Tested by Richard Newland for 4 months. Quality 5/5, Value 3/5. Bike batteries are getting smaller and lighter – but the stress our bikes put on them with ever-more powerful electronics systems and auxiliary add-ons is getting greater than ever. It doesn't take much to find you're out of juice when you hit the magic starter button. But if you don't have bike storage with mains electricity, what do you do? You get one of these. With a comprehensive array of modes, terrific build quality and intuitive functionality, the Genius10 is a bit of a, er, genius. If the price is a little bit beyond your budget, or you have a smaller vehicle, there are other NOCO Geniuses (Genii?) with lower amperage that will deliver enough for your needs. You can’t damage the charger either as there’s short circuit and reverse polarity detection, just in case. Available with either a UK three-pin plug (part number RSC804) or EU two-pin plug (part number RESC804) The best car battery chargers you can buy in 2023 1. NOCO Genius10 Smart Charger: Best portable car battery charger

Finally, you’ll want to consider the maximum current the charger can support (the higher the current, the faster the charge) and what IP (ingress protection) rating it has. This basically tells you how dust- and waterproof the device and device casing is. For instance, IP68 is a great rating: it’s a completely sealed unit that can tolerate being submerged in up to one metre of water. IP44 can protect against dust particles bigger than 1mm and a light splash of water. Can’t I just replace my car battery? One point you should consider is what kind of battery your motorcycle uses. Lithium batteries are becoming more popular as they can offer better performance than traditional lead-acid ones. Instead of just putting a fixed rate of charge into the battery, the Ring RSC806 uses a seven stage process to look after your battery. The solution, of course, is to leave your bike with its battery on charge when it’s not being used. This is particularly true for bikes that are laid up for winter, and in this case, a battery optimiser/maintainer can be useful, as it not only charges the battery but it carries out a series of conditioning cycles.The materials used in a battery are susceptible to degradation, and user behaviour (among other factors such as weather and age) can affect the life of the battery’s materials. The O-ring connectors are a little useless for most modern cars, as they’re either too small, or you have nowhere easy to connect the negative too as there’s only a positive terminal. But the crocodile clips are well made and feel of high quality.

And this one from CTEK is superbly clever. Not only does it do everything you'd expect: charging, recovering, conditioning and maintaining whatever vehicle battery you connect it to (and yes, it does them all, from Lead Acid to Lithium-ion in all wet, AGM, Gel and other forms) – it does it without any programming from you. A nicely sized, mains-powered device, you can indicate if it’s cold weather and the device will manage power delivery more intelligently to protect the battery. What’s more, there’s a choice of eyelet or crocodile connectors. That sinking feeling when your engine won’t turn over is one of the most unwelcome of emotions, but almost every driver has been there at some point or another. While a call to your breakdown service wll fix the issue, the best car battery chargers can help you mitigate the disruption to your day, at your own will. Charge the unit, and then take it on tour. Once charged, it'll hold its power for a year and will recover a dead bike battery enough to start your engine in around 15 minutes. The charge is delivered to your battery progressively, too – reducing the risk of jump-start damage. It's absolutely superb and really works. Yes, it's a pricey solution, but it works brilliantly and is invaluable if you're off the grid where your bike lives. The whole unit is also IP65 rated, which means total protection from dust and low-pressure water from any direction. Safe to say you could leave the unit outside on the wall of your garage without worry.It’s important to note that car battery chargers are not jump starters. A jump starter will offer the engine the short burst needed to get it going, but from that point on, it’s the alternator that recharges the battery. This is why, if you’re ever jumpstarting your car, you’re asked to run it for a good while to replace enough of the battery, so that you don’t require a jump start when you come to drive again immediately afterwards. Which car battery charger is best? However, they require very different charging characteristics, and as such, you should be careful not to pair the wrong charger with the battery, as this can have a negative effect on the battery and can even be dangerous. There are several chargers from CTEK in this list, and this CS ONE option is the top dog of the range. It's a smart charger that can repair, maintain, charge and detect bad cells, as well as a host of other features. If you’re only needing a one-off charge, then easy-snap-on crocodile clips might be better. If you’re a flat dweller or your off-street parking doesn’t have convenient access to mains power, you might need to consider a portable or solar power charger.

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Once full, the charger adjusts automatically to 'long-term maintenance mode' and keeps the battery conditioned and topped up, ready to go next time the sun's out. It has reverse polarity and short-circuit protection to assist non-experts like me, and is even IP65 rated for all-weather use, which is reassuring if your garage or shed gets damp. It’s compatible with lead, gel, calcium, AGM and EFB-type batteries, or, in other words, pretty much all batteries that we use in the UK car market. It has overcharge protection so you don’t have to worry about overfilling and ruining your battery, something which is a major disadvantage of regular chargers. These put some load on the battery so that it isn’t simply under constant charge, as this can also, paradoxically, damage the battery and reduce its capacity as well. Car batteries are not power banks, so they don’t store electricity. Without going into the science of it all, they generate the energy needed through lead-acid chemical reactions. When a car is started, a very high current is sent in a very short burst to the crankshaft to get it moving. The alternator then does all the work on the electricity front. There’s also a winter mode to protect batteries during colder temperatures, as well as being ‘smart‘ to not damage batteries that are fitted to Start/Stop vehicles.

Express delivery option to offshore, highlands and remote postcodes may take longer than the usual one working day. The surcharge may not apply to small items being sent via Royal mail or MyHermes etc... Where possible we will try our best to avoid courier service for surcharge areas. It has a 6a output, which gives it a decent amount of punch when it comes to topping up low batteries in a pinch. My bike wouldn't start after a month of autumn inactivity, but a 30-minute top-up from the Ring charger had it firing on the button again. Lesson learned - just leave it plugged in. Tested by Richard Newland for five months across six vehicles. Quality 5/5, Value 3/5. Dead batteries are like flat tyres – utterly infuriating and one of the least glamourous replacement parts in biking. But critical to your riding pleasure. While you can't prevent punctures, you can prevent dead cells with a motorcycle battery charger and conditioner. The RSC806 is literally a plug-and-play sort of deal. All you have to do is connect it and the charger will regulate itself and adjust automatically to a long-term maintenance mode once the battery is full. STOP/START Supported Key specs – Size : 16.8 x 6.5 x 3,8cm (LWH); Weight: 0.6kg; Voltage : 12V; Max current: 5A; IP rating: IP65; Crocodile clips: Yes; Eyelet connectors: Yes; Mains or portable: Mains; Battery compliant: Lead-acid/gel/Lithium+; Stop/start compliant: Yes; Maintaining: Yes; Jumpstarting: No; Operating temp: 10-40°CThere’s a 12-month warranty on parts and labour, though Draper is a brand associated with rigorous professional workshop quality, so you’re unlikely to experience issues with this battery charger. Its portability also makes it great for flat dwellers and other motorists without mains access near to where they park.