3 Tips for Buying a Used Battery Charger

Buying a used battery charger can save you some bucks. Everyone loves a good bargain. Don’t let your good deal become a bust by observing these simple rules of caution.

How many hours operated
This may seem like an unreasonable request. Although no one will be able to tell you exactly how long they have been run. The owner should be able to tell you how it was used and how often. Doing some basic calculations will give you a ballpark idea. For example a charger that charged a battery overnight once a week for ten years would be 8 hours x 52 weeks x 10 years would be 4160 hours. This figure is really useful to compare two or more chargers that you may be looking at but you can use it as a feel for just how good of a bargain you may be getting. The reason behind this is that the longer an electronic device is run the more likely it is to fail. Just like the human body as we age the more likely something is to fail. Two items that add to the shortening of an electronic devices life is high voltage and constant turning off and on. Chargers provide and do exactly these two things.

A unit that is turned off and on many times will not run quite as many hours due to the stress of heating and cooling on the components. Constant temperatures help prolong electronics. If you have ever been in a room full of computers such as servers the administrators will have the room at a constant cool temperature. It is the same idea.

How clean is it
This may sound silly bit it is actually quite important. Electronic devices love to attract dust and dirt. Years of sitting in a garage can build up layers of dust and plug up vents. This covering can make chargers heat up higher than they are supposed to and possibly shorten the life of your device. Although this is impossible to detect by buying through ebay or some other site as most sellers will have cleaned up the devices on the outside. It is, however, useful for buying from Craigslist or a yard sale or some other avenue where you can actually see and touch the device.

Age may determine options
This almost goes without saying, but it is worth keeping in mind. The age of the machine can determine what bells and whistles it has. If you need just a basic charger that you don’t mind putting on a timer yourself or can watch the time to shut it off then this shouldn’t matter. However if you need a charger that automatically changes over to trickle mode after a 80% charge then you need to keep age in mind.

Buying a used battery charger can be a bargain. Most everyone can agree that a bargain can be found buying used. There is always a risk, however. Keep these tips in mind when buying from Ebay, Craigslist, yard sales or anyplace place to buy used.