In my garage at home I have an old charger I use to charge drained batteries. It’s a one-trick pony. Many of today’s smart chargers serve multiple purposes, says Don Russell of Cornwell Tools.
Maintenance - People parking a vehicle over winter often use a special maintainer with a trickle charge of half an amp to an amp to top off their battery. This way, when Summer comes, the vehicle is ready to start. In the same way, a body shop may use maintenance mode on their smart charger to keep a battery fresh while the vehicle is being repaired over several days or weeks.
Battery Repair Function – Batteries with severe sulfation, may be revived with this technology.
Regular Charge – A straight-line charge works on all standard 12-volt flooded lead acid batteries.
Specialized Charges – Some smart chargers have settings for various battery constructions including AGM, EFB, and even lithium batteries. The user just needs to know the construction to set the charger.
Basic Testing – This will determine if a battery is in any condition to hold a charge before wasting time on the charger only to find it’s beyond help.
Boost Function – This is focused on starting, not charging. It’s basically used to jumpstart a vehicle to get it running. Once started a tech can check cables, alternator and other related systems.
Not all smart charges have all these functions, but these are among the most common.
