Disconnected battery

[mjoekingz28]

Barring the use of a multimeter, do you recommend one way or another to charge a battery every six weeks for say 8 hrs at a 2ampere rate?

OR

When I reconnect the battery, turn the key and THEN charge it if it doesnt crank solidly and start up?

Conditions are, probably 4-10 weeks with temps of 45-80F. Positive is untouched, just the NEG lead removed from the post.

Thanka

 

[mk378]

Battery maintainer or automatic battery charger.

Why are you "barring the use of a multimeter"?? Anyone who works on electrical systems AT ALL needs to have one.

 

[CT8]

Originally Posted By: mk378
Battery maintainer or automatic battery charger.

Why are you "barring the use of a multimeter"?? Anyone who works on electrical systems AT ALL needs to have one.
+1 make it easy and prolong the life of the battery.

 

[RoadRaceJosh]

If the battery is sitting for less than 6 months in a cool climate or 4 months in a warm one it shouldn't need any charging in order to start the vehicle. Self discharge on a starting battery in good condition is not that fast. If you want to make sure the battery doesn't go dead get yourself a motorcycle battery smart charger or Battery Tender and that will keep the battery at full charge. Unregulated trickle chargers are a bad idea unless you're checking voltage regularly and good chargers will cost you some money. About the same as a not-quite-junk multimeter.

 

[friendly_jacek]

multimeters were free at HF just a couple of days ago. and it's not junk. reading comparable to my big one.

 

[eljefino]

You could find a chart where you can tell state of charge from resting volts with temp compensation.

Realistically, for winter storage, I store it topped up, and forget about it. The cold will keep self-discharge down.

If I'm bored around valentines day and can get at it, I'll throw a HF trickle charge on for 8 hours.

Then when it's time to wake up in spring I put a 6 amp charger on and see how long it takes the built-in ammeter to drop to around 2 amps, to signify being "mostly charged". Then I go to start it.

 

[Inspecktor]

For bike storage, I currently have a Deltran Battery Tender. It works very well at keeping the battery topped up. I used to replace one of the lights in the garage door opener, then use a screw in outlet hooked up to a 1 amp m/c battery charger. Every time the door is opened, battery gets a couple minutes charge. Never had a problem with spring starting.

 

[JHZR2]

A multimeter has nothing to do with charging a battery. It is a sending tool.

Assuming the battery icon good condition, four weeks with no load at those temperatures is fairly benign. Past that is want to maintain it at least a bit, with any smart, temperature compensated charger.

I'd want to put a little charge back in before cranking the first time, if it has sat without a maintenance charge. Not doing that won't kill it, but the conduction voltage under load will be higher, which benefits everything down the line and the chemistry itself.

 

[raytseng]

huh?
I don't understand the theory of what you're trying to accomplish.
You don't want to just use a smart trickle charger that's always on? Not sure why you want to cycle your charging? to have 8hrs on then 5weeks off.

I assume, this is because you already have your 2amp charger?

If you really want to have a duty cycle charging you can pick up timer. Most people use to automate their lights. You'll need to search for a weekly or yearly timer though. Most are 24hour cycles and there are some weekly timers;
It may get extremely expensive to find a yearly charger though if your cycle is longer than 1 week.
Or you'll have to get into home automation and somethign that can sync with a computer or internet to know when to turn on and off.

You have to also be sure that your charger doesn't drain the battery when it's power gets shut off.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: Joshua_Skinner
If the battery is sitting for less than 6 months in a cool climate or 4 months in a warm one it shouldn't need any charging in order to start the vehicle. Self discharge on a starting battery in good condition is not that fast.


Agreed, I have stuff that sets around sometimes three to five months, maybe I'll recharge it after two or three months, maybe not... One battery I'm still using was 10 years old a in Sept, the other is six plus years old...

Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
multimeters were free at HF just a couple of days ago. and it's not junk. reading comparable to my big one.


Agreed on this as well, dead on with a couple $400+ Simpson's I have... Yeah those were purchased some years ago and sent out for $$$ maintenance/calibration several times over the years...

 

[CT8]

I bet the HF unit will not last in commercial applications. I like my Simpson and Fluke 23.