Battery Charger vs Battery Maintainer
Battery charger and battery maintainer are both used for the same purpose of charging the battery of your automobile but there is a difference in their functions. If you have a large family car that you use sparingly only on occasions when the entire family is going out, you know how difficult it is to start the car after a gap of some time. The battery goes down with the car standing and you feel disappointed. What you need is a battery charger which is a device for charging or recharging of batteries. But whether you buy a cheap or expensive battery charger, you have to take care to disconnect the charger when the battery gets charged or it may get over charged which is not good for the health of the battery of your car. This is where battery maintainers come into play. It is an automatic start and stop trickle charger that keeps the battery maintained at top charge no matter how long it has been not in use.
Some people maintain a boat with an engine that requires a battery. Now it is natural to make use of the boat only on weekends or even after longer time gap. What happens is that the battery discharges and you cannot start the engine. If you use a battery maintainer you will never have to worry about the charge of the battery as it will always keep the battery charged. There are both plug in and solar models of battery maintainers available.
Classic or vintage cars and motorcycles are some other cases where you might require a battery maintainer instead of a battery charger. While both a battery charger as well a battery maintainer work along the same principle of supplying a constant DC power to the battery, it is the function of trickle charge that makes battery maintainer a suitable option in the case of vehicles and boats that are stored.