Charging a battery

[fangsport]

Hey Matt, doess a very low SLA battery also need a fruity charger??

don't seem to get a full charge on my ones using an Aarlec charger.

[DeeCee]

BZG|Bling: I have been using a projecta 8A 7 stage intelligent charger for around 3 years now for AGM and sealed lead acid (SLA) batteries as part of my car audio stuff. Used in dual battery setups, reconditioning and reviving batteries, the charger has easily paid for itself as my friends also borrow it when required.

It's not just about topping up a battery, but reconditioning and maintaining using variable voltage and current. Initially it was Ctek who had the intelligent chargers but numerous manufacturers sell them now even jaycar.

Fangsport: I would recommend using an intelligent charger on the SLA. I don't use anything else on my car audio batteries, which use the same technology. I completely charged a 6 unit bank of fork lift batteries with my little 8A unit as well

From the previous link:

Adaptive Charger

Known for its ability to adapt to the state of charge and condition of the battery. The adaptive charger generally has 3 steps and sometimes 4.

Bulk charge. Often over a given time frame, the charge rate is at a constant amperage for fast recovery up to about 80%. The charger will automatically click into the next stage -

Absorption. This will maintain a given voltage and reduce current as the charge comes up. This will minimise the recovery period with minimum electrolyte loss.

Float. The battery is now fully charged and the voltage will drop to approximately 13.6v (below gassing voltage of 14.4v) The float mode will guard against parasitic discharge or loss due to the maintenance of memory circuits.

The 4th stage when present, could be described as a pulse wake up call. Periodically, the charger will click from float mode back to bulk mode for a brief time and then back to float. This process will guard against stratification (the electrolyte settling into layers of different concentration) Many battery advisors will recommend the battery be equalised every 4 or 6 months to ensure all cells are fully charged which also promotes de stratification.

The adaptive charger is ideal for retaining and holding a battery in a fully charged state over prolonged periods. Ideal for moored vessels, seasonal agricultural equipment and vehicle restoration projects.

Edit: Better description

http://www.powerstream.com/SLA.htm

Fast Chargers

Fast chargers are higher power units, designed to charge in less than 4 hours. These chargers require active charge termination and often have advanced features such as battery test, bad battery recovery, and automatic maintenance. It is safe to fast-charge all lead acid batteries with modern fast charge algorithms.

This is the fundamental algorithm of the PowerStream quick chargers for lead acid batteries. The curve shown is for a 24 volt (12 cell) battery charger, but the curve is similar at other voltages. The timing of the phase-switching depends on the size of the battery you are using. At point #1 the battery is tested. If the battery is bad a rejuvenation algorithm is started. If the battery is good the charger goes into constant current mode until the voltage reaches 2.3 volts/cell. This allows the battery to be charged at the highest current available from the charger without overloading the charger. Then at point #2 the highest safe voltage is reached and the charger goes into constant voltage mode until the current drops to about 10% of the initial value, indicating a nominally full charge. When this is detected, at point #3 the charger goes into float charging mode at about 2.3 volts /cell to complete the fill and to maintain the battery. At this voltage the battery is safe from overcharging, and also safe from sulfating, so it is also called the maintenance mode.

[Bling]

Something like this do the trick then?
http://www.supercheapauto.co.nz/online- ... escription

8A, 6 stage

Would the 4A model do the exact same job if i'm not wanting to charge massive CCA batteries? I guess for $20 more it's not really worth worrying about though.

[click99m]

Something like this do the trick then?
http://www.supercheapauto.co.nz/online- ... escription

8A, 6 stage

Would the 4A model do the exact same job if i'm not wanting to charge massive CCA batteries? I guess for $20 more it's not really worth worrying about though.

The 4Amp model is just as good, smaller input rate so longer to charge.

[DeeCee]

As click99m said, current is smaller, so will take longer to charge and can't charge larger batteries. But for majority of batteries its fine.

My unit is the Projecta IC1208 and I paid around the same price as the pro-charge unit you indicated from supercheap. And for $20, you may as well pay that little extra for double current

nb: repco have a sale on.. maybe a good time?
tip: recondition batteries only once a year. Don't need more than that when in running vehicles.

[Bling]

When you say recondition, would you just charge the battery once a year to keep it healthy? Or are you talking about reconditioning additives?

Can't browse repco online, so will probably wait for the next 25% off sale at SCA.

[DeeCee]

On my charger it is the reconditioning mode. From my manual:

[quote]Battery Recondition
The battery recondition function can recover deeply discharged batteries increasing performance and battery life. The recondition function can also be triggered manually to perform an equalisation charge (for periodic maintenance) or to fully charge calcium batteries.[quote]

If the battery is lowish or not performing optimally, then I would put it on to the recondition mode to test the battery and determine whether the battery needs to go through a reconditioning cycle eg desulphation, bulk charging, pulse charging etc

Here are the stages of the charging cycle:


And I don't know what reconditioning additives are. I don't use general off the shelf batteries in my cars.

[Bling]

Makes sense cheers. They are just called slightly different stages depending on the charger by the looks. Now to wait for a sale

[Bling]

Right, so I now have a charger. Wanting to charge a maintenance free battery with the colour indicator window. I'm used to loosening off the plugs on each sell on my older batteries. Do I have to do the same for this battery? It only has the indicator plug visible so can I just charge as it is or do I need to undo it?

Had a quick google, and it makes no mention, but I just want to be sure. Cheers

This is the style of battery, though not the exact same.

[Dell'Orto]

Nope, plug it in and go...those maintenance free type batteries recombine the gasses, so its no drama

[Mr Revhead]

Nek minnit







And yes, I Jumped!!!

[iOnic]

Can smell it from here

[Bling]

Pretty much what i was worried about haha. will be a ca/ca battery over just lead correct?

[Dell'Orto]

That one would have been a lead antimony battery, I'm sure he was still shaking when he came to get the new battery

[Bling]

So how do you yell the types apart? I was meaning the one i posted. but would all maintenance free ones be ca/ca and other batteries antimony? just wanting to set charger to correct battery type

[Dell'Orto]

How old is your battery? Its its more than a couple of years old its likely to be lead, otherwise it'll be calcium

[Bling]

Not sure to be honest, but probably 3-4 years old. It's a "Bosch Ultra High Performance" Battery. I have googled every detail on the battery with no luck.

Only just swapped it out of my car anyway, so I don't think it will matter if I run it on lead settings as it's not flat so should be alright. Just don't want battery sprayed all over the escort / my tools.

[rollaholic]

that bunch of circles with numbers in em are typically used to indicate the batteries age, so if you have some highlighted or punched out or something that might be able to shed some light.

[matt dunn]

Generally if it has the eye in the top to look into and you cant get the caps off, it's a calcium.

[Bling]

Thanks. There is no easy way to get access to the other caps (if there are any) as I did try to pry the plastic cover off but it didn't want to budge easily so I can only assume it's not meant to come off during normal usage.

This is almost identical to mine