Hi All,

Just a quick Q, whats peoples thoughts on the best battery charger for a mini?

And more importantly where to get it from?

Dont want to spend sh*t loads, but everyones thoughts would be welcome

Cheers

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Used to have 2000 Cooper Classic Sport 500, No 338, currently miniless

Are you talking about a trickle charger to keep it topped up when it's sitting for a while and the occasional charge or something big that will charge it quickly ?

I use a generic type one from Big W (from memory , bought it years ago) and it will charge a dead battery enough to start a car in a few hours .

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at the moment bungles battery is totally dead so need something to get it going, but i guess in the long run i wand something i can just keep it trickle charged....

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Used to have 2000 Cooper Classic Sport 500, No 338, currently miniless

C-Tek XS7000. Jaycar, repco and others stock it.

I use a wall mounted Projecta trickle charge from KMart (two in fact one at each end of the garage) and it is good value for money for what I use it for. I think the Projecta one cost around $40-50 from memory.
KB

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whatever has the greatest continuous amperage within your budget.

The ones I use I got while I worked in rail - 16 amp continuous.

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Noli Illegitimi Carborundum

If you want to fully charge a battery you need one that puts out 15Volts Most cheap -lower priced chargers put out 12 volts - enough to get a car started but not fully charge. If you use a cheap 12 volt unit to trickle a battery it will eventually develop a memory at 12 volts and not 14.2-14.5 v which is the charge held by a healthy wet cell battery.

Of cause the better the charger the higher the price

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

For my old cars I have 1 amp smart chargers called "Battery Fighter". It slowly tops the battery up then goes into maintenance mode cutting back in when the voltage drops. Ideal for cars that don't get used often. I am told it can double or triple the life of a battery if it is kept topped up. Cost about $40 at my local battery place.

If you just need to charge up a flat battery then the bigger the amp rating the quicker it will charge.

Pete

The C-Tec 7000 may be a bit of overkill if you just want to keep your battery topped up. I have a C-Tec 3600 and it keeps a 700cca battery (yes in a mini) alive. Mine wont pick up a dead flat battery though, don't know about the 7000. C-Tec are very good for your battery, they do things cheaper chargers can't.

I also have a projecta 1600ma maintenance charger, it's enough to keep a battery alive.

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Dean Hutton's first car was a Mini.

I have a Nilsen charger (made in Norway) it puts out 10A max, drops back to maintenance mode when fully charged (14.3V).
No idea what it's worth, I got it given to me for a favour years ago.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

excellant thanks all

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Used to have 2000 Cooper Classic Sport 500, No 338, currently miniless

I bought a 40 amp intelligent charger off ebay for about $80 plus postage. It may well have been of chinese orign but was supplied ex-melbourne.

Its a big heavy thing with a huge heavy rectifier and will deliver 40 amps and gradually reduce the amperage as the demand ceases. It the battery only needs a trickle then it only trickles a few amps.

I bought it to charge 2,000 amp/hour solar batteries as necessary but also with cars in mind as needed. Its also generator safe.

Worth a look - had it about 12 months now with no problems

I think Sports850 has also seen it but may not remember it.

Mike

just picked up a 3A charger today from Autobarn for $30 its goin alright...

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Here am I sitting in my tin can far above the Moon
Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do...



“A turbo: exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster.” - Jeremy Clarkson

thanks all appreciate your thoughts.

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Used to have 2000 Cooper Classic Sport 500, No 338, currently miniless