Review on 🔌 BatteryMINDer 128CEC1: High Performance 12V Battery Charger, Maintainer & Desulfator by Dwayne Calhoun

This is my second BatteryMINDer product (the first is a 2012 model). My 2012 has been used on our 4 machines for several years with great success. I bought a few extra wiring harnesses to permanently connect to my batteries and then swapped out the charger for full performance on each of our machines. Our batteries have always been healthy and happy, although some were much older than the typical age they had to be replaced. The chargers on almost every device made in the USA are pure junk. They will not charge to the correct voltage (typically around 14.8V temp compensated for FLA batteries) and will not remain in sink mode for 2-3 hours after reaching 14.8V to still power the amps needed to overcome . I found this new model, 128CEC1, and studied the specs. I've seen Odyssey/PLT batteries set up with a charge voltage of 14.7V, which is slightly higher (and better) than the typical 14.4V most other chargers are set to. I've also noticed that the 128CEC1 will charge at 14.7V until the microprocessor sees the battery charged to the point where it will accept a 0.10V change per hour. In my opinion, this is a big step forward in charging algorithms for this type of charger. The closer the batteries get to being fully charged, the fewer amps they can take on their own. Almost all chargers stop charging in the constant voltage stage long before the batteries are fully charged. However, this charger will continue to charge at full voltage (14.7V in my case) until the battery is so full that the change drops to a measly 0.10V per hour. That's a big deal. I bought it and turned off the circuit breaker in my setup that powers my converter/charger. I have outlets in multiple external bays so I installed this charger in an adjacent bay and routed the cord into the battery bay. I installed a heavy duty 15A harness on my battery pack (2 cheaper 12V marine batteries for interstate connections) and connected + to battery #1 and - to battery #2. I connected 128CEC1 and off we went. It has now been 4 months and my inverter/charger circuit breaker is taped in the OFF position. The 128CEC1 keeps my small battery in good shape. We are connected to shore power at all times, so the small 12V loads used (LED lights, smoke sensor, propane sensor, CO2 sensor) draw less power than this charger can handle. I ran a hydrometer test (the only sure way to check the condition of wet lead-acid batteries) and all cells are perfectly healthy and reading correctly. The water level is ok. I will add that the customer service is pretty bad. People are nice, friendly and helpful, but it usually takes a while to get through to anyone and email and voice messages don't come back quickly, if at all. Calculation. If you unplug the charger or rig from shore power and the 128CEC1 remains connected to the battery(s), the front panel of the charger will display "Connected”. When you plug the charger back in or connect to shore power, the charger will again show a full charge and be in float mode. IMO it should start with an initialization read and go through all the different test modes and then start the correct charge cycle depending on the battery voltage. A simple workaround is to just unplug the SAE for a short time, plug it back in, then go back to the initial test mode and start charging at a suitable level, after which it works fine. An interesting quirk.