Laser Tools’ 4A intelligent battery charger (part number 8699)
Cost: £68.02 ex. VAT/£81.62 inc. VAT Available from: www.lasertools.co.uk
Product rating: 4/5 Stars
Laser Tools’ new mains-powered 4A intelligent battery charger (part number 8699) says it’s here to “simplify your life and ensure your batteries are always in top-notch condition”. We tested it out to see if it’s all it claims to be…
Winter is a bit of a bummer for classic car folks, especially if you’re one of those ones who puts your car away for the winter. Hesitant starts, often caused by tired or almost flat batteries and an inability to take a car out and give it a proper run due to salt, grit and snow, all combine to make things very frustrating. However, having your car hooked up to a good trickle charger can at least remove one worry: that of a flat battery.
This Laser Tools battery charger is a true all-rounder. It works seamlessly with both 6V and 12V automotive batteries, including lead-acid, LiFePO4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate), AGM, and GEL batteries. No matter what you drive or ride, this charger should be able to charge the battery. It employs a 10-stage charging cycle with microprocessor control that monitors the battery’s state and adjusts the charging output to suit. According to the manufacturers: “It’s like having a dedicated battery expert at your service.” And who wouldn’t want one of those?
In trickle charge mode you don’t have to worry about overcharging, as once the battery is full, the charger automatically drops to a trickle of less than 1 amp, preventing overcharging and extending the battery’s life. They’ve also included a separate maintenance state called ‘winter mode’ to ensure your battery gets the care it needs even in freezing conditions.
The charger features multiple protection mechanisms, including safeguards against overcharging as mentioned; overheating; short circuits; reverse polarity and low voltage. There’s a built-in LCD screen, which makes it easy to keep tabs on the battery’s charge level and overall status, and it’s supplied with both crocodile clips and ring terminals so it’s ready to use straight out of the box. As you’d expect, it meets all the relevant international standards, including CE, GS, and RoHS compliance, so you can trust its quality and reliability. By using a trickle charger like this, one would hope you can say goodbye to dead batteries and frustrating jump-starts, not only on your classic car, but also motorbike, boat or other leisure vehicles that use batteries. There’s a variety of battery settings, so the possibilities are endless!
We tried it out on our old Falcon Project 1964 Ford Falcon which is laid up in a very chilly garage in North Yorkshire and found it kept the battery in tip-top condition, making for relatively easy starts after a few weeks (with a bit of ‘Start, ya b*stard!’ engine accelerant, obvs). The casing might be a bit plasticky and cheap and cheerful, but the display and mode button offer easy to read, clear and concise displays of the battery’s condition and state of charge. It’s now part of our essential ‘winter kit’.