RV Battery Charger Terms to Know
While you are probably familiar with these electrical terms and have heard them before, sometimes they're meanings might get muddled together. Here are the terms you need to know while shopping for an RV battery charger, what they mean, and how they are all related.
First up, an amp. An amp measures the number of electrons flowing per second through something that conducts something that conducts electricity. Each item that uses electricity calls for a different amount of amps, or electrons traveling through a current, to make it work. Warning: If you use an amp that is too high it can cause the circuit to overwork and burnout.
Meanwhile, a volt is the difference in electric potential between two points of a conductor, measuring how strong electricity is being pushed through a circuit. Volts and amps combined tell you how much current is flowing and how forceful it is flowing through the circuit. When you multiple volts and amps together you get a watt. Watts is the power in an electric circuit in which the potential difference is one volt and the current one amp. So you can get the same amount of watts using different voltages and amps.
Now that we know what these crucial terms are let's look at what batteries offer you the amps or volts you need to keep your electrical equipment in your boat or RV running smoothly and safely.
High Amp Chargers
If you are looking for a battery charger offering a high amount of amps, then there are certain brands you should become familiar with and consider for your new RV battery charger. High amp chargers are battery chargers capable of reaching 15-80 amp. Remember amps are the number of electrons traveling through a current. Keep in mind what your battery can handle when looking at higher amp chargers for your boat or RV.
Some of our most popular options for high amp battery chargers are Iota Battery Chargers. We offer a wide selection of Iota battery chargers in varying amounts of amps and volts, which remember determines wattage. Keep that in mind when looking at Iota battery chargers like the Iota DLS-15, Iota DLS-30, and others.
Low Amp Chargers
Or if you are looking for a battery charger with a lower amp offering we recommend looking at the Battery Tender brand. These products offer a charge of 5 amps and will still efficiently charge, just at a speed and level that won't fry your circuit if you have a more sensitive circuit. If you are looking for something with a low amp, we recommend looking at Battery Tender products such as the Battery Tender Plus 021-0128, or Battery Tender 022-0185G-DL-WH.
Multi-bank Battery Chargers
Besides offering quality low amp battery chargers, we also recommend the Battery Tender brand for multi-bank battery chargers. These charges provide separate outputs for you to charge multiple batteries simultaneously. If you are looking for a multi-bank charger that can charge ten batteries at once, we recommend the Battery Tender 021-0134 12 Volt 2 Amp 10-Bank Management System. Battery Tender also offers smaller multi-bank battery charging station including the Battery Tender 021-0133 12 Volt 2 Amp 5-Bank Management System or the Battery Tender 022-0148-DL-WH 12 Volt 1.25 Amp 60 Hz 4-Bank Management. Like the other battery chargers mentioned in this buying guide, you'll want to consider the amps and volts of the charger and the electronic devices you'll be charging.