To trickle or Not Trickle! please help a battery noobie with a 12v Gel battery question
 

Hi.

After reading previous google posts, and my eyes bleeding due to the
toxic nature of my 17 inch crt monitor.. i have decided to ask the
forever question of:


Whats the best way to charge a 12volts marine deep cycle battery?

some people claim they can take a beating and to charge them at 10a
for 6 hours

others claim to charge them at 2amp for 20 hours, slow charge is the
best way to go they claim



I currently own a charger with only two settings. 2a ( trickle charge
) or 10am. I have been charging the battery at 10a


please advise

On Tue, 03 May 2005 01:56:54 GMT, rutman > wrote:

>Hi.
>
>After reading previous google posts, and my eyes bleeding due to the
>toxic nature of my 17 inch crt monitor.. i have decided to ask the
>forever question of:
>
>
>Whats the best way to charge a 12volts marine deep cycle battery?
>
>some people claim they can take a beating and to charge them at 10a
>for 6 hours
>
>others claim to charge them at 2amp for 20 hours, slow charge is the
>best way to go they claim
>
>
>
>I currently own a charger with only two settings. 2a ( trickle charge
>) or 10am. I have been charging the battery at 10a
>
>
>please advise

My advice is go buy a computer-controlled charger like I did and let
the circuitry decide what to do. You'll get 3-stage charging when you
select deep cycle. Fast-medium-slow,off/on maintenance 2 amperes.

I have _many_. My latest is the Schumacker Model Sc1200A Speed
Charger, which pumps high frequency pure DC. Connect it, plug it in,
and forget about it.

Lg

Lawrence Glickman wrote:
> On Tue, 03 May 2005 01:56:54 GMT, rutman > wrote:
>
> >Hi.
> >
> >After reading previous google posts, and my eyes bleeding due to the
> >toxic nature of my 17 inch crt monitor.. i have decided to ask the
> >forever question of:
> >
> >
> >Whats the best way to charge a 12volts marine deep cycle battery?
> >
> >some people claim they can take a beating and to charge them at 10a
> >for 6 hours
> >
> >others claim to charge them at 2amp for 20 hours, slow charge is the
> >best way to go they claim
> >
>
> >I currently own a charger with only two settings. 2a ( trickle
charge
> >) or 10am. I have been charging the battery at 10a
> >
> >
> >please advise
>
> My advice is go buy a computer-controlled charger like I did and let
> the circuitry decide what to do. You'll get 3-stage charging when
you
> select deep cycle. Fast-medium-slow,off/on maintenance 2 amperes.
>
> I have _many_. My latest is the Schumacker Model Sc1200A Speed
> Charger, which pumps high frequency pure DC. Connect it, plug it in,
> and forget about it.
>
> Lg

Posters here know that Lawrence is very proud of his smart charger.
I'm not sure about how one "pumps high frequency PURE DC" though. I
suspect he means pulsed DC.
A smart charger is nice if you can afford it. But the poster asks about
the charger that he has, not the neat one Lawrence purchased.
It doesn't matter if you use the 2A or the 10A charge assuming the
battery is rated to take charging at those rates. Usually they print
that info on the side of the battery. If it really is a small GEL
battery then maybe 10A is too fast. You better check that out.
If you don't have a smart charger, the key is to know when the battery
is fully charged and not go beyond that point. You can do that pretty
much with a cheap voltmeter.
Personally, I do not like to go away and leave a charger unattended,
whether it's a smart charger or not. And I own about every type made.
Too many things can go wrong.

On 3 May 2005 05:34:29 -0700, "Al Bundy" >
wrote:

>
>Lawrence Glickman wrote:
>> On Tue, 03 May 2005 01:56:54 GMT, rutman > wrote:
>>
>> >Hi.
>> >
>> >After reading previous google posts, and my eyes bleeding due to the
>> >toxic nature of my 17 inch crt monitor.. i have decided to ask the
>> >forever question of:
>> >
>> >
>> >Whats the best way to charge a 12volts marine deep cycle battery?
>> >
>> >some people claim they can take a beating and to charge them at 10a
>> >for 6 hours
>> >
>> >others claim to charge them at 2amp for 20 hours, slow charge is the
>> >best way to go they claim
>> >
>>
>> >I currently own a charger with only two settings. 2a ( trickle
>charge
>> >) or 10am. I have been charging the battery at 10a
>> >
>> >
>> >please advise
>>
>> My advice is go buy a computer-controlled charger like I did and let
>> the circuitry decide what to do. You'll get 3-stage charging when
>you
>> select deep cycle. Fast-medium-slow,off/on maintenance 2 amperes.
>>
>> I have _many_. My latest is the Schumacker Model Sc1200A Speed
>> Charger, which pumps high frequency pure DC. Connect it, plug it in,
>> and forget about it.
>>
>> Lg
>
>Posters here know that Lawrence is very proud of his smart charger.
>I'm not sure about how one "pumps high frequency PURE DC" though. I
>suspect he means pulsed DC.

High frequency pulsed DC, not like 60 Hertz chopped, but more like
this kind of sawtooth IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
above ground at 13.4 volts, or whatever it needs to be at in order to
get the battery back in shape as quicly and safely as possible.

It might start out at 12 amperes, drop down to 8, end up at 2 amperes,
and I have a =DC= CL-Amp meter to verify what it is doing, so I know
*how* it behaves when hooked up, but for those that want to watch the
voltage, there is a nice red LED readout on the front that will tell
you to the tenth of a volt, % of charge on battery, or Alternator %age
depending on which button you push.

>A smart charger is nice if you can afford it.

With batteries going for $75 a crack, I can't afford -not- to have it.

> But the poster asks about
>the charger that he has, not the neat one Lawrence purchased.
>It doesn't matter if you use the 2A or the 10A charge assuming the
>battery is rated to take charging at those rates. Usually they print
>that info on the side of the battery. If it really is a small GEL
>battery then maybe 10A is too fast. You better check that out.
>If you don't have a smart charger, the key is to know when the battery
>is fully charged and not go beyond that point. You can do that pretty
>much with a cheap voltmeter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
>Personally, I do not like to go away and leave a charger unattended,
>whether it's a smart charger or not. And I own about every type made.
>Too many things can go wrong.

Heck I hook em up in the garage all the time and let em run overnight,
cause I make so many short trips I think I pull more current than I
put back in with the alternator. Never had a problem yet. Detached
garage of course, and -well- ventilated.

Lg

First off, you should post the type of battery. Marine 'gel' cells are
really rare. Lead acid spiral cells like Optima are much more common.

Then you need to go to the maker's website and find out the 'proper' way
to charge it up. Most 'gel' cell batteries will up and die if
overcharged.

If you have the time, a slow low charge is always the best for pretty
much any automotive battery.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

rutman wrote:
>
> Hi.
>
> After reading previous google posts, and my eyes bleeding due to the
> toxic nature of my 17 inch crt monitor.. i have decided to ask the
> forever question of:
>
> Whats the best way to charge a 12volts marine deep cycle battery?
>
> some people claim they can take a beating and to charge them at 10a
> for 6 hours
>
> others claim to charge them at 2amp for 20 hours, slow charge is the
> best way to go they claim
>
> I currently own a charger with only two settings. 2a ( trickle charge
> ) or 10am. I have been charging the battery at 10a
>
> please advise

Lawrence Glickman wrote:

> high frequency pure DC.

OW! I think that statement just damaged my brain.

Mike Romain wrote:

> First off, you should post the type of battery. Marine 'gel' cells are
> really rare. Lead acid spiral cells like Optima are much more common.


Ouch, that one hurt my brain too! :-p

On Tue, 03 May 2005 10:10:19 -0500, Steve > wrote:

>Lawrence Glickman wrote:
>
>> high frequency pure DC.
>
>OW! I think that statement just damaged my brain.

Pure DC only means, that the current flowing in the circuit is ALWAYS
moving in one direction, and one direction only. Convention says,
from plus to minus, electronics says from minus to plus.

That could hurt your brain a *little,* but nothing a Tylenol shouldn't
cure.

What this circuit does is VARY the magnitude of voltage at, a high
frequency, with the RMS value, being the mean, determining the current
through the circuit. This is apparently a faster way to charge a
battery WITHOUT doing any damage to it.

IOW, it is getting *spurts* of high voltage, and then dropped back to
a lower voltage, rather than being run continuously at the mean
between the peak and lowest values.

This is a somewhat unfamiliar principle with those who haven't been
following the leading edge of charging circuits as I have, so I am not
surprised at your reaction. BTW, this also helps break up sulfiding
that may be on the plates. There is a reason to do it this way. You
might want to do some research.

Lg

Steve wrote:
>
> Mike Romain wrote:
>
> > First off, you should post the type of battery. Marine 'gel' cells are
> > really rare. Lead acid spiral cells like Optima are much more common.
>
> Ouch, that one hurt my brain too! :-p


Yup, I should have asked which 'brand' of battery, not type I know.

Caught it on the second read, thanks.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Lawrence Glickman wrote:

> On Tue, 03 May 2005 10:10:19 -0500, Steve > wrote:
>
>
>>Lawrence Glickman wrote:
>>
>>
>>>high frequency pure DC.
>>
>>OW! I think that statement just damaged my brain.
>
>
> Pure DC only means, that the current flowing in the circuit is ALWAYS
> moving in one direction, and one direction only. Convention says,
> from plus to minus, electronics says from minus to plus.
>

I have not problem with the term "Pure DC" although it doesn't mean what
you typed above. It means "DC without ripple" or DC with no AC
component. 'DC' by itself means what you typed above.

"High frequency pure DC" is an oxymoron. If there is any frequency
component at all, then the DC is not pure.