128CEC2: 12 Volt-2/4/8 AMP Lead Acid Battery Charger, Lithium (LiFePO4) Battery Maintainer, and Battery Desulfator

Excellent battery charger/maintainer at a great price ($135). Includes a Temp Sensor that isn’t inside the unit (which can be fowled up by the device getting warm), uses sae plugs, is always desulfating when there is a charge (awesome feature - others only do it when you set them to that mode), and can charge regular, gel and Agm batteries.This may not look like the fanciest battery charger, but it definitely gives every other one out there a run for their money - and a good one at that. You may have to know a little bit more about what’s going on (eg selecting the right amperage - if you’re not in a hurry and the battery is unplugged go with the lowest, or if there is load on it to with the option that is just above the load).I know that desulfation works, Ive used it to recover batteries (although it takes a while) - and this one conveniently analyses and revives batteries over time. My previous Noco g3500 would charge a dead battery and then you’d have to put it into revive mode, but that usually stopped after a given period of time. If a battery is very compromised it can take a very long time & as part of the process the battery will need to be given more charge (as capacity increases). This guy charges the battery fully and desulfates while conducting an analysis every 12 hours. It works well and is a dream to have.In addition it can charge up to 6 batteries at once (I picked up a 5 point sae connector for ~$14) which is awesome for a charger at this price point. The only downside is that all the batteries have to be at the same level of charge (and General condition). Because of that I do like the Noco multi bank chargers, but once again they are much more expensive.Oh, and you can get a longer “at the battery” Temp Sensor if you mount yours to a wall & want to charge a vehicle that’s outside (and there is a light that indicates the general range of the Temp Sensor so you can make sure it’s working correctly).Another great feature is the fact that this is ‘future proof’ in a way. My Noco g3500 has an AGM setting, but it doesn’t put out at a high enough voltage for batteries like the optima. For that you have to get a higher tier charger (in the case of Noco it would be a charger that has “AGM+”). That’s a great feature to have if you ever plan on getting a different type of battery.Regarding parasitic loss - I haven’t tested it personally, but my understanding is that when the device is just maintaining the actual power draw is very low (and can be powered by just the battery itself which is probably where the energy comes from when it is waiting in float mode).All in all, I’m very pleased with the purchase. Wish I had gotten one of these a while back!If you want to be cost conscious just get connectors from other manufacturers (the 3 way cable from them is $35 and the main benefits would be the included fuse and knowing the plug fit together easily). Just make sure they have the right fuse in them. I got an extra set of aligator style clamps by battery tender, but they come with a 7.5a fuse so it would be best to swap the fuse if you plan on using it on the 8 amp setting.

This charger is truly amazing. It's easy to use, and the performance is impressive for its size and weight. The intelligent charging profiles, and the "desulfating" capability (or whatever the pulsing actually does), resurrected my 11-year-old wet car battery. The cranking capacity was still good, but it was only charging to a max of 10.6V (measured after a long journey, and rested 12 hours). The very low voltage caused severe engine misfires, along with many trouble codes, including several "failed" sensors, and a resulting "check engine light". I left the battery on this charger for 7 weeks while on vacation. The battery then consistently held a charge of 12.2V (rested), and the car ran smoothly again, with no trouble codes or sensor failures reported. Since then, I left this charger connected overnight as often as possible to see if the battery would improve any further, but it seemed to have reached its peak. About 9 months later, that battery finally began to die, and I had to replace it. Nevertheless, it was impressive to resurrect an 11-year-old battery! If I'd used the charger throughout the life of the battery, It might have lasted even longer.For reference, a new car battery should hold a charge of 12.66V (after fully charging, then resting for 12 hours). A battery with hard sulfation, which tends to discharge rapidly, may not be recoverable. My battery, though very low in voltage, could still maintain a strong charge, and therefore recovered reasonably well. That battery had a rudimentary hydrometer built in with a sight glass on top to gauge its state of charge. A green dot in the sight glass indicates a fully charged battery, whereas a black dot indicates that the battery needs a charge. Once it turns yellow, the battery should be replaced. My indicator was permanently black until I used this charger. Afterward, it remained green for many months.This is the perfect charger to leave connected over weekends, or whenever the car is not being used, to prevent hard sulfation in the first place, to keep the battery in its best possible condition, and to extend its life to the max. Just be aware that a battery in poor condition, if recoverable, may take weeks to restore, and may never reach its full (like-new) capacity. There is no miracle cure for irreversible damage or corrosion inside.

I now have 4 of these. One was stolen so had to replace it. This battery minder works great for batteries that still have some charge. If not enough charge, this charger won't charge it. So I have a more brute force charger and use it to get an initial charge on the battery, and follow up with the Battery Minder. Works every time for me when charging old batteries.