My first experience with a car battery charger was back in the 1970s. Five decades ago, charging units were fairly basic. You would hook your battery up, turn it on, and let it charge overnight. Today’s battery chargers are a lot more sophisticated. For instance, consider trickle and float charging.
Trickle and float charging represent two ways to charge a car battery and keep it charged over a long period of time. Although the terms are used interchangeably, they represent two separate battery charging philosophies.
Let’s dig in and discuss each one in more detail. As you read, bear in mind that there is a third philosophy now being utilized by brands like Clore Automotive.
The Trickle Charging Philosophy
The trickle charging philosophy is rooted in the idea of sending a continuous stream of power to a battery so that it never discharges. For purposes of illustration, assume you have a nearly dead car battery that needs a full recharge. Your charger powers up the battery in full power mode. Once fully charged, the unit switches to trickle mode.
In trickle mode, the charger continues delivering power at a rate just slightly higher than the battery’s self-discharge rate. That way, the battery is never allowed to self-discharge even if it isn’t used for weeks or months at a time.
While trickle charging is gentle on car batteries, it has an inherent weakness: either the charger or battery can overheat if the charger’s microprocessor doesn’t adequately measure charge level. This can cause the charger to remain in full power mode rather than switching to trickle mode.
The Float Charging Philosophy
The float charging philosophy is rooted in fully charging a battery and then automatically shutting off. While off, the charger’s voltmeter continually monitors how much power the battery holds. When it drops below a certain threshold, the charger kicks back in and starts delivering power again.
One advantage of float charging is a much lower risk of overcharging. The targeted battery is allowed to ‘float’ at full capacity with little to no risk of damaging either the battery or the charger.
The one disadvantage of float charging is winding up with a battery that is not fully charged because its capacity isn’t being accurately measured. You might think your battery is fully charged when it’s really not.
Clore Automotive Multi-Phase Charging
Both float and trickle charging have legitimate use cases. But thanks to new, smart technology, brands like Clore Automotive have introduced an enhanced multi-phase charging process.
The process is designed to accurately mimic a car battery’s normal charge-discharge cycle. We can illustrate once again by imagining a battery that’s nearly dead. When first connected to a Clore Automotive charger, the unit will run a diagnostic on the battery’s current state.
If all is well, the charger starts to power the battery with full current. But if the unit diagnoses a condition like deep discharge or excessive sulfation, a soft start phase will kick in. In this phase, power is gradually introduced at a lower level until the battery is capable of handling full power.
Once fully charged, the magic kicks in. The battery charger shuts off for a set amount of time. Then it delivers a controlled load to draw some energy off. Finally, it turns back on and recharges the battery.
Not Your Grandfather’s Battery Charger
Regardless of the philosophy on which a battery charger is designed, today’s automotive battery charger is not your grandfather’s charger. Modern units are far more sophisticated. They are safer, more efficient, and offer all sorts of extra features.