If you have a car in storage for the winter, or your car just won't start, you might need the help of a battery charger! Car battery chargers plug into your mains electricity socket and attach to the terminals of your car battery.
They can be used to charge up a battery that has run low, or to maintain a car battery that isn't being used - for example, if you leave your car in storage over the winter. All chargers send electricity to your car's battery, but there are three main functions that they can perform.
Make sure that the charger you buy can do what you need it to! Standard chargers have traditional styling, simple interfaces and limited additional features. Smart chargers are more technologically advanced and can be used for both charging your battery and as a long-term connection for maintenance charging.
They'll also automatically detect the fastest charging mode and will switch to a trickle charge when the battery is full, so there's no risk of over-charging and damaging your battery! The multi award-winning charger provides fully automatic 8-step charging, unrivalled performance and a built-in automatic temperature compensator for battery size 1. If you know what sort of charging you want to do, there are just a couple of things to think about when picking a battery charger:.
So, there you have it - a quick guide to car battery chargers. Make sure that the charger is right for the job that you want, and that it's compatible with your battery, and you're good to go! These are the two key factors to keep in mind when buying! Look out for a heavy-duty car battery charger for your van.
You may find the right product is listed as servicing your engine size i. Most chargers have a gauge on the front panel. The gauge shows the condition of the battery and the progress of the charging operation and the faces typically are color-coded in red and green.
Some show the actual amperage being produced and many chargers shut themselves off once the battery reaches a charged condition or have a gauge reading of "charge complete" or "OK.
High quality car batterty chargers have built-in safety systems and indicators that give very useful information. A "fault" indicator says that the battery might be shorted or a cell is incapable of charging, or that something is not operating correctly in the charger itself. This protects the charger and battery from damage.
All Rights Reserved. Reproducing any material on this website without permission is prohibited. My goal is to take this battery with me camping and use it with my CPAP machine. I dont have it in front of me but its 12 Volt. About the size of a large car battery. BatteryStuff Tech Charging cables heating up could be the result of a couple of factors.
If the battery is also heating up that could elude to a bad battery not being able to accept the charge, and it might be time to replace the battery. If the battery is not heating up, but the wire at the connection point is, i would try cleaning the terminals and ensuring you have a good connection. My question: Is the electrolyte, absorbed into the glass matting, in these AGM batteries subject to stratification in the same way that the electrolyte in a flooded wet battery is?
The 1st step is an automatic desulfation step. This is accomplished by the application of Destratification occurs when the turbulence causes the electrolyte to be mixed and rendering the SG uniform throughout the depth of the cell. The other main reason to equalize a battery is to cause the sulfation to dissolve back into the electroylte, however not all AGM battery manufacturers recommend this processes, as some AGM batteries are not meant to withstand this type of charge.
The process of equalizing a battery causes the battery to heat up and gas. While the gassing can work itself out of the battery vents, some manufacturers do not have large inner cell connectors to withstand that type of charge.
Lifeline Battery is one of the manufacturers we carry that does promote equalizing their batteries. In the end you need to contact the manufacturer of your battery to see what they recommend. John I have 6 2v Ahr agm batteries hookup for 12 v, how many watt solar panel will I need to charger my battery with a MPPT solar controller?
BatteryStuff Tech It depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If your just looking to maintain a fully charged battery pack with no draw coming off the batteries I would generally recommend a panel similar to our Solarland 12v 30 Watt Panel for your capacity.
This ensures that a good charge is going to the battery pack daily, and it can get the batteries top off fairly quickly if your have a long stretch of bad weather. If your trying to design a system to supplement energy coming off the batteries then I suggest reading our article Solar Systems the Right Way. This article will get you started in the right direction.
The normal consumption is probably only w. We have a honda EUi generator which isw rated w. We run this to charge the batteries. We need a regulated charger of the maximum we can run from this generator, 40amp? What is the maximum we could run? Great site by the way, we have nothing similar in the UK which is where w are based, but the electrical info is international! Once you find a brand that you intend to use look to their AC Input ratings.
The Wattage rating has to be below your continuous run rating of your generator. I hope that helps! BatteryStuff Tech I would recommend a 12v 10 Amp charger for that battery. You will find mountable, and portable chargers depending on your need. If you require further information feel free to contact our Tech Department. Trevor Hello, I was hoping you could advise on battery charging for a large electric boat project. These batteries require a fast charge cell voltage of 2. Herb Korn Very informative.
The regulator in the alt. What is the max. A typical AGM battery should be charger Art I liked the article, I just purchased a Evolution 1 Tent trailer and the prior owner installed 2 6v batteries for power and also installed LED lights.
The batteries are connected in series to produce 12v. What typ of charger should I use to charge and maintain the batteries when not in use. Thanks Art. If you would like help picking on out please contact our Tech Department. Paul Mulvenna Excellent article.
The supplied charger is only rated 0. If I was to buy a higher powered 12V charger e. Many thanks. Ed Help! We live off-grid with a PV array as our only charger. Time to get a genset and charger to keep the batteries healthy. The 12v batteries have a c20 capacity of ah. What do you recommend we buy? Thanks in advance, Ed. How high should the charge cycle, bulk, absorb and float cycles be. My charge is now at Is that in the right range? BatteryStuff Tech If you have a charger that you can set the voltage depending on the stage, I would suggest talking to the manufacturer of the batteries, so you can charge them based off their recommendation.
We sell smart chargers that are already pre-configured based off their history of the manufacturers experience. Every manufacturer is a little different, which is why I would recommend talking to the battery manufacturer. The light is supposed to turn green when the batteries are fully charged but I have to keep stopping as the batteries are bubbleing and getting hot?
I am not sure if the charger is a 3 stage or not? Thankyou Steve. TECH We recommend contacting the manufacturer regarding your charger. Your battery should not be hot to the touch, so the charger could be malfunctioning, or the charger is attempting to charger a battery that cannot accept a full charger and is not timing out.
Dave Bort hi my camper currently runs 2 ah agm batteries and 1 ah flooded battery. The Optima Blue Top batteries are replacing two wet cell batteries. So now it looks like I need to buy and install a new battery charger. Do you agree? One for the house batteries in series , one for the port engine, and one for the stbd engine. I also have a battery for the generator which is not on a charger.
The engine and generator starting batteries are all wet cell. Can you recommend some choices for a battery charger. Recommended Charging Information Alternator: Charge until current drops below 1 amp. Cyclic or Series String Applications:: When current falls below 1 amp, finish with 3 amp constant current for 1 hour.
All limits must be strictly adhered to. I am experimenting with a machine that runs on 24v. I want to replace the power supplies for a battery pack. I need about Ah, so Im thinking 2 12v Ah connected in series. I think it will, but rather ask the expert. I also have a minnkota 36V TM on the bow. Previous electronics were older lowrance units and TM was a 24v system. Charger is a noco genius 4 bank 40 amp total.
Does jumper have to be same size as main power wire? Does my system seem right…and what is the best way to test voltage output? Katie For a given AGM battery type, find the voltage and constant current for constant voltage and constant current mode of any given volts and amp-hours. Tom I have a c-pap machine that I use when dry camping. It is 5 amps, watts. I need a battery that will give me 8 hours of power.
Do you have any suggestions? Also, looking for right size inverter to handle the task along with good battery charger. If you are running that for 8 hours, then your total wattage used will be 5, watts. In order to run that off of battery power you would need AH at 12 Volts, ran through a watt inverter. Rick W This seems excessive. Since the Law of the Conservation of Energy applies, then the input power Wac must be equal to the output power Wdc , then since the input voltage in this case is Vac and output voltage is 12Vdc, the ratio is , which means that the current Amps must be in inverse proportion to maintain the equal power.
In this case, the input current is 5Aac, so the output current must be 50Adc. Since the OP wants it to last for 8 hours, then it seems that the AH rating of the battery would only need to be AH We would require more information about your situation. Please contact one of our techs at tech batterystuff.
Clever Survivalist Nice article because of simplicity. It is a great starting point for people that havent done alot of research, but for me, I had most of this info already. Barney Thank you for such an informative site. Thank you. Audrey Hello! Your site is a fantastic resource! It will float charge 2 lead acid starting batteries, one generator starting battery, and a house bank consisting of 6 AH 6V golf cart batteries connected series-parallel The house system is VAC.
The load on the house bank batteries will be no more than 20a DC , but will vary over my intended use time of hours between charging opportunities. Im looking for a fast charge time, because occasionally the charge source will be the gas generator, and the less that runs, the better.
I suspect my inverter is sized with a greater capacity than my battery bank can safely support. Everything is 12V. Two questions: Do you see any holes in my plan, and for the charger is my best option to get as many amps as I can afford? E-astronomer Thank you for this great information! After studying many articles and web sites, including those specifically from authors writing about my own area of interest in batteries, I believe I found most of my answers or at least solid confirmations and clarifications here.
But I still have a couple of questions because some of those other writings contradict each other and your material in a couple of ways. All of this has me confused. Should I limit my choice of Ah rating to a lower number twice my need per cycle for my kind of usage?
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