All Battery Chargers are not alike

[steveb@newkla.kla.com (Steven Buchholz)]

The basic battery chargers like the ones you can pick up at most auto 
parts stores are not designed to be left connected to a battery unat-
tended.  They provide a fixed output voltage that would eventually 
cause the electrolyte to boil away if left unattended.  The kind of 
charger that is useful to plug in every once in a while to top up the 
battery is one that monitors the battery voltage and shuts itself off 
when the battery reaches full charge.  These chargers usually have a 
limited output current, but they are intended to be used overnight to 
charge the battery.  The charger I was referring to in my previous 
post is one that can be left connected indefinitely.  They are not 
typically that expensive, you should be able to pick one up for some-
where in the $30-$70 range.  The only problem is that they are not 
too useful when you need a quick charge because the battery ran down 
for some reason.  Since I have one of each type of charger I haven't 
looked around to see if there is a charger that can perform both 
functions.

Steve Buchholz