cell is still good----the minder has feature on display that indicates if cell is dead, charging and desolating, any load on the battery meaning it is being DRAINED----what is registering on the battery minder indicator/display? If battery is too flat a jump is required. Batteries can be dead after any time or an unknown amount of time. Many locations such as Auto Zone may be storing them for long periods before they are sold to the customer My Chevy Impala was dead at 6 months---a Dura Gold long life battery---they switched it our for warranty.
1248960
I have a larger battery in my truck and this item will not keep it charged at all times. The charge is too weak. I doubt it can keep up as an on the go charger with 2 batteries......
138837
It would work however the power drain on a standard car battery would use up any charge it had really quickly. You need to hook it up to a deep cycle battery, like a RV battery. The charges last a lot longer, but they also cost $200-$400.
1284871
It remembers. Note that if you have a completely dead battery that this charger will not work. I had to hook up my old charger for about 30min before the NOCO would take over. It's a great charger for recovery or maintaining a charge, but it just won't do anything with a dead battery.
1408760
In my Chevy pickup the plug is always hot, even with the key out of the ignition. So with a device plugged into the charger it will pull some power. Also the charger by itself will burn a tiny amount of power since it is converting DC voltage. This loss is tiny compared to a car battery but is an additional load if you don't run the car for an extended period. Its surprising how all the loads can add up and eventually deaden the battery.
659085
A 12V battery can be charged from any 12V source including the AC charger, a car or even solar panels intended for such. Some OEMs market a cord for connecting battery packs like this to the car via the lighter outlets so they charge as you drive (the Clore ESA1 and Schumacher SAC-109 are examples). Just be sure that the lighter outlet is turned "on" while doing that so the power gets thru to the battery. Also the cars power may instantly make this battery show "full" when hooked up, but it does take time for the battery to absorb the power, so that's why they recommend charging over a long time with the AC trickle charger (or while in the car you need to leave it for 1/2 hour, yet it's still a guess as to whether or not the battery has absorbed all it can or not).
934600
I'm not sure. I knew I was going to use it the next day, so I put it on the charger overnight. The next morning I blew everything out of the rain gutters, and blew off the driveway (large enough to park 8 cars), and blew off the garage (oversize 2-car) floor. It still was working, but I was finished. so put it away and put the battery pack on the charger.Rich
1692777
Don't understand the question. Think maybe you would have take the Jumpstarter out of the DC plug to charge the car battery. Hope that helps.
1503579
My 12V car battery rated at 715CCA took around 2 days to fully charge. It was a discharged battery unable to start the car but not totally dead.
1985749
I can only speak from personal experience on the Chevy Volt that we own; and it went from 8-10 hours time down to 4-5 hours. So, I assume it could cut Ford vehicle charging time in half or close to that.
682100
It really depends on how old the charger (actually the battery inside) is. I got mine 2 years ago, and it would no longer hold anything higher than 11 volts even after being plugged in for 3 days. So I went ahead and bought a replacement battery from Ebay (~$27), and now keeps it charged every 30 days. I leave mine in the vehicle, so I can use it when I need it the most.
1341323
You have to be careful not to have over charged the battery. If you did overcharged the battery by 30+ minutes the battery becomes useless or you'll notice a diffrence in power. If you know forsure that its not the battery then get yourself a circuit tester and start following your battery circuit flow, you may be able to narrow it down and hopefully find a quick fix.
2259137
Your battery is probably dead and you need a new one. If you leave your car battery discharged for long periods of time, it will no longer hold a charge. This charger is meant to keep the battery conditioned and charged when you don't use it for long periods of time. You would normally leave this charger hooked up to the battery while your car is not in use.
904057
My battery was a backup for my alarm system. Once I installed it it started to charge. Hope this helped
1828207
When you installed the battery did you allow it to charge for 24 hours before using the APC? (The APC switched off; no load on it.) Go to your instructions for the APC and check for the recommended charge time.
915334
Dear Kenneth, Thank you for your message. There should be a built in charger in your system that is charging the battery. If you have the battery for a long time and it is not working, most likely the problem is with the battery not the charger. If you are sure that the issue is with the charger, then most likely you need a 12v 2amp charger. Unfortunately I wasnt able to find one with the model number you have provided us with. Please let me know if there is anything else I can assist you with.
2208399
Maybe not. We left our battery uncharged all winter long for two winters and it was fine the next spring when we plugged it back into the car. We just recently bought a new battery because the old battery that originally came with the car finally died.