charging lead 12v battery

[zattan22]

i have a lead 12v
but charging for 3 times
the batt bloated

i wonder how long should i charge my batt
can i charge it overnight???

im using prolux 12v charger and power supply........which costed me $30 only

[nic]

Gel cell? Or Maintenance free lead acid cell?

What is your charging current?

Before I have a triton, I used a old fashion 1A charger charge over night without issue. When it is full, Gel cell will feel warmer than normal.

Long long ago (almost 20 years).. I used the very same charger to charge those motorcycle battery. Non maintenace free type. Over-charging, I will see electrolysis takes place.. as in.. lots of bubbles (H2 + O2)

Now, armed with a triton, I let the triton does the power cut when battery is full.

[mun36]

Sorry to hijack this thread... But can anyone explain what is the diff between gel cell or maintenance free lead acid cell?

I am looking for a 12V battery for field charging. Any brand and model to recommend? I would prefer something not too heavy and bulky as this will eventually go into a field box. I have a 12V charger cum converter (no cut-off). Will this be suitable?

[zattan22]

i dun know much
but mine is the 12v battery from rotor
and the charger prolux is from champion

i dun know much about the current
but it is a 12v supply also......

[Mad Armour]

i dun know much
but mine is the 12v battery from rotor
and the charger prolux is from champion

i dun know much about the current
but it is a 12v supply also......

What's the model of your Prolux charger? Does it have a lead acid charging capacity? Not all charger can charge lead acid batt.

I once used a NiCd/NiMh charger to charge a camera lithium batt. Of course it went kaput. I thought I got a lemon batt until I learnt that different type of battery needs different charger.

[Nazar78]

Hie all~

I'm also quite interested on this. I have a multi purpose AC/DC/Charger multi 6/9/12/13.8V 3A adapter. What volt shoud I use to charge those 12v lead acid cell? This is the one which can get for ard $30 at motor shop rite? I'm not sure whether the adapter has cut-off charge as I neva use the charge function b4. So how long we have to charge?

[nic]

Sorry to hijack this thread... But can anyone explain what is the diff between gel cell or maintenance free lead acid cell?

I am looking for a 12V battery for field charging. Any brand and model to recommend? I would prefer something not too heavy and bulky as this will eventually go into a field box. I have a 12V charger cum converter (no cut-off). Will this be suitable?

mun36:

http://www.zbattery.com/gelcellagm.html

http://store.altenergystore.com/Batt...Gel-Cell/p772/ (Look under "How does a gel cell work?" near the bottom of the page.)

If you are charging Rx batteries.. you can get a smaller one from Sim Lim Tower.
If you intend to change LiPos/Hi capacity Nicads for EPs... a small cell will not be enough... (7.2Ah Gel cell may allow you to charge 3x 2100mah 3S1P lipo.. doubt any more than that......)

Overcharging is especially harmful to gel cells because of their sealed design. Overcharging dries out the electrolyte by driving the oxygen and hydrogen out o f the battery through the safety valves. Performance and life are reduced.

[Mad Armour]

Hie all~

I'm also quite interested on this. I have a multi purpose AC/DC/Charger multi 6/9/12/13.8V 3A adapter. What volt shoud I use to charge those 12v lead acid cell? This is the one which can get for ard $30 at motor shop rite? I'm not sure whether the adapter has cut-off charge as I neva use the charge function b4. So how long we have to charge?

If you go to SLT, the 12V batt will be cheaper, ard $20. I heard ppl use a power adapter to charge their SLA but I used a specific SLA charger to do the job. If your batt is 12V, set your adapter to 12V.

[Nazar78]

Ouh~ thanks broe...

[zattan22]

i just checked my charger
its 1.8A

but indeed how long to know the batt is fully charged???

[Mad Armour]

i just checked my charger
its 1.8A

but indeed how long to know the batt is fully charged???

Depends on the capacity of your battery and of course how much charge's still inside when you charge the batt. If your batt's capacity is 4.2Ah and it's empty/discharged, it will take 4.2/1.8 = 2.3hrs. Add about 10% for energy loss and you'll get about 2.5hrs get the batt fully charged.

The problem is you do not know if your batt is empty/discharged. If you can regulate the charge rate to 10% of the batt capacity (in your case about 0.2A), you can leave it on overnight without fear of overcharging. This is called slow/trickle charging.

For myself, my charger cuts off when the batt reaches its peak, so I don't have to monitor the charging and fear the prospect of overcharging.

[Nazar78]

So I take it like this?

Batt capacity=4.2Ah

Adaptor=1.8A

I use a voltmeter to check the amount discharged left eg. 1.2Ah

((4.2 - 1.2) ÷ 1.8) = 1.6 + 10% = 1.8hrs of charge?

Lol~ I'm just guessing, please hit me if I'm wrong...

[Mad Armour]

So I take it like this?

Batt capacity=4.2Ah

Adaptor=1.8A

I use a voltmeter to check the amount discharged left eg. 1.2Ah

((4.2 - 1.2) ÷ 1.8) = 1.6 + 10% = 1.8hrs of charge?

Lol~ I'm just guessing, please hit me if I'm wrong...

Can you check a batt capacity that way? Sorry, I'm no electronics person but so far I've never heard you can check capacity or remaining charge that way.

[Nazar78]

Yah hor, I'm not too, I heard lipo can be measured that way (manual cell balancing) but not sure about lead acid cells. There must be some indication your charger cuts off...

[Mad Armour]

Yah hor, I'm not too, I heard lipo can be measured that way (manual cell balancing) but not sure about lead acid cells. There must be some indication your charger cuts off...

Better have some pros to answer this. My charger cuts off when it detects the batt's full. On what parameters, I don't know. Hahahaha...that's the reason all my chargers have auto cut off. I think those power adapters, while cost effective, puts too many question marks to the charging process. I just want plug and play!