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Shite battery chargers (the Bradex thread)


Wilko220

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I needed an extra battery charger recently so obviously, rather than buy a new one, I hit eBay to get something cheap.
 
One of the first I spotted in the listings was a "Bradex", a name I immediately remembered from my childhood. My dad had a bright red plastic Bradex battery charger which always seemed to be in regular use (and may well still be).
 
On further investigation though, it transpired that this particular model on eBay was not the basic, functional product I remembered - this was the super-stylish "simulated teak finish" edition.
 
I had to have it.
 
What I didn't realise until I won the auction and this thing turned up though was that it was going to be as good as fricking new, complete with all it's packaging, and even boasting the slip the bloke filled in at Argos when he bought it in 1981.
 
Enjoy these HOT PIX
 
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I've tried to find out what became of Bradex - or Bradville Ltd, as the company that made them appears to have been called - but there seems to be not a trace of them online.
 
Anyone know where they went or who swallowed up this Yorkshire institution?
 
And, more importantly, has anyone else got some shite charger action going on in their garage that they want to share evidence of?

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2015-02-18%2017.15.05_zpsbsnxiec5.jpg

 

This was dumped in the metal skip at my local council tip and i managed to smuggle it into the back of my car without the ''guards'' noticing.

 

It works in a vague kind of way,the output is a volt or two higher than the advised 6 or 12v but looks it good on the work shop shelf and it now powers an old battery operated clock radio.

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Top bombing on the fake wood!

 

Here's my granny's old Stellar Components / Selmar GP4 charger which I did have the box (but it was quite thing cardboard and fell apart):

4284979737_0c2daa2e71.jpg

GP4_charger by E Honda, on Flickr

 

A Davenset Senior like my dad's old one in poverty painted metal finish:

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Davenset_Senior_Battery_Charger_6V_12V_002.jpg by E Honda, on Flickr

 

And I've a couple of old Selmars like this myself, I think they both had original brown boxes slid into paper sleeves:

 

post-19900-0-25502000-1480208448_thumb.jpg

 

If I can be arsed, I'll dig out my shite battery tester out of the shed for photographing.

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I have a very very basic bradex charger which my dad bought in the early 90s when we first had a car,he gave me it about 8years ago and it still charges anything to this day.

I bought some dog sh1t effort from Lidl earlier in the year that blew as soon as I pressed start which reminds me I need a refund.

My bradex has made batteries last that bit extra many times over many vehicles.

All this new vandango stuff and that thing still owns them!!

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Well it wasn't too difficult to reach at the back of the man cave when I went out. Unfortunately I don't have the free wall bracket or instructions and it's stuffed with asbestos (intact), but they styling is ace. Works perfectly.

 

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Davenset High Discharge 12V Battery Tester 01 by E Honda, on Flickr

 

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Davenset High Discharge 12V Battery Tester 02 by E Honda, on Flickr

 

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Davenset High Discharge 12V Battery Tester 03 by E Honda, on Flickr

 

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Davenset High Discharge 12V Battery Tester 04 by E Honda, on Flickr

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Today we went with friends who live in the delightful village of Rolleston on Dove (near Burton) to the advent festival in the church, with trees decorated by local organisations on the theme of 'a Winter's Tale'. To my delight the one from the local transport society included........ yes a Bradex battery charger  8)  At the foot of rather than hanging from the tree, it was a red plastic one and not the hand-carved yew to be expected in such surroundings, but it had the same dial as the wooden effort in the OP. :)

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Dad had one of these, it was his third ever charger, the previous two going up in smoke after short and busy lives post-17481-0-62254300-1480275495_thumb.jpeg

https://flic.kr/p/e4Y7zp

I must have repaired it a dozen times: 6/12v switch fell apart, current control fell apart (pointless feature; why would you not select "max"?), fuse holder fell apart and of course, the metal rectifier cooked. Metal rectifiers were what was used before silicon diodes became cheap and when they burn up they really stink, loads of foul yellow smoke. With a 100 amp diode in place of the rectifier, I then used it for about 30 years. I got fed up with the sight of it and binned it a couple of years ago when some sophisticated modern thing (from a generator set I was dismantling) became available at zero cost.

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2015-02-18%2017.15.05_zpsbsnxiec5.jpg

 

This was dumped in the metal skip at my local council tip and i managed to smuggle it into the back of my car without the ''guards'' noticing.

 

It works in a vague kind of way,the output is a volt or two higher than the advised 6 or 12v but looks it good on the work shop shelf and it now powers an old battery operated clock radio.

Isn't it supposed to be at 14v or so to be properly charging a lead acid anyway?

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Grr....Lent my Absaar to a neighbour where I used to live.   He passed away but the charger lives on - somewhere.  I never got it back.   

 

Still have this, though, but I have not used it in anger for some while.   You alter the charge rate, input voltage and battery voltage simply by moving the little plugs between different sockets!   Supplied by Marble Arch  Motor Supplies probably in the 1950s.   It belonged to an Uncle who used to charge his Commer Cob from it..... 

 

 

 

post-5367-0-69802400-1480326579_thumb.jpg

 

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Today we went with friends who live in the delightful village of Rolleston on Dove (near Burton) to the advent festival in the church, with trees decorated by local organisations on the theme of 'a Winter's Tale'. To my delight the one from the local transport society included........ yes a Bradex battery charger  8)  At the foot of rather than hanging from the tree, it was a red plastic one and not the hand-carved yew to be expected in such surroundings, but it had the same dial as the wooden effort in the OP. :)

<Trivia> My uncle and aunt live there - and have done since about 1971 </trivia>

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