7 stage leisure battery charger?

[rlepecha]

Hi,

I recently purchased one of these
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=271107518129" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Due to the 20a output which would be plenty to keep the fridge etc running while still charging the battery.

However I am now a bit concerned after testing the charger. Initially I have been charging unconnected battery's, on both my brand new leisure battery and old starter battery it has gone through the 'recondition' mode (16V for 4 hours to re-mix/equalise the fluid).

16v is a lot more than the appliances hooked up to this charger are expecting, isn't this going to cause me some problems?
I am also yet to actually get it to bulk charge on any battery; I tried a completely flat starter battery and it went straight to absorption, I presume its clever enough to not push 20a into a small battery?

Any help or knowledge would be appreciated. Maybe I should've bought a 3 stage one!

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[john the horse]

i have no knowledge of that charger however i can say that a fully mullered battery i had once wouldnt take a charge with a conventional charger and so plugged a similar charger on it ( optimate) and it went though its stages etc and finally the battery is alive again, however that took a total of four days to do with a 110 amp/hr job.

and as for the twenty amp question, i dont see a problem in slamming 20 amps into a battery thats good , as you alternator/ dyno throw out more than that. however if its a clever charger which it looks like each time you attach to a battery it will run through its cycle of test, slow charge , in and out stuff and then gradually build up the rate of charge and then drop it down into maintenance mode. if you are charging whilst discharging then if the battery is ok then the charger should compensate.

now in 99% of my ***** on here its a load of bollocks and mistruthes , however i was congratuled by Pete B last week for giving a correct answer and so this maybe 2 outta 2 . (maybe not also)

thats all i got on the matter , right must get back to work .

jth

 

[Trikky2]

Sounds about right to me Mr Horse. :mrgreen:

As for the voltage, even an ordinary dynamo will hit 14.5 volts when charging.

The deep cycle to recover tired batteries is a good feature. Sounds like a handy bit of kit. It's surprising what can be achieved. A few years back the battery on my tractor was dead after having stood unused for some time and wouldn't accept a charge from the normal trickle charger. Using a high charge rate and then a heavy load to flatten it again revived it after about five cycles. Doesn't always work but worth a try.

 

[jonboylaw]

The 16v charge cycle is to "shock" the plates and remove the lead sulphite build up that kills the battery. Once this has been dislodged it will see the current flow change and reduce the voltage.
Optimate and the like really do work well.


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[rlepecha]

Thanks for the replies. My understanding was that the alternator will only supply the required amps, similar to the 'absorption' stage of a charger?

The 16v stage on this charger has a set time to run and doesn't switch off when it notices improvement, then it will retest the battery and then flicks over onto float charge.

I guess the test will be the first time I try it with the fridge, amp or whatever hooked up to it. I presume it will recognise the load as soon as it is switches on.

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