Charging Lead Acid Batt with Turbo 35
Jubei Kipagami
Turbo 35 or similar charger.
Compared to a wall type charger, is it possible to measure peak with
this type of setup?
Leaving the batt connected to the wall charger for extended periods of
time does make me a bit paranoid. Even overnite charging leaves the
batt warm.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Jim Banks
news:b6c1otscri3dkodd6...@4ax.com...
This is my understanding on the subject.
Nicad chargers, such as your Turbo 35, utilize a "constant current" charging
method wherein the voltage across the battery increases as it approaches
full charge while the current remains steady. When full charge is reached,
the voltage drops off slightly which triggers charger shut down.
Lead acid batteries do not exhibit the voltage drop off, and should be
charged using a "constant voltage" method wherein the charging current
gradually decreases as the battery is charged.
Unless your charger has a "lead acid" charging mode, I would not use it on
lead acid batteries. Your wall charger will probably do fine. I would
disconnect it when the battery gets warm, since it is probably fully charged
at that time, or at least very close to it. I use an old 2 amp auto battery
charger on mine, and I just leave it on till the battery gets warm. I'm
charging one of those 7 ah gel cells used in my starter box,
JB
RonaldB
AFAIK lead-acid batteries should be charged with a constant potential
(voltage), rather then a constant current. When reaching full
capacity, the charging current should drop to about zero.
Read this
http://personal.lig.bellsouth.net/lig/r/e/redscho/
for some more experience-based info (the section "Lead Acid packs -
Care and feeding?").
Regards,
Ronald.
Jubei Kipagami <Ju...@replyinthisnewsgroup.com> wrote in message news:<b6c1otscri3dkodd6...@4ax.com>...
Jubei Kipagami
remain with the wall charger as the safer alternative, its much
cheaper than a toasted turbo 35 ;-)
On 20 Aug 2001 01:45:16 -0500, Jubei Kipagami
Tom
> I was wondering if anyone has tried charging a lead acid batt, with a
> Turbo 35 or similar charger.
>
I have with a Hi-IQ.
> Compared to a wall type charger, is it possible to measure peak with
> this type of setup?
>
Lead acid type batteries do not peak in the same way as NiCad or NiMH
batteries.
Lead-Acid batteries are charged to a particular voltage, letting the
current diminish to 0. NiCad and the like are charged at a constant
current, and the voltage required to maintain this current is monitored.
Hence, they do not peak.
> Leaving the batt connected to the wall charger for extended periods of
> time does make me a bit paranoid. Even overnite charging leaves the
> batt warm.
Warming the battery is not a problem. Boiling off all of the electrolyte
is.
I am not sure how configurable the CE series of chargers is. If possible,
you may want to do a constant current charge for a specified time limit.
On the Hi-IQ's, you could connect the battery to the charger and do a
motor test, which will hold the voltage at a particular value like a
lead-acid should be charged.
Depending on the size of the battery, you may want to add a current
limiting resistor, since the physical size of the battery is proportional
to the amount of current you can safely charge the battery at.
___
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Tom
> Thanks for the replies guys. That sure cleared alot of questions! Will
> remain with the wall charger as the safer alternative, its much
> cheaper than a toasted turbo 35 ;-)
It won't cook your charger; it'll cook the battery if you do it wrong.
Jubei Kipagami
Running a motor test is possible with the Turbo, its just the time
needed for it to run to properly charge the batt.
When my UPS died, the batt looked as if it was ready to explode.
Thanks ;-)