Charging ?
Is it okay to charge my trailer battery with a plain old car battery charger? I've never messed with a deep cycle battery before... Thanks.
Forum Discussion
(The second yes is a bit more complex) The older "Dumb" chargers from say 1970 For like an hour or 2 yes but not for long.. WHY. they don't know when to quit.. The smart chargers do..
ROAD APPLES!
They vary. This is what's so tricky about how much is enough. Use a smart charger then follow up by hydrometer verification. If a battery ends it's charge at 13.6 volts maximum "X" charge time then it violates vehicle alternator voltage regulator protocol. Your new hott-doggie smart charger is stupider than a 60-year-old alternator system.
It gets worse.
The lower the battery starts off at the more error the smart charger achieves "Real Fartsmeller" intelligence, this...
BFL, you are omitting voltage regulation and trying to sneak balls-out uncontrolled charging in your arguments, with your written assumptions about timing by wetting a finger and compass guessing a charge timing.
Next time, try a 4-hour VOLTAGE LIMITED charge rate. Set it to 14.4 volts. I've gagged but someone had to do it. A hundred dollar Sears smart charger vs reality. Taking this 40 amp charger and applying it to a half-charged, Johnson & Johnson group 31 battery, the final resting density of the acid was 1.252
Now does that sound anywhere near 1.285? Most other fartsmeller chargers are even worse and the more the ampere-hours bank total capacity it declines from error to just plain stupid because of a fixed timer for absorption max.
You may settle for a half-assed full charge I simply do not have money to waste using a generator for prime power.
I've described how a 40-amp adjustable power supply coupled with an AC timer shut-off just beats the snot out of the least offensive (to the battery) overpriced smart charger.
Set the little voltage screw on the power supply ONCE and NEVER AGAIN. 14.4 volts is a good compromise for both wet and AGM. A 6-hour timer is enough time to allow ten minutes to six hours' time at 14.4. Top charging? Try 20 minutes. A big bank may require 6 full hours at 40 amps.
WET When the batteries start to bubble slightly they are charged. When an AGM battery reaches hits the wall plus 20 minutes to top off, the battery is charged.
Think you can remember these numbers? The KEY is voltage regulation. Set voltage once and then forget about it. The timer does the work by itself.
I can charge faster and safer with LESS effort than any smart charger on the market. Period. Anyone who thinks a hundred dollar Smart charger can even approach this precision is crazier than a ****house rat. Unless of course, they haven't the level of timekeeping equal to a 6-year old.
The smart chargers dstroy batteries vis sulfation. It would take ten resets of a 6 hour timer to even begin to threaten a wet or AGM battery with overcharge. Now, who is the idiot than is going to do that? Reading some of these answers, who knows?
I've worked with this stuff and Einstein grade arguments are worthless. Reality ALWAYS trumps superstition or guesswork.
ROAD APPLES!
They vary. This is what's so tricky about how much is enough. Use a smart charger then follow up by hydrometer verification. If a battery ends it's charge at 13.6 volts maximum "X" charge time then it violates vehicle alternator voltage regulator protocol. Your new hott-doggie smart charger is stupider than a 60-year-old alternator system.
It gets worse.
The lower the battery starts off at the more error the smart charger achieves "Real Fartsmeller" intelligence, this...
BFL, you are omitting voltage regulation and trying to sneak balls-out uncontrolled charging in your arguments, with your written assumptions about timing by wetting a finger and compass guessing a charge timing.
Next time, try a 4-hour VOLTAGE LIMITED charge rate. Set it to 14.4 volts. I've gagged but someone had to do it. A hundred dollar Sears smart charger vs reality. Taking this 40 amp charger and applying it to a half-charged, Johnson & Johnson group 31 battery, the final resting density of the acid was 1.252
Now does that sound anywhere near 1.285? Most other fartsmeller chargers are even worse and the more the ampere-hours bank total capacity it declines from error to just plain stupid because of a fixed timer for absorption max.
You may settle for a half-assed full charge I simply do not have money to waste using a generator for prime power.
I've described how a 40-amp adjustable power supply coupled with an AC timer shut-off just beats the snot out of the least offensive (to the battery) overpriced smart charger.
Set the little voltage screw on the power supply ONCE and NEVER AGAIN. 14.4 volts is a good compromise for both wet and AGM. A 6-hour timer is enough time to allow ten minutes to six hours' time at 14.4. Top charging? Try 20 minutes. A big bank may require 6 full hours at 40 amps.
WET When the batteries start to bubble slightly they are charged. When an AGM battery reaches hits the wall plus 20 minutes to top off, the battery is charged.
Think you can remember these numbers? The KEY is voltage regulation. Set voltage once and then forget about it. The timer does the work by itself.
I can charge faster and safer with LESS effort than any smart charger on the market. Period. Anyone who thinks a hundred dollar Smart charger can even approach this precision is crazier than a ****house rat. Unless of course, they haven't the level of timekeeping equal to a 6-year old.
The smart chargers dstroy batteries vis sulfation. It would take ten resets of a 6 hour timer to even begin to threaten a wet or AGM battery with overcharge. Now, who is the idiot than is going to do that? Reading some of these answers, who knows?
I've worked with this stuff and Einstein grade arguments are worthless. Reality ALWAYS trumps superstition or guesswork.
