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
Moving goal posts! Now generators are in the picture. You don't go to full charge on a generator just do 50-90s.
So no timer needed. You are there to stop the generator when campground gen time is up, or else when you think you are at 90 and can stop.
A timer would only be good for when on shore power and going to full recharge, when using a constant voltage charger at spec Vabs, and it is getting past bedtime. So now you can let it run while you are in your rack, and the timer will stop it.
Otherwise, you have to stop it and restart in the morning.
My smart charger VEC1093DBD does stop too soon on a 27DC if I start it at 40 amps and let it run till it says "full". SG is still not up where it belongs.
However, same charger, same battery, set it to 4 amps and engage Equalize, and it will run all the way to 15.8 (temp compensated even!) at low amps--and shut itself off saying "full" and now SG is up where it belongs. Mex taught us that for 27s on here, not long ago. (Wish I had known that 10 years ago when I was fighting with my 27s)
So with this smart charger I can let it keep running overnight no worries--it stops by itself and the 27DC battery is properly done.
BUT I can't do that with my AGMs which want Vabs of 14.4 all the way till amps are 0.5/100AH, AND they want you to start with a 20% charging rate, so no low and slow with them.
So I have a smart charger that is smart, but I have to know when to use it, and when to use a different charger. Use the right tool for the job!
So no timer needed. You are there to stop the generator when campground gen time is up, or else when you think you are at 90 and can stop.
A timer would only be good for when on shore power and going to full recharge, when using a constant voltage charger at spec Vabs, and it is getting past bedtime. So now you can let it run while you are in your rack, and the timer will stop it.
Otherwise, you have to stop it and restart in the morning.
My smart charger VEC1093DBD does stop too soon on a 27DC if I start it at 40 amps and let it run till it says "full". SG is still not up where it belongs.
However, same charger, same battery, set it to 4 amps and engage Equalize, and it will run all the way to 15.8 (temp compensated even!) at low amps--and shut itself off saying "full" and now SG is up where it belongs. Mex taught us that for 27s on here, not long ago. (Wish I had known that 10 years ago when I was fighting with my 27s)
So with this smart charger I can let it keep running overnight no worries--it stops by itself and the 27DC battery is properly done.
BUT I can't do that with my AGMs which want Vabs of 14.4 all the way till amps are 0.5/100AH, AND they want you to start with a 20% charging rate, so no low and slow with them.
So I have a smart charger that is smart, but I have to know when to use it, and when to use a different charger. Use the right tool for the job!
