7-Stages Smart Battery Charger

*** UPDATE March 2023 *** I had to leave my car alone for a little over a month, and I could barely start it. Voltage was showing 12.1v. I ran the ADPOW for 12 hours straight, during which it showed a "recondition" mode. Well, after it finished, it showed 12.7v! However, I knew this wouldn't last. But resting voltage settled at 12.55v. That's really good, for a 6 year old AGM battery that has suffered a few deep discharges. The ADPOW has saved me again! _____________________________________________________________________________________ *** UPDATE April 2022 *** So my last update was 2 years ago. Guess what? I'm still running the same battery! And my estimate on how much charge it was holding was off a bit. It seems to be more like 80%. I haven't been driving much these days (COVID pandemic changed things) and at one point I'd let two period of two full weeks without running my car. The battery was showing a low charge--still enough to start, but I knew it was time to refresh it. I ran the ADPOW charger again on it. Performance is back up to par. A month later and my multi-meter checks of the battery show I'm averaging around 12.50 volts. Hopefully I can go another year or more with my current AGM battery. _____________________________________________________________________________________ *** UPDATE Nov 7th 2020 *** My worn down AGM battery is still working fine. It's still holding about a 75% charge. I haven't had to run the battery charger since the last time when I wrote this review. So far so good! This was an excellent investment as it saved me from having to buy a brand new battery right away. I hope to get another year out of it, maybe more. Will report back again in due time. _____________________________________________________________________________________ I was discouraged by all the crazy looking car battery chargers / maintainers appearing on the market (most from unfamiliar Chinese names), many having suspiciously positive reviews. On top of that, old stalwart US brands like DeWalt, Black & Decker, and Stanley were coming up short of good solid reviews. So I took a chance on this particular "Smart Battery Charger" by ADPOW (short for "Add Power"). 1), the photos on the site do not do the unit justice. The wires are a solid 8 gauge in thickness. The connector setup is intelligently thought-out. The unit has a good heft without being too heavy, and it does not get overtly warm during use. The front panel with LED indicators is clean & tight. 2), the function design of this smart battery charger is perfect for consumer needs. I had been tempted to get a full fledged testing charger with all kinds of analyses possible. After doing enough research, I realized all of that would be lost on someone who is a simple car enthusiast. This charger does all you need it to do -- verify the battery is healthy & charge it up at a reasonable pace. The connector setup allows for the attachment of a special connector which is very handy if you plan on using this charger more than a few times each year. It makes attachment so very easy. Plus the unit has mounting holes so you can affix it to a wall or panel in your garage for convenience. Thirdly, it helped recover my car battery to a more workable state. It is a 3 year old AGM type and it gradually struggled under my infrequent usage of the car since I got it (not using the car for daily commuting, as I used to in the past). When I spent a weekend installing a new car stereo system, using the cabin light for hours and running the stereo for a while without the car running knocked the battery down for the count. It couldn't start the car. I did get a jump start and ran the car for a while, restoring decent voltage. It was working OK. However, I found that the battery was trending towards a resting voltage of 11.9v. At 11.5v it will not have enough power to start, so this was not good. The ADPOW unit cleared my battery as initially OK, started bulk charge, then after about 20 mins switched to absorption charge (meaning a lower steady constant voltage). My multi-meter confirmed the unit was delivering 14.5v, the same you'd get from the car's alternator. After about 4 hours, the charger switched to "Recondition." I had expected this, since the battery had suffered a deep discharge. My multi-meter showed the input voltage from the ADPOW stepped up to 15.5v. At the end of another 4 hours, the "FULLY CHARGED" green indicator lit up. I tested the voltage of the battery and it initially showed 13.6v. After letting it sit for a day, I found the charge was resting at 12.25v. That's not a healthy battery (60%). 12.32v is 70%, 12.42v is 80%, 12.5v is 90%, and 12.7v is 100%. So I ran the charger again. It again went to recondition, but it took half the time. After this, resting voltage showed 12.45v. After driving the car and letting it sit for a day, it showed 12.35v. So my battery is now about 75% of original capacity, but still workable. I'll likely need to replace the battery towards the end of 2020, so the ADPOW charger saved me from having to replace it right away. I'm very happy with the design & performance of this unit. It's small enough to stow in your car's trunk or storage bin. I consider it a worthwhile investment for a reliable battery for its maximum life. By the way, do not skimp on your battery. It's worth spending more to get an AGM type. They are more robust and longer lasting than typical lead acid car batteries.

I have a dead car battery which I refuse to throw out. It's used for projects just to provide a relatively stable 12v rail. It can't provide the cold cranking amps required to start up my vehicle which is fine. I just bought a new one to replace. It's already been several years and I've had it sitting on a maintenance charger but after measuring the voltage, it has gone down. My little Battery Tender Jr wasn't up to the task of maintaining it anymore. It just couldn't provide enough juice. It would also read as "green" meaning it wasn't under charging mode but rather maintenance mode. So it just provided a float charge. Well, time to get something a bit more powerful. This 5A unit works well. It detected the battery right away and started doing a full charge. I tried the reconditioning function. Hopefully it'll do something but I don't have a heavy load to test on it nor do I have time to run a battery of tests (pun intended). Regardless, I know this battery is shot but I just figure I'll keep it around for miscellaneous projects. My impressions of the charger are good. The fit and finish look fine. No issues there. The clamps look sturdy. The wires seem heavy gauge and it's soldered to the clamps rather than simply crimped on. I like the fact that it's the clamps are housed in plastic. Don't let anyone tell you that's a bad thing. If it was housed in metal I would be afraid of making contact with one of the terminals and then accidentally touching another conductive surface. Anything to a) boost comfort when using the clamps and b) improve safety - is fine by me. I also have this thing about touching a bare metal positive clamp as if the power will surge through me. Go figure. The quick release connectors are also really useful. I want to measure the actual battery voltage without the charger influencing the results. Just use the quick release connectors. I stick my probes in there and voila. My battery and charger are actually awkwardly placed so it's not as convenient to test and use. Having anything to facilitate this is a bonus. Finally the terminal cleaners are a great bonus. I should have gotten something like this years ago. I always see crud built up on the positive terminal. I know it's only a few bucks which shouldn't influence my opinion but what can I say? I'm a simpleton. Throw a piece of candy in there why don't you? Overall, it works as promised. A simple 5A smart charger that I don't have to worry about misusing. My Battery Tender Jr will be relegated to smaller batteries.

Great charger , very reliable. Great price

Works as intended. I use it to maintain RV batteries during the winter. No problems. The incredibly small print on the device is annoying.

This battery charger is working as intended. Have set it up on an AGM start battery for a boat. It did signal an error mode due to a loose connection on the battery so that was good to see. Presently still in charge mode and hoping to see it reach float mode in a few more days. I have similar duty battery chargers that cost twice as much as these and more. My purchase was for 2 and if these work out I will definitely purchase more. Really liking the LED's that signal the charging status. Also really liking that it comes supplied with ring terminals for easy plug-and-play charger setup. Five amps of max charge is plenty for my needs. The one negative, I've found, is the tiny print on the charger that details what each LED represents.

Charging speed of this charger seems on par with other chargers I have used. Automatic chargers are nice. This one has been a good charger for me. The features are nice especially the fact that it will specifically maintain my deep cycle battery. The charger is built like most, plastic with clamps that are just adequate but for the price it is to be expected. I think it's a good charger with the money and I plan to buy another.