Gooloo S4 4-Amp car battery charger, maintainer, & desulfator, $40 after coupon (Prime one day)

logitvx wrote: ↑ I'll definitely look into an Analyzer then too. If I can get away with an analyzer and a charger (that doubles as the maintenance.. we'll go with that). - if you have suggestions on analyzer i'm open to that too.

I'm hoping that if I use the analyzer often enough I can avoid the hassle of worrying to quick start the car. Wouldn't your second question be remediated with a jumper pack/booster pack?

Scenario in my case is actually a brand new battery was put in.. and due to circumstances we didn't really drive the vehicle and it drained again. Not sure if we killed the battery, i guess analyzer would tell but was going to try to give it a bit of a charge. I have read some chargers don't do well if the battery is below a certain voltage though....

Edit: I didn't think charging would be the deep end!! or was it the maintenance side ?

(Sorry to everyone for derailing the thread..)

PerformingAzura wrote: ↑ I don't really see the issue.
Presumably both batteries are 12V so the stronger battery will just charge the weaker one until they both equalize.

If you add a charger to the circuit , the charger would see the average of the two voltages.

https://physics.stackexchange.com/quest ... n-parallel

Am I missing something?

craftsman wrote: ↑ The way I look at it, anyone looking to buy a charger is looking for very similar information that you are looking for. BTW> There's a whole thread on this stuff - car-batteries-faq-general-information-t ... s-2161758/.

Having an analyzer is the way to go. For most people, a basic conductance tester will do and Princess Auto has one for $30 almost all of the time which is about as cheap as it gets for one of these testers - https://www.princessauto.com/en/12v-bat ... 0008943383.

As for the booster pack bit, yes, that's the point. Some people buy chargers thinking that they are "instant" chargers for when the battery was discharged and they need to go somewhere NOW.

A decent battery maintainer type charger would be the Motormaster 1.5A Precision charger (https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/moto ... p.html#plp) when it goes on sale for 20% off (like now until tomorrow). Being a low current charger, if the battery is drained, it could take two to three days to fully charge the battery again depending on the size and the condition of the battery. Any 'smart' charger doesn't do well if the battery is drained as the smart chargers need to detect some voltage on the battery before starting to charge - if it detects nothing, it assumes that nothing is there and won't start the charging process. Some chargers can override that feature or you can just do a quick jump and then like the charger take over as the jump will give the battery just enough power to be detected by the smart charger.

Draining the battery per se won't kill a battery, especially a new battery. However, leaving it drained (ie jumping it and driving around for 15 minutes thinking that the battery is now fully charged when it's not) will cause sulfation to occur which reduces the capacity of the battery. Always fully charge a lead-acid battery as soon as possible once it's been drained.

If you look through some of the many threads on batteries, the idea of doing anything to the battery - ie charging with an external charger - is going off the deep end for many as they assume that car batteries are onetime use type of disposable batteries and NOTHING can be done to them so when they are 'dead' they get tossed and replaced.

logitvx wrote: ↑ Thanks! Really appreciate the info! Last Q hopefully from me.. Will also check out that thread.

logitvx wrote: ↑ Will grab the analyzer and that maintainer should be good for my car that doesn't get lots of driving. if I'll splurge and go for a faster "regular charger" - any other recommendations? Was thinking of: https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/moto ... p.html#plp

logitvx wrote: ↑ With my "new battery" that is dead... its not in the garage so would be impractical to keep it charged for long periods of time. i was hoping to throw a charger on it for a few hours to get it up to an "OK point" and then move it into the garage to have it charge to full. Thoughts on this?

vimal1 wrote: ↑ yes, you're missing many concepts of circuits 101 and batteries 301. Further all of the following are already explained very well in stackexchange whick funnily enough clearly says that this is not an averaging linkage but an indeterminate situation.

1) Very valid assumption about one battery charging the other when they are both < 2-3 years old and healthy enough. Most people using battery tenders are definitely trying to extend battery life beyond normal life. As batteries age, the internal resistance goes up (due to electrodes depleting) and they simple can't "hold charge" as chemicals storing it also becomes inert/ irreversibly in inactive state.

As a result, the stronger battery will "try to charge" the weaker battery. But weaker battery's resistance will just dissipate that as heat. The weaker battery's chemicals are dead so they can't hold any more charge beyond a small limit. Where does energy go? As heat dissipation which further damages weaker battery and also this current heats up healthy battery as well due to this leakage current and its internal resistance.

b) The charger will see something else that will depend on exact relative resistances of each wire interconnecting.

Interestingly, the first stackexchange links or this link "https://electronics.stackexchange.com/q ... n-parallel" both explain what I explained. The true parallel voltage is likely indeterminate. Please read the first two answers in your link or the visual / circuit explanation in my link.

EDIT : Edited for very minor grammar issues , 1 factual error.

craftsman wrote: ↑ I don't mind the questions as it's the only way to get the correct information out there so that everyone will benefit.



I would recommend getting another charger along with this one. Why? The 1.5A unit is fairly compact and easy for people to take out and use. A larger heavier piece will just make it hard for anyone to use so that they may not want to use it as often and therefore not use it at all! If you want to buy a higher current charger, I wouldn't recommend that one from Motormaster but the Schumacher SC1302 which is an 8A charger and can be found onsale for $30.


Realistically, you don't need to keep the battery charging. If you fully charge the battery and it's in new condition, you'll only see a drop of 3 to 5% a month if it sits there unused and not connected. Since most cars have some level of drain even when things are off - ie to power the clock and other electronics, you may see a few more percent drop. Therefore, if you just charge it once every 3 weeks or so (just use the battery analyzer to see how much it's dropping from week to week or month to month and charge when needed), you should be fine.

Initially, you can always remove the battery from the car and just leave it charging for two or three days (depending on the level of charge on the battery) and then reinstall it.

craftsman wrote: ↑ I don't mind the questions as it's the only way to get the correct information out there so that everyone will benefit.



I would recommend getting another charger along with this one. Why? The 1.5A unit is fairly compact and easy for people to take out and use. A larger heavier piece will just make it hard for anyone to use so that they may not want to use it as often and therefore not use it at all! If you want to buy a higher current charger, I wouldn't recommend that one from Motormaster but the Schumacher SC1302 which is an 8A charger and can be found onsale for $30.


Realistically, you don't need to keep the battery charging. If you fully charge the battery and it's in new condition, you'll only see a drop of 3 to 5% a month if it sits there unused and not connected. Since most cars have some level of drain even when things are off - ie to power the clock and other electronics, you may see a few more percent drop. Therefore, if you just charge it once every 3 weeks or so (just use the battery analyzer to see how much it's dropping from week to week or month to month and charge when needed), you should be fine.

Initially, you can always remove the battery from the car and just leave it charging for two or three days (depending on the level of charge on the battery) and then reinstall it.

craftsman wrote: ↑

2. The stuff presented does not explain how various battery packs often have individual cells connected in parallel as a standard design. Look inside of any laptop battery or power tool these days and you will find multiple cells connected in parallel.

craftsman wrote: ↑ I don't mind the questions as it's the only way to get the correct information out there so that everyone will benefit.



I would recommend getting another charger along with this one. Why? The 1.5A unit is fairly compact and easy for people to take out and use. A larger heavier piece will just make it hard for anyone to use so that they may not want to use it as often and therefore not use it at all! If you want to buy a higher current charger, I wouldn't recommend that one from Motormaster but the Schumacher SC1302 which is an 8A charger and can be found onsale for $30.


Realistically, you don't need to keep the battery charging. If you fully charge the battery and it's in new condition, you'll only see a drop of 3 to 5% a month if it sits there unused and not connected. Since most cars have some level of drain even when things are off - ie to power the clock and other electronics, you may see a few more percent drop. Therefore, if you just charge it once every 3 weeks or so (just use the battery analyzer to see how much it's dropping from week to week or month to month and charge when needed), you should be fine.

Initially, you can always remove the battery from the car and just leave it charging for two or three days (depending on the level of charge on the battery) and then reinstall it.

PerformingAzura wrote: ↑ I don't really see the issue.
Presumably both batteries are 12V so the stronger battery will just charge the weaker one until they both equalize.

If you add a charger to the circuit , the charger would see the average of the two voltages.

https://physics.stackexchange.com/quest ... n-parallel

Am I missing something?

Crichtonfan wrote: ↑ Hey craftsman, I have a question as well. Due to WFH and busy schedule both our vehicles - a minivan and a sedan do not get driven a lot anymore. The sedan is driven a minimum of 5kms every day with longer (20-30km) drives 2-3 times a week, while the van sees a reasonable long drive on highway twice a month or so, may be a couple smaller trips as well some months.

Would I need something like a 1.5 amp motomaster charger or a Schumacher SC1302 for batteries that are 2 years old?

I am planning to get the battery analyzer anyways to look at the drain.

Thank you for your contribution with these tips. Very appreciated.

logitvx wrote: ↑ Ha total brainfart. Totally forgot I can just take out the battery. Long day.

Awesome thanks again! Will grab the 1.5A maintainer as its on sale from Canadian Tire and an analyzer for sure! I know the Schumacher was suggested but question:

If I get the Motomaster 8Amp charger it has options for 2/8/15. Could I not set it on 2AMP and use that as a maintainer instead of having to buy the maintainer as well? Size aside if no course. It’s only me using it so not a big deal for size.

blostorm wrote: ↑ Looks like some people could help me regarding battery chargers/maintainers/12v supply.

I'm basically looking for something to maintain the voltage and battery charge but mostly voltage while I install tune files on the vehicule (battery connected, ignition on, engine off).

Was looking at either the Noco Genius 10 or this Gooloo but the 10amp version. Was also looking at a Pro-Logix 20a with the 12v supply mode but I kind of like the quick connect on the Noco. They all offer a 12v supply mode which I think is what I want ?

But I would also love if the same device could be used as a battery maintainer (car in storage) and also be used to fully charge a battery (charge RV batteries after summer to full and then switch from charge mode to maintain mode?)

Are those decent products for my needs (wouldn't be used that often) or is there something better/cheaper ?

Gooloo 10a: 60$
Noco 10a: 150$
Pro-Logix 20a: 160$

targa88 wrote: ↑ @craftsman
I'm trying to understand the concept of the various steps (7) in the process of a charger like CTEK - based on what I have read so far they are not warranted?

craftsman wrote: ↑ The difference between the two chargers is basically the speed from a nearly completely discharged state - ie at near zero charge, the Motormaster will still only charge at 1.5A while the Schumacher will go at 8A. However, as the battery charges, it will start accepting power at a slower rate so that 8As of the Schumacher might only be 4A at 40%, then 2A at 70% while the Motormaster continues to move along at 1.5A. As you may have noticed, as the charge level of the battery gets higher, the rate of charge drops - ie at 80% both the Motormaster and the Schumacher might only charge the battery at the same 1A rate regardless of how much power each one can charge at. Therefore, if you are just topping off the battery regularly - ie not waiting until the battery is nearly empty before charging - both will take about the same amount of time to complete - ie assuming topping off means that you are charging the battery with at least 80% or more charge.

If the above is the case, get the Motormaster as it has a few extra features that might help - ie a charge level indicator, a "repair" mode, built for cold weather. NOTE> I'm not a fan of most repair modes in chargers especially those who are "automatic" as many of them are just applying an equalizing charge (bringing the battery's charge to 15.8V or so in an effort to equalize the charge across all of the cells in the battery) to the battery rather than actually doing a lot of desulfation. While an equalizing charge does help a bit in desulfating a battery, it doesn't help that much. As for automatic desulfation, even if the technology they are using actually works, most of these auto modes only turn it on when the battery is close to dead and won't run it long enough to do a heck of a lot of good so at most it will do is to keep your battery between "close to dead" and "kind of dead". The Motormaster allows you to engage their repair mode manually so you can use it as a preventative maintenance thing before the battery gets close to dead.

craftsman wrote: ↑ If the above is the case, get the Motormaster as it has a few extra features that might help - ie a charge level indicator, a "repair" mode, built for cold weather.
...
The Motormaster allows you to engage their repair mode manually so you can use it as a preventative maintenance thing before the battery gets close to dead.

alpovs wrote: ↑ I was looking into it and the Motomaster 1.5A doesn't have a repair mode. It has a reconditioning mode (15.8V). It does desulfation with pulses but only as the first stage of the regular charge. Here is the manual: https://www.manualshelf.com/manual/moto ... age-6.html

Do you know of any charges that do desulfation/repair longer, preferably as a separate mode that runs until turned off?