Are the battery boilers really that bad?

[erniecarpet@...]

Scott- I have one of the original chargers running all the time while I
fulltime here in Montana. i make a point to check the fluid level once a month.
So far, so good. Haven't had to add very much water in the 4 months I have been
here.

Ernie Ekberg
83PT40
Livingston, Mt




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[Scott Forman]

My old FC had a modern 3-stage charger with charge wizard, and it was
nice to just keep it plugged in all the time and not have to really
worry about it. My PT, though, has the original low-tech battery
chargers. They work fine, or as fine as they ever did.

I know the old chargers will boil the batteries dry if left on
constantly. I have the shore power plugged in to an outdoor timer so
that juice only flows to the bus for a few hours a week when I am not
using it, eliminating the problem of boiling the batts dry.

My question is this: What are the other drawbacks to the original
chargers? Is the constant voltage & resulting loss of batt water the
only problem? Or are there other issues that should motivate me to
upgrade to more modern chargers?

Scott Forman
86 PT38
Memphis