My first exposure to a car battery maintainer was back in the 1970s. My older brother had purchased a battery maintainer he hooked up to his Chevy Monte Carlo while he was away at college. It wasn’t until a few years later that I learned he was using what was known as a trickle charger. The trickle-charging technology of that day was cutting edge. It is no longer.
Trickle charging worked well enough when it was the only option. But over the years, engineers have developed better technologies for maintaining car battery health and lifespan. In the 21st century, it is all about smart battery maintenance.
Smart battery maintenance is the domain of Clore Automotive’s PRO-LOGIX brand of battery maintainers. What is now deemed ‘smart charging’ offers a ton of advantages over trickle charging.
How the Two Technologies Differ
Understanding how the technologies differ makes clear why smart charging is the better option for long-term battery maintenance. Let us take a look at the two options in more detailed.
1. Trickle Charging
Trickle charging takes its name from a process that generates a continuous, low-voltage current and sends it to the battery. This trickle of current makes up for any natural self-discharge and parasitic draw. Unfortunately, leaving a battery connected to a trickled charger for an extended amount of time could lead to overcharging, electrolyte boiling, and even accelerated plate corrosion.
2. Smart Charging
Modern smart chargers rely on sophisticated electronics to continuously monitor charge level. They also rely on multi-phase charging and a combination of rest and active modes that both maintain charge and prevent the types of things that encourage battery degradation.
There is a technology that occupies a place between trickle and smart charging. It is known as float charging. Under a float charging scenario, the battery maintainer will increase voltage to a specified target before switching to a much lower float voltage. This allows the unit to top off the battery that certain intervals. It’s better than trickle charging but not as good a smart charging.
Why Smart Charging Is Better for Battery Lifespan
Trickle charging was the go-to technology for decades. Some consumer-grade battery maintainers are still designed around it. But the best maintainers are smart maintainers from brands like PRO-LOGIX.
So why is smart charging so much better? The answer lies in battery lifespan. Some things to consider:
- Overcharging – Overcharging is a big problem for automotive batteries. It generates heat and causes corrosion, both of which reduce a battery’s lifespan. Smart chargers eliminate overcharging where trickle chargers actually encourage it.
- Sulfation – Another enemy of the typical car battery is sulfation. It cannot be stopped entirely, but it can be limited through smart charging. Smart charging prevents excessive self-discharge, thereby slowing down sulfation.
Smart battery maintainers do something else trickle chargers cannot do: utilize rest and activity cycles. During the rest cycle, a smart maintainer delivers no current to the battery. Yet it continually monitors charge level. At a predetermined interval, the maintainer puts a minimal load on the battery to slightly discharge it. Then the maintainer kicks into active mode to bring the battery up to full charge.
This type of multi-phase battery charging mimics real-world operation. It represents the most effective way to maintain a battery’s health and push its lifespan to the absolute limits.
It’s Time to Move On
Trickle chargers have played a vital role in battery maintenance for decades. But their time has passed. It is time for consumers and professionals alike to transition to smart battery maintenance and the longer battery life it facilitates.
