I've got a battery charger that can charge a battery between 2 and 15 amps. One of the features of this charger is a "maintenance" mode. When this does is sent short charging bursts to the battery. It's supposed to remove "sulfation".
Is this something that I'd want to do regularly, or only as a last resort when trying to get a bit more life out of an old battery?
last resort
If you let the car stand unused for a considerable period, particularly in cold weather, you might want to consider this.
But for short periods of disuse, forget it.
It works pretty well.
Neither one. It's a function that you use if you have a battery that is sitting idle for a long time. If you keep a summer car, for instance, that isn't driven six months of the year, keeping it on the charger in maintenance mode will keep the battery alive over the winter.
It does a very good job of preventing the battery plates from caking up with sulfates, which will happen if you just keep a float charge on the battery for months on end.
--scott
I agree, it is nice for long term, better than a trickle charger like folks used to use.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 'New' frame in the works for '08. Some Canadian Bush Trip and Build Photos:
Exactly wrong. Sulfation occurs from a battery sitting around while discharged. Getting a float charge from a charger or being inside a car getting charged are nearly exactly the same. They both keep the battery charged.
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