I knew I needed to update my charger line up. I figured the technology for charging would be so main stream that manufacturers of digital chargers were getting it right. I bought bigger wheel cart model with digital automatic routines only to realize that I believe it is JUNK and will likely just ruin batteries. I tested on a start battery that was sitting at 12.3V. I used the automatic routine and found that after I believe the battery was mostly charged, the charger was cranking out 15.5V at 5A! It was going to boil that battery! It never did go into a float mode, and the instructions indicated it would "auto detect" FLA/AGM/GEL. I see no way that can happen! There is no switch for it. Long story short, I believe the charger is junk.
So I started both shopping again, and educating. From what I can tell, a reasonable charge rate for start batts might be about C5 but this is for Ah ratings. From research, it appears a reasonable approach to start batts is 10% of the CCA would be considered for the Ah so a 1000CCA batt might be charged as a 100Ah batt or C/5 which is 20A.
Now, sulfation will always be an issue and it seems that pulsing high voltage and current on the beginning of the charge is ideal for a desulfation routine? Maybe 15-16V for a 12V batt?
I am also not sure I understand how to determine a battery state of charge and when float should be employed? From reading, it appears float should be lower V and A for topping, but how can I determine where I am at? I am obviously looking for an automatic charger, but I like to monitor things to ensure things are right.
The battery I tested had a surface charge of 13.4V when I disconnected, and rolled back to 12.7V, where it is now. When I charge a batt, I typically look for 13.5-14.0V surface and I want to see it stay at 12.6-12.7V after surface charge wears off. However, I am not sure if that is accurate enough? It seems I may not be allowing float time, which can be considerable on big batts and maybe not topping my batteries to 100%?
Does anyone have any recommendations of REAL auto chargers that work? I have everything from small ATV GEL and AGM batts, up to big industrial batts.
So I started both shopping again, and educating. From what I can tell, a reasonable charge rate for start batts might be about C5 but this is for Ah ratings. From research, it appears a reasonable approach to start batts is 10% of the CCA would be considered for the Ah so a 1000CCA batt might be charged as a 100Ah batt or C/5 which is 20A.
Now, sulfation will always be an issue and it seems that pulsing high voltage and current on the beginning of the charge is ideal for a desulfation routine? Maybe 15-16V for a 12V batt?
I am also not sure I understand how to determine a battery state of charge and when float should be employed? From reading, it appears float should be lower V and A for topping, but how can I determine where I am at? I am obviously looking for an automatic charger, but I like to monitor things to ensure things are right.
The battery I tested had a surface charge of 13.4V when I disconnected, and rolled back to 12.7V, where it is now. When I charge a batt, I typically look for 13.5-14.0V surface and I want to see it stay at 12.6-12.7V after surface charge wears off. However, I am not sure if that is accurate enough? It seems I may not be allowing float time, which can be considerable on big batts and maybe not topping my batteries to 100%?
Does anyone have any recommendations of REAL auto chargers that work? I have everything from small ATV GEL and AGM batts, up to big industrial batts.