PL2320 20-Amp Fully-Automatic Smart Charger, 6V and 12V Battery Charger, Battery Maintainer, and Stable Power Supply with Temperature Compensation

I used this to maintain 14.5 volts continuous and stable power supply while I spent hours programming and coding the GM5 module, CVM module, AKMB kombi module and it was flawless. Zero fluctuations according to INPA, ISTA+P to program replacement modules and NCS Expert performance was ultra smooth when coding options. Do not use this if you are going to program or code high power parts of the car such as the ekp fuel pump control module or things that require high power motorized actuators such as water pumps or radiator fans etc… those things will need the 120AMP power supply as required by BMW technical advisors. For low powered module programming or coding with no motor actuation, this 20AMP power supply is fine. I tried using the NOCO Genius 10 battery charger/tender and it was too slow to keep up with power fluctuations by ecu requests and I could see the voltage fluctuations in the diagnostics display. But this unit was rock solid for hours…almost a full day of uninterrupted power supply. You can’t beat the price for what most diy folks will need for module flashing. I did not flash any ecu/dme with this since that may be VERY systems intensive and may require the ecu/dme to actuate lots of high power components and this may not be enough for such a situation.

A really great tool to have in a shop. Had mine for about a year and it will charge/maintain any passenger cars 12v system. I’d buy another one if it ever decides to give out but it’s going strong so far. Highly recommended for the price and definitely a time saver.

OK. Lets get this out of the way: I am an ASE certifed 15 cert master, a trainer, and lead diag tech/foreman of multiple shops for the past 40 years. (4 total, if you are good at what you do, you dont move much). I have owned and used chargers by Associated, Midtronics, Schumacher, Opti, Clore, and the 3 major tool companies (80% of which are subcontracted by one of the above, though some of their chargers have been unique to themselves). Lets start with what this does. Its a "Smart charger". Meaning it has various methods of checking a battery it is connected to and it self determines if and how to charge it within the parameters selected if the battery doesnt fail testing. Though it claims to have a POWER SUPPLY mode, It is NOT a power supply charger and should not be depended upon as such. If you need something to power your motorhome or maintain a charge while programming, this is not the best choice. (Sure on a ford or a GM it probably would manage, however on european cars there is significantly higher current draw during programming, some exceeding 75 amps! This charger does not make 75 amps! It makes 20 on high speed mode) That isnt a knock, it is simply a statement, dont buy this thinking you can watch TV and cook microwave popcorn while sitting in the trailer with an extension cord. It doesnt do that and may be destroyed if you force it to try. NOW, what it DOES do. It medium speed charges car batteries. I specifically tried it on a battery with a shorted single cell (Dont ask how I know this, or how youd know, call it a bad battery). What this means is this battery will hold a charge, but weakly, it may self drain (The shorted cell drains voltage from the other cells). I have previously been able to charge similar batteries to 10 or 11v using a standard non-smart charger and brute force charging, but they still dont last, they may drain in a day or a week, and they wont supply full current load when needed. This charger refused to start charging the weakened battery. If left in sulfation mode, it eventually charged to 2.5v, and always stopped there and eventually ended with an ERROR display. This is normal and correct for a smart charger, they dont like trying to charge defective tested batteries. Where that can be an annoyance is old lead-acid batteries. They develop sulfation, what amounts to deposits (Think of it like mold on bread) and it prevents them from taking in a charge. This material can be burned off with a high intensity charge and the battery can fully recover, but a smart charge will sense the battery as not taking enough current in the test phase and refuse to engage a charge (like this one did) so you cant really desulfate batteries well with a smart charger unless they are only very lightly sulfated and still taking a relatively high current load. A very few smart chargers have a "Manual mode" that is not smart. It lets you select a timed or constant charge at a voltage you select (Usually 13.5 or 14 or whatever preset number) and the charger puts that amount into the cables for the time selected. This is what we call manual or brute force charge, there is no testing, no safety shutdowns, no idea if the battery is overheating or boiling its cells. Its useful when needed, but for the most part it should only be used when needed. AGM and GEL batteries cannot withstand high amp charges for very long at all. Smart chargers know this (when the proper mode is used!) and will pulse the voltage in and pause at times to allow the battery to cool and prevent damage. This charger seems to do that, as I watched it engage and disengage every few minutes in AGM mode, it was longer and more stable in lead-acid mode. I was trying to decide which charger I would go with, the extremely highly rated Schumacher, or this one (about the same price). I chose this one because of several reviews and a few videos showing the schumacher's smart mode preventing a 0v battery from charging almost always. This again is normal, if the battery is asleep from long sitting at 0v, or badly sulfated, the smart charger shuts down. Both chargers have desulfate modes, but from the reading this one seemed to work more often down to 3-4v, the shumacher almost universally would not charge a battery that wouldnt stabilize at 5v before charging begins. I charged 2 -DEAD ZERO- volts batteries using this charger. the 3rd (a known defective but barely chargeable battery) did NOT charge and would not begin the process UNTIL I manually charged it for 45 minutes with jumper cables on my idling car. Then it came up to 10v, and the charger attempted charging finally. I let it sit in sulfation mode 3x as a test and NEVER did it command full charging until I manually charged the battery. It would sit in sulfation trickle mode several hours then end charging with error. Even though with some help it would begin charge on the same battery the next day. After charging this battery tested bad both with a conductance tester and with a load tester, but according to load, it was capable of passing a 240cca load (which means capacity of a 480cca battery). The battery was in fact a 650cca unit so it was significantly compromised. I keep it for test purposes. The high rate of 20amps on the Clore charger is what Id call adequate. Its not a speed charger, 30-50 amps are fast, but fast charging comes with its own set of issues, the best way to charge a battery is long and slow. Better for the battery. fast charging heats it, and heat shortens life. Its light weght which may be fine, but doesnt impress me. heavier probably means more metal, more heat sinks, more quality. But its not a featherweight. The Shumacher is heavier. Ive had it a week, so testing is still in progress, but so far, it is a good basic smart charger with fewer features than the competitor (Schumacher) but it seems to do what it claims pretty well. The Shumacher also claims to have a boost mode of higher amps (they use it as their desulfation mode) and a cranking mode of 50amps. 50amps cranking assist isnt much at all. If a battery is SLIGHTLY weak, say 10v charge, where it cranks slow already, that might be adequate. But starters draw 150-300 amps typically. 50a output may come in low and if it does, then the starter will demand whats missing from the battery and the charger, and the excess current draw can be destructive to a charger. Hence why jumper packs state 800-1000cca, they can deliver 200-400 amps at once, and have room to spare. At this point, Its doing what has been asked. No complaints yet, but gonna try another battery on it tomorrow, and also some current probe measurements during charge.

One of the best chargers I have used. The ability to select the battery voltage, type, and charging current means that this product is very versatile - and the temperature compensation feature means that the product will not undercharge in the winter and overcharge in the summer. I really wanted to give this product 5 stars, BUT there are some minor things that I don't like (I wouldn't call them flaws, so much as I would call them things that I wish were different). 1) The voltage/percent charge display selector switch is very close to the on/off switch. With gloves on (or if not paying close attention), it is easy to hit the on/off switch accidentally when trying to hit the voltage/percent charge switch. I made that mistake once (oops.) 2) The power cord; while it is a very robust ~14ga, 3-conductor cord, not a 'low temperature' design, so it is very inflexible when it is cold outside. They could improve this product by using a low temperature power cord. It would add a bit to the cost, but it would be well worth it. 3) The instruction manual is not well written (though I wouldn't go so far as to say it is poorly written). It simply does not provide enough detail about the function of the charger, so it left me confused when the charger was functioning in a manner that I did not expect. A couple of emails to the manufacturer's customer service department cleared things up within a couple of days, but if the manual provided more detail things would have been more clear from the start. A couple other notes about this product: - The temperature compensation feature is a very important feature for a car battery charger. This feature certainly works on this charger, though it does not seem to compensate as aggressively as some other brands (like Battery Minder). - In my opinion, this product is much better as a charger than a maintainer. If you're looking for a great maintainer there are comparably priced units that will do a better job. On the other hand, if you're looking for a great 20A lead acid battery charger, the PL2320 is better than most this price range - you probably won't find a better unit under $200.

I wasn’t sure about this and was nervous I’d choose the wrong setting for my car battery that is hardly visible. Did a ton of research, figured out what I needed to do once I turned on the unit, and lo and behold, it automatically set it to AGH like I was going to. Very smart charger, worked great at 20a to charge my battery while flashing my ecu/tcu. Highly recommend!

Love this charger. Am using it as a back up to a 200w 300ah (4 75ah batteries) solar Gel battery bank and it is working perfectly. Easy to setup, easy to read and looks great with all the other gadgets I have hooked up. Have my frig plugged into solar all the time and sometimes my (500watt) entertainment system. I use this charger at night if my batteries drop below 12.3v. It charges quickly and works under load so I don't have to unplug anything. I'm connected to the 2 middle batteries when charging as i'm not sure the cables will reach each end of the bank and when I add 2 more batteries in april i'm sure that it won't, but balancing the batteries doesn't seem to be a problem. My multi meter reads the same voltage on all 4 after I disconnect the charger.I have only used this in 20a mode as it charges quickly and I just wait until my charge controller from the solar kicks in when the sun comes up. For anyone interested in a back up to their solar power battery issues or even car, motorcycle, lawn tractor battery charging this charger will be a tough one to beat. It's also light and very portable.

I loved the product PL2320 even though something rattled inside. This was my second unit, the first one immediately didn't power up. They replaced it. This one worked. I used it often. Fast forward a few years, the other day it doesn't power up. The resistor on the hot line in had been touching the case. Half the ceramic was in pieces, the rest fell apart on touch. Now I know what the rattle was. There's a visible burn on the side case. The factory does not know the rating of the input resistor and they can't find out. They cannot even get a schematic. They do not repair anything, I don't know how they call themselves a factory. For the sake of a $1 resistor I will have to throw away this $100 charger if I cannot find the resistor rating, which I can easily solder a replacement in. For $100 I expect a charger to last more than a few years. I have 2 other analog chargers which are over 40 years old at 1/5 of the price and they still work just fine. Very disappointed with this short-lived unit and an unresponsive factory that isn't. I will never purchase or use another product by this wannabe factory. Poor quality and no future support, they told me to buy another one.. ! No Way.. never again. Don't waste your money. Buy a NOCO or a CTEK or a Schumacher if you want something that lasts. Very disappointed... !

I've had the chance to use the Solar PL2320 battery charger 4 times now, comparing it against my old standby Century 87105 2/10/55 amp battery charger. I like to Solar for the fact that it displays % of charge and charging voltage when charging and when not charging it shows the % of charge of and battery voltage. The charger is also nice in that there are 3 charging protocols: one for conventional flooded lead-acid batteries, one for Absorbed Glass Matt (AGM) and one for Gel-type batteries. I frankly don't know what the differences are but I did notice that the % of charge noted for the battery I had it hooked up to changed when I cycled through the battery types on the charger. The overall charger is solid with cord wraps for both the charging cables and the power cables. Both sets of cables are approximately 5 feet in length. The charging process varies in time not only based on state of charge but also based on the charger's 'multi-phase' charging protocol. The charger doesn't simply apply a charge to the battery and shut off at 100%, it actually goes through a multi-step process that includes applying a load onto the battery reducing the state of charge slightly and then charges again. As I understand it, this helps with reducing sulfation. The charger is fan cooled and the fan, when running, is noticeable but isn't loud (maybe as loud as a computer fan). Overall a very good charger and in my opinion worth the money based on build quality, charge protocol sophistication and battery information provided.