About a year ago, I was having problems with the batteries in one of my vehicles. But before I took the battery into my local auto parts store, I decided to purchase a Save A Battery device to see if I could bring my battery back to life. Since I was already thinking about purchasing a battery charger of some sort, necessity was the mother of invention and I got one. So I finally got around to writing a review on it, so keep on reading and learn about this useful tool.

Before I start this review, be aware that this one will be a bit longer than the others. I’m going to include some helpful background information that you can use outside of this review so that you will learn more about 12v DC batteries. This is important information so read this review all the way through, it will be worth your time.

State of Charge

The vast majority of passenger cars and light trucks made over the last sixty years use a 12vDC battery comprised of six cells. Each of these cells are designed to generate 2.1 volts and are wired in-series, producing a total of 12.6 volts. For an automobile battery, the State of Charge (SOC) indicates how much energy storage capacity the battery has. The following chart shows how voltage corresponds to SOC.

Keep in mind that a battery’s State of Charge can be affected by temperature, time of last charge, and other factors.

Discharge Affects

A fully-charged battery won’t have any problems because it’s SOC is 100. But over time, a battery can lose it’s SOC which can also affect it’s duty cycle (aka “life”). Think of an automotive battery as being in one of three different zones:

• Green Zone (12.7-12.1v) – Normal operating range.
• Yellow Zone (11.9-11.6v) – Repeated discharges in this range can shorten the battery’s life.
• Red Zone (11.3-10.5v) – Discharges in this range will permanently damage the battery.

Therefore, it is best to keep your battery above 12.1 volts to ensure it doesn’t get damaged when you use it.

Experiences

Fall of 2015

As I said in the beginning of this post, my impetus for purchasing the Save A Battery was to see if I could recover a dying battery on my SUV. It had a Sealed Lead-Acid (SLA) battery that I installed several years ago and over time, it generated less and less power. A mid-range battery for my vehicle would cost just under $100 with all the taxes and fees, so I thought I would give it a chance. I removed the battery, attached the alligator clips to the terminals, and ran the Deep Cycle function to see if I could recover the battery. I let it run overnight but when I checked it after breakfast, the Fault light was blinking. That means there was a problem inside the cell that could not be fixed, meaning I had to purchase a new battery anyway. However, the auto parts store confirmed that there was a fault in one of the cells when I took it in so the unit worked as designed. So I packed it away until the next time I needed it.

Summer of 2016

Just a few days ago, I noticed my SUV was taking a few more cranks that usual to get started. The main reason for this is during the summer I don’t drive it very often because the A/C is out and I have more important things to spend $1,200 on right now. So it sits outside most of the time and only gets driven short distances on weekends once it starts to heat up. I decided to plug the Save A Battery unit in to check the voltage, which registered at 12.2v. Since I was working from home that day, I decided to give the SUV’s battery a slow charge and see if that improved the SOC. After about eight hours on the Save A Battery, it showed 12.6v and started up much better than before.

I’m going to do the same to my other vehicle (Mazda6) to see what the SOC is on that car’s battery. This car uses an Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) battery, which would cost me somewhere around $260 to replace. Needless to say, I want to ensure that battery lasts a long time so it will spend time on the Save A Battery device over the course of it’s lifespan. This is where the unit will pay for itself since hot climates and cramped engine bays are hard on batteries.

Review

Using the Save A Battery is pretty simple; I plugged it in, set the switches, and let it run. It takes a while to charge a battery but that is the appeal of this device, it does so slowly and gently. The unit does get hot but that can be expected because of all the electrical current running through it. The plugs for the various cables are designed so they can only go in the right way and are well-constructed. This is not a cheap unit that is bodged in somebody’s garage, that is for sure! I got the carrying case for it so I can store it when it’s not being used. Overall, it is a great tool that I intend to keep using in the future.

Pros: Easy to use and effective in restoring batteries.

Cons:  Branding and colors are cheesy, user’s manual is poorly written.

The bottom line is if you own a vehicle that uses either 6v or 12v batteries and have about $130 in-hand, you should get one of these units. It could save you a lot more than the purchase price and keep your batteries in peak condition for when you need them. I own a Save A Battery battery tool and highly recommend you have one too.

Overall Rating: 9/10