Should I buy a "Smart" charger or is a basic slow charger good enough?

Should I buy a "Smart" charger or is a basic slow charger good enough?

They are several things to consider when purchasing a battery charger:

The main disadvantages with basic chargers are:

>They tend to either undercharge or overcharge your batteries. Basic chargers apply a set charge rate and then shut off with a timer. High capacity batteries may not have received a full charge before the timer shuts off the charge especially if you are using an older charger. Batteries that are only partially discharged will receive the same timed charge and your batteries may overcharge which will cause them to overheat and could damage your batteries which will reduce your batteries life.

>Basic chargers don't have protection features to prevent overcharge such as temperature and voltage drop sensors. Also if there is a power interruption during charge the timer will start over and could result in overcharging your batteries.

The main advantages of purchasing a "Smart" charger are:

>The smart chips allow you to safely fast charge your batteries without worrying about overcharging them. Smart chargers will charge your batteries more consistently because they can sense when your batteries have reached a full charge by measuring the voltage rise and change. They will then switch to a trickle charge which will keep the batteries fully charged until use.

>The smart chips also protect your batteries from overcharge and overheating which will extend the life of your batteries. Our smart chargers also have a "conditioning" feature which when used occasionally will keep the internal chemistry of the battery in top condition by reducing the internal resistance of the battery which will result in increased capacity and run times.