Battery Charging

Jonathan Barker · Post by **Jonathan Barker** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:56 pm

Is a 12 volt battery charger connected to the special plug supplied, suitable for charging direct or do I need to charge each 12volt battery separately?[/img][/quote]

chris fry · Post by **chris fry** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 5:51 pm

hello jonathan,
a 12v charger will only charge a 12v battery, as you have linked two together you will have 24v and will have to disconnect one from the other and charge them individually
chris.

Jonathan Barker · Post by **Jonathan Barker** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 3:23 pm

Thanks Chris. I thought this might be the case - I suppose the socket connector supplied is for connection to a 24V charger.

David Pengelly · Post by **David Pengelly** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 7:34 pm

Hi Johnathan , I got my 24 volt charger from a company that repairs and overhauls electric powered wheelchairs and golf buggies. Its nothing fancy , but it does the job well, fast charging to 90% , then trickle charging to keep the battery topped up.

Matthijs Dijkstra · Post by **Matthijs Dijkstra** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:59 pm

Hi David,

I have 2 separate 12V chargers! This because I nread it's better to charge the batteries seperately with 12V to get them 100% charged. As no 12V battery is exactly the same it is recomended to charge the battery with 12V and not 12 plus 12 = 24V with a 24V charger!

Matthijs

David Pengelly · Post by **David Pengelly** » Tue Apr 29, 2008 5:02 pm

Electronics and electrics are not my strong point as i am a mechanical engineer, however , i am told that if you have 2 x 12volt batteries connected together to give you 24volts , then it is better to charge them as a complete unit useing a 24volt charger, They will balance themselves out , charging evenly .

Post by **Armortek** » Tue Apr 29, 2008 6:36 pm

Gentlemen

If you ask 100 engineers how you should charge a battery, you will get 100 totally different answers. Some will tell you it is important for battery life to do one way, others will tell you that it is important for performance to do it another. Our experience is that it actually makes very little difference. Modern sealed gel batteries will handle all sorts of abuse both in use and in charging. You could spend hundreds on fancy battery chargers, and they may extend the life of the battery or improve its performance. Personally I doubt it, but I am just 1 in 100 engineers! We use a brute force and ignorance 24volt truck battery "start and charge", and use it flat out to charge the batteries in about 20 minutes. We have never had a battery fail.

Mark

Matthijs Dijkstra · Post by **Matthijs Dijkstra** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:31 pm

Wow Mark in only 20 minutes???? That's fantastic!! I was told to be very carefull with charging the batteries. And to get the best result one should charge them separately with a 12V charger! I've got two 12V 2.5 Amp/h chargers which take them a long time to fully charge both batteries! I am happy to hear that it can be done in 20 minutes!!

Matthijs

Allan Richards · Post by **Allan Richards** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 3:24 pm

I agree with Mark that battery charging is a bit of a black art. It is possible to charge modern batteries quite fast but the danger, especially with sealed batteries, is forgetting you've left them on charge. When fully charged they heat up, gas and can eventually explode. This happened to me with a 7.2v Nicad pack that I forgot about and left on a fast charge. I bought the Accumate three cycle intelligent charger, so it charges fast initially, then when the battery is about 80% charged it switches to a medium charge and finally when the battery is fully charged it switches to a trickle charge just keeping the battery topped up. It says that the battery can be left on the charger continuously. It is also switchable between 12v and 24v so you can charge a pair or individually as you like. I always leave the batteries as a pair.

I think that the other important thing to do is cycle the batteries. If you run the model regularly (1/2 - 1 hour permonth) then no bother but if you don't it is good practice to cycle the batteries. I do this using a 24v light bulb, but to avoid completlety flattening the batteries I use a timer working a relay to switch off the bulb after about 10 hours. Some battery chargers don't recognise a completly flat battery and won't charge it. You will find that if you don't do this battery capacity will fall and their life is reduced.

Marc Ford · Post by **Marc Ford** » Thu May 01, 2008 10:58 pm

Hi all

All Of the Guys In the Devon tank club use the accumate 12/24v charger and charge the powerpack as a 24v unit.My understanding is you should always charge a battery as soon as you have used it as they like to be fully charged and perform better.This goes for all types or lead acid,calcium,agm,deep cycle leasure etc.Its just that they are built differently inside and certain ones can sustain being used for a long time then charged.
Charging tank batteries in 20 mins!I think I will have to get me one of those chargers for weekend events

All the best

Marc