jim.thornton

I have purchased the attached batter to put in my field box. I have a wal charger with aligator clips that said "Output: 15VDC 600mah". Can I use this charger on this battery??

huck1199

Yes but I would check it periodically (hourly after 3-4 hrs) with a volt meter to avoid overcharge.

jim.thornton

Thank you... If I test it right after charging (every 3 to 4 hours) won't the reading I get produce a false/surface charge indicating that it will have a higher charge than it actually does?

huck1199

Yes, possibily, but you don't want to over charge. With the charger you are using it would be easy to over charge; you have no control like you would with an automatic charger. I suggest you get an auto shut-off type (car charger) that will reduce the rate as the resistance in the battery increases (as voltage goes up). Then you can hook up and forget it. Yours will work but 600 ma will charge a 7ah battery fairly quickly, assuming you don't draw it down much past 11 volts. I you charge it for 2-3 hours a week it should be OK. I put a Radio shack volt meter on my box to monitor my battery. When it gets to about 11.5 volts I cherge it with a 500ma charger for 3 hours. This keeps it up for my starter.

AB Bob

My Feedback: (20)

I use a Battery Tender for my lead acid batteries. Charges at 1.25 amps and then cuts back to trickle (actually float) charge to maintain.
Similar type chargers can be had for $25 on up.
Bob

jim.thornton

I also have a field charger that is variable from 500mah to 3.0Ah.

This charger will only charge for a maximum of 65 minutes. After that it shuts off to a trickle charge. I have leads with aligator clips on the end of that and I could charge it with that too.

The only thing is that this field charger has to hook up to a car battery to charge. I don't have a wall plug for it.

Rodney

Yes you can. You should never charge a Pb sealed battery at more than 0.1C which would be 720 milliamperes in your case. The 600 milliamperes is well within this range. It will take at least 14 to 16 hours to charge your battery if it is nearly empty. The nice thing about Pb batteries is that the voltage is a pretty good indicator of state of charge. Stop the charge when the voltage gets to 13.7 volts. Always recharge when the voltage falls to 11.9 volts. There are two common ways to ruin a Pb battery; to fast a charge rate and deep discharge. Of course an overcharge will also be bad and, if overdone can literally cause the battery to vent and be permanently damaged. If you are new to batteries, check out www.hangtimes.com/redsbatteryclinic.html
Red provides a bit of very good information on all types of batteries there.

zero244

My Feedback: (1)

I also have a Battery Tender and its a great little charger. It charges slow and is very easy on your batteries.
I have the one that charges at 750 mah.
And it fits in the palm of your hand.

achalla

richrd

Be careful car battery chargers will ruin gel cells, most can not control the current they put out.
Rich

snir2001

My Feedback: (1)

You can also buy a nice simple all-around charger for your Pb battery and other chemistry for less than 20$
Here you go: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...cessories.html
Working just fine and the price is