Battery chargers

Problem with me is I'm an old fashioned git. This means I'm comfotable with seeing an ammeter tell me something more than just an LED does. I would also say, re this particular charger, I don't know whether it's meant to be smart or not but I noticed that when the first battery I charged with it became full the ammeter showed no current. So I felt this was a good thing.

A decent modern smart charger wouldn't go to zero when the battery is full. It would change to what's known as a maintenance charge - a tiny trickle charge which will keep the battery in peak condition. A simple ammeter won't show that.

The best way to charge a standard lead acid battery at normal domestic rates - ie not a vast and expensive fast charger you might find in a secondhand car dealer for quickly starting a car - is at constant current. If it is designed to charge at constant current, no real point in an ammeter.

Not to say there's anything wrong with your charger - just, I'd say, a rather old fashioned design which costs more than is necessary these days.

I always assumed that was what the ammeter did - showed the amount of current. And when it drops to about zero, the charging was near complete.

Nowadays I use one of those Lidl chargers.

Yes - they're brilliant devices. As I said, actually charge a battery faster than my large and heavy Halfords one which claims 11 amps.

BTW, if you do get a problem with it after a lot of use, likely to be the select button failing. Although only seen that on an early one which looks slightly different from the current ones. And I found a replacement switch (tactile switch) on Ebay for pennies. But you do need to make sure you get the correct one dimension wise, as there are several made.

I modified an ex ICL computer 5v stabilised psu, to 12v nominal, and used that for many years, it also had a crowbar cut-off in case of a short circuit.