 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / August 2007Trickle charge at 1amp duration
Can anyone give me a rough idea how long I can leave a 1 amp charger on a partly discharged car battery without risking overcharging? I have a VOM that I know how to use, how should I check to determine when max. charge has been obtained? Is there anyway to check the electrolyte level on the newer sealed batteries to insure it is not too low, or is this not advisable? >Can anyone give me a rough idea how long I can leave a 1 amp charger on >a partly discharged car battery without risking overcharging? I have a >VOM that I know how to use, how should I check to determine when max. >charge has been obtained? You should be able to leave it on there for years. When the battery is showing the correct no-load voltage, 13.8V or so, it's charged. >Is there anyway to check the electrolyte level on the newer sealed >batteries to insure it is not too low, or is this not advisable? I didn't think they still made completely sealed batteries any more! Most of the "maintenance free" batteries still have open cells so you can check with a hydrometer. --scott  Signature"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote in news:f9f7d4$ejj$1 @panix2.panix.com: >>Can anyone give me a rough idea how long I can leave a 1 amp charger on >>a partly discharged car battery without risking overcharging? I have a [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > When the battery is showing the correct no-load voltage, 13.8V or so, > it's charged. Full no-load voltage on the battery will be more like 12.65V, but that's at 80F. Temperatures lower than that will result in a lower voltage reading. Your stated 13.8V would be the circuit voltage with the alternator charging and engine fully warm. And don't most trickle chargers automatically drop the charge rate as the battery nears full charge? SignatureTegger >kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote in news:f9f7d4$ejj$1 >@panix2.panix.com: [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> >> You should be able to leave it on there for years. That's what I thought at one time but I was wrong! I bought a new HD group 27 batteryand put it on a hand truck with cables attached to use for jump starts. I bought a 1/2 amp $6 charger and left it plugged in whenever the jump cart was not in use thinking the charge was so slow it couldn't hurt the battery. In 6 months the battery was bone dry and wasted. The cheap charger had no "intelligence" to shut down when charge was complete.. While capable of only small current, it was not voltage-limited and gradually the voltage escalated amd depleted the water. When I discovered what I had done the little shitbox was putting almost 16 volts across my trashed battery. Don in Austin www.donsautomotive.com >> When the battery is showing the correct no-load voltage, 13.8V or so, >> it's charged. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >And don't most trickle chargers automatically drop the charge rate as the >battery nears full charge? Yes if they are any good. If they are really cheap perhaps not. >>> You should be able to leave it on there for years. > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >water. When I discovered what I had done the little shitbox was >putting almost 16 volts across my trashed battery. A charger that puts 16V out is not a good charger, no. --scott Signature"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." > klu...@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote in news:f9f7d4$ejj$1 > @panix2.panix.com: [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > -- > Tegger A "trickle charger" is one where the charge rate is so low the charge rated does not NEED to be reduced, because the thermal balance would be in equilibrium at that rate (no excessive heating). Now, some fast chargers do have a trickle MODE, where they sense the battery is charged and go to a trickle mode, but a pure trickle charger has one charge rate, the rate at which it can charge the battery indefinitely without harm. I think a battery tender/charger (I don't own one, but I do own a few old 6 volt/12 volt battery chargers) is a good idea.They are available in different models and prices. www.batterymart.com or visit some auto and marine supply stores and see what they have for sale. cuhulin > Can anyone give me a rough idea how long I can leave a 1 amp charger on > a partly discharged car battery without risking overcharging? I have a [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Is there anyway to check the electrolyte level on the newer sealed > batteries to insure it is not too low, or is this not advisable? It would take a long time to overcharge it. In the vehicle, the battery is being subjected to a 14.5 (approximately) charging voltage the whole time the vehicle is running, and some vehicles almost never shut down. A battery is capable of 12.9 to 13.2 volts (depending on electrolyte specs) so the 1.3 to 1.6 volt differential across an internal resistance of less than one ohm will give a charging current of more than one amp, without any damage. Many of the newer sealed batteries are the recombinant-gas type, and have devices within them to convert the gases given off back to electrolyte so that there's no loss of liquid worth worrying about. They have a pressure-release for safety, but they're otherwise sealed up tight. Older "sealed" batteries had flat, ganged cell caps that can be easily pried off to replenish the cells. Lots of those still being sold. Dan Dan_Thomas_nospam@yahoo.com wrote in news:1186669183.033730.141070 @z24g2000prh.googlegroups.com: > Many of the newer sealed batteries are the recombinant-gas > type, and have devices within them to convert the gases given off back > to electrolyte so that there's no loss of liquid worth worrying about. > They have a pressure-release for safety, but they're otherwise sealed. I had a Panasonic in 1991 which was completely sealed. Would it have been the recombinant gas type as well? SignatureTegger >Can anyone give me a rough idea how long I can leave a 1 amp charger on >a partly discharged car battery without risking overcharging? I have a >VOM that I know how to use, how should I check to determine when max. >charge has been obtained? Yes, the voltage of the battery with everything disconnected and after a rest of about 15 minutes should be no more that 12.8 volts DC. The charging voltage should never exceed 14.2 volts for more than a few seconds, it can cause the battery plates to warp. >Is there anyway to check the electrolyte level on the newer sealed >batteries to insure it is not too low, or is this not advisable? Yes, but each brand has different ways of sealing the vents. Try Googleing the brand or just take a close look at the top. I would suggest you find a junk battery that has the same top as yours and playing with it, but be careful a junk battery may still have a lot of amps left and there is still acid in them. ***************** Thank You kGbAT@msbx.net To reply to this email please remove the AT after the kGb in the reply to address as shown above. One of those glass tube thingys with the squeeze bulb (I forget what they are called) thingy and the little ''plastic'' balls in the tube.(Hydrometer?) cuhulin |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.