Traditional battery chargers are often cumbersome things, relegated to a dusty corner of the workshop. The compact size of the GC150 coupled with its clever construction, featuring through-holes allowing it to be securely mounted to any panel with four holes, such is in vehicles, on battery boxes, workshop benches or tool chests, or plant rooms.

The GC150 meets an ingress protection score of IP20 meaning it is proofed against small objects and debris, meaning you can mount it in work places without worrying about tools or parts falling into the cooling fan ports.

Challenges are often encountered when riding the wave of new technology, as has often been the case with the development of lithium batteries. Unique situations arise when smart batteries feature their own Battery Management System, which while constantly optimising battery performance and lifespan, often present roadblocks to traditional battery chargers.

The GC150 is capable of unlocking BMS batteries that have shut themselves down to prevent over-discharge, allowing you to safely charge these vulnerable cells.

Reversing polarity, short circuit events and incorrect voltage settings are examples of human error (or plain bad luck) when it comes to looking after your batteries. The GC150 accounts for all of this and more, having integrated intelligent safeguards to prevent damage to the charger, the battery and the operator, in all of these circumstances.

The onboard diagnostics will instantly shut down the charging process before any damage to onboard electronics can occur or releasing a dramatic torrent of sparks.

Using a battery charger is largely a hands-off experience, meaning the operator often is not present when situations change. The GC150 features onboard thermal protection, constantly measuring its own internal temperatures and will automatically shut down to prevent damage to the charger or aberrant behaviour.

The GC150 is also fitted with a cooling fan and convection cooling vents, ensuring that it is able to work harder for longer.

Start-assist mode is an exciting new feature that allows you to do the impossible – bring batteries back from the dead. It is easy to make the faulty assumption that a slightly lower voltage battery is ‘not that bad’; however, in reality, a 12V battery reading 10V is often unable to start anything but the smallest capacity, lowest compression engines.

Worse yet, most traditional battery chargers will fail to even recognise a battery with a discharge state at this point, let alone be able to charge it. The GC150 features an advanced mode that can recognise and re-charge batteries as low as 2.5V, as long as there is no physical damage or internal failure in the battery.

Healthy batteries can still be fussy creatures, and the chemistry contained within is surprisingly susceptible to changes in ambient conditions. As electrons slow down, and activation energy for chemical reactions increase, below-zero temperatures can render an otherwise functional battery into an inert object.

Batteries in this state can fool a simple battery charger, displaying an artificially low voltage and therefore presenting as a dead battery. To counter this, the GC150 features a Cold Temperature mode, specially developed to get things going again.