Battery maintainer charges to 14+ volts

[bbhero]

It’s not just voltage… It’s the amount of amperage flowing at 14.4 volts… And what is the amp hour rating of the battery? What is the amperage rating of this charger? Without knowing the chargers amperage rating and not knowing how much amperage that battery is actually accepting… It’s all wild guessing at this point.

Once the battery is accepting less than 0.5 percent per 100 hour amperage rating on that battery… Then it should be fully charged and then the maintainer should taper voltage downward to a lower floating voltage with hardly any amperage being sent to the battery.

 

[Torrid]

It’s not just voltage… It’s the amount of amperage flowing at 14.4 volts… And what is the amp hour rating of the battery? What is the amperage rating of this charger? Without knowing the chargers amperage rating and not knowing how much amperage that battery is actually accepting… It’s all wild guessing at this point.

Once the battery is accepting less than 0.5 percent per 100 hour amperage rating on that battery… Then it should be fully charged and then the maintainer should taper voltage downward to a lower floating voltage with hardly any amperage being sent to the battery.

Chargers can't force amperage, it can have supply limitations though. What happens is that the charger can supply a voltage and amperage comes in as a limitation of the charger if the battery wants more than the charger can supply. If the battery is at 12v and the charger is supplying 14.4v the battery, the battery will only take what it can to equalize. Like you said the charger at this point should lower voltage to match and maintain the battery at full charge.

 

[loneryder]

It’s not just voltage… It’s the amount of amperage flowing at 14.4 volts… And what is the amp hour rating of the battery? What is the amperage rating of this charger? Without knowing the chargers amperage rating and not knowing how much amperage that battery is actually accepting… It’s all wild guessing at this point.

Once the battery is accepting less than 0.5 percent per 100 hour amperage rating on that battery… Then it should be fully charged and then the maintainer should taper voltage downward to a lower floating voltage with hardly any amperage being sent to the battery.

One I have turns off like in the pic.

 

[bbhero]

Chargers can't force amperage, it can have supply limitations though. What happens is that the charger can supply a voltage and amperage comes in as a limitation of the charger if the battery wants more than the charger can supply. If the battery is at 12v and the charger is supplying 14.4v the battery, the battery will only take what it can to equalize. Like you said the charger at this point should lower voltage to match and maintain the battery at full charge.

Not trying to give you a hard time here. Not my intent. However I said ZERO about “ forcing amperage.

What I clearly stated was amperage being accepted and at what voltage…

“ Without knowing the chargers amperage rating and not knowing how much amperage that battery is actually accepting. “

That was my point there.

If you don’t have a ammeter… then we do not know how much amperage is being ACCEPTED by the battery…

You are flying blind …. 14.4 volts means nothing without knowing the acceptable of amperage by the battery… And if we don’t know what amperage that charger is… Its all a wild ass guessing game….

It can be 14.4 volts but if 0.4 amps are flowing… That battery is nearly fully charged… If it’s 14.4 volts and say it’s a 10 amp rated charger and 6 amps are flowing… Than that battery is a long, long way from being fully charged.

That’s what I was saying here…

We had a member on here who used a adjustable power supply system to charge his batteries… He would crank up the voltage and amperage to nearly 40 percent of the rated amp hours those batteries were rated for… He would push 40-50 amps into a 130 amp hr rated battery for 10-15 minutes… Then he would manually adjust the voltage and amperage downward from there.

This member used an ammeter while recharging his Thin Plate Pure Lead batteries. To know what the battery was accepting at what voltage. He got nearly 1,200 deep cycles on that battery. Quite remarkable.

 

[Rand]

Then burn up some batteries and learn the same way I did...

Mail me your defective maintainer?
And I'll link you 20 or 30 good models.

I have no doubt you blew up some batteries.. but you can't generally state all maintainers blow up batteries...

 

[OX1]

Battery maintainers burn up batteries. Don't leave it on all the time.

No they dont. I have 11 vehicles, bobcat, boat, lawn tractor, one trailer with 65 series batt due to E/H brakes. I get min 7 and a max of 15 years on very low heat cycles for all of them. Been using cheaper 1.5 ampers for 20 years.

My 23 f250 diesel does get a more modern 3 amper. My 05 cummins dodge got new batts at 12 years, 55k miles, and only due to being worried about crapping out somewhere towing. Those batts are still in my 79 bronco I tow boat with and plow out myself and neighbors.

 

[oil pan 4]

Mail me your defective maintainer?
And I'll link you 20 or 30 good models.

I have no doubt you blew up some batteries.. but you can't generally state all maintainers blow up batteries...

Already mailed it to the dump a long time ago. I didn't blow any up they just died.

 

[Torrid]

Not trying to give you a hard time here. Not my intent. However I said ZERO about “ forcing amperage.

What I clearly stated was amperage being accepted and at what voltage…

“ Without knowing the chargers amperage rating and not knowing how much amperage that battery is actually accepting. “

That was my point there.

If you don’t have a ammeter… then we do not know how much amperage is being ACCEPTED by the battery…

You are flying blind …. 14.4 volts means nothing without knowing the acceptable of amperage by the battery… And if we don’t know what amperage that charger is… Its all a wild ass guessing game….

It can be 14.4 volts but if 0.4 amps are flowing… That battery is nearly fully charged… If it’s 14.4 volts and say it’s a 10 amp rated charger and 6 amps are flowing… Than that battery is a long, long way from being fully charged.

That’s what I was saying here…

We had a member on here who used a adjustable power supply system to charge his batteries… He would crank up the voltage and amperage to nearly 40 percent of the rated amp hours those batteries were rated for… He would push 40-50 amps into a 130 amp hr rated battery for 10-15 minutes… Then he would manually adjust the voltage and amperage downward from there.

This member used an ammeter while recharging his Thin Plate Pure Lead batteries. To know what the battery was accepting at what voltage. He got nearly 1,200 deep cycles on that battery. Quite remarkable.

I agree with you. The forcing amperage thing was more of an open comment for anyone reading that wasn’t aware of what the charger was capable of doing.

Pretty impressive battery life from the manual adjustment when charging. This must be what modern cars are attempting to simulate.

 

[barryh]

Pretty impressive battery life from the manual adjustment when charging. This must be what modern cars are attempting to simulate.

What smart alternators in modern cars are doing is trying to incrementally reduce the headline mpg and emissions figures at any cost. I don't think they have the batteries health at heart in this. The algorithm that governs charging voltage is complex and depends on load but in essence they try to charge at full voltage only on the overrun and all but stop charging when the battery reaches 80% full charge. The end result in my experience is short journey use ends with the battery at very little more than 80% charge. Only after longer trips of several hours does the battery reach anywhere near full charge. Unless battery chemistry has changed that is not the ideal way to treat a battery for longest life. I do a top up charge once per week or when the car isn't going to be used for a few days so that the battery spends at least some of the time at full charge.


An example algorithm:

The control module enters Charge Mode whenever one of the following conditions is met:
Under WOT conditions and when the fuel rate (sent by the ECM/PCM) is greater than 21 g/S and the throttle position is greater than 90%.
The headlamps are on, low or high beam.
The wipers are on for more than 8 seconds.
The electric cooling fans are on high speed.
The rear defogger is on.
The battery SOC is less than 80%.
When one of these conditions is met, the control module ramps up the voltage slowly to a level between 13.4 to 15.5V (depending upon the mode of operation the system is presently in) at a rate of 8mV to 50mV per second.

The control module enters Fuel Economy Mode when the following conditions are met:
The calculated ambient air temperature is above 32°F.
The calculated battery current is less than 15A and greater than –8A.
The battery SOC is greater than 80%.
The generator field duty cycle is less than 99%.
This mode’s targeted generator output voltage is 13.0V. The control module will exit this mode once the criteria are met for Charge Mode.

The control module will enter Voltage Reduction Mode when the following conditions are met:
The calculated ambient air temperature is above 32°F.
The calculated battery current is less than 2A and greater than –7A.
The generator field duty cycle is less than 99%.
This mode’s targeted generator output voltage is 12.9V. The control module will exit this mode once the criteria are met for Charge Mode.

After the engine has started, the control module sets a targeted generator output voltage of 14.5V for 30 seconds (Start Up Mode).

The control module enters Battery Sulfation Mode when the battery voltage is less than 13.2V for 45 minutes. Once in this mode, the generator battery control module will set a targeted output voltage between 13.9 and 15.5V for five minutes. The control module will then determine which mode to enter depending on voltage requirements.

In RVC Mode, the control module bases the charging voltage on battery SOC, which is estimated during a key-off event every eight hours, after three voltage measurements every 24 hours thereafter, and then monitored constantly while the ignition is on. These voltage measurements are then compared to estimated battery temperature, as battery temperature vs. battery voltage directly corresponds to battery SOC. While the engine is running, the system uses both the battery voltage and estimated battery temperature to determine the battery current in and out of the battery. The control module then regulates the charging voltage to keep the battery above an 80% SOC.

 

[f355spider]

Sorry I meant it charges and maintains the battery at 14.2v. As you can see in the pic, it's connected and is off. So it doesn't stay on. When I opened the door and the lights came on, the maintainer came on, charges back to 14.2v and turns off.

You need to see the actual algorithm for this battery charger/maintainer. While it is charging up to 14.2vt, I don't believe it is "maintaining" it at that voltage if it turns off once it reaches that set point of 14.2vt. Usually with this algorithm, it will turn off charging and then monitor the voltage and let it drop to some pre determined set point. Might be 12.6vt or so, then it will automatically start charging and bring it back up to 14.2vt and turn off. This particular algorithm is supposed to "excercise" the battery, and reduce the chance of sulfation and extend battery life. These algorithms are targeted for longer term storage I believe.

There are some that say this is less than ideal algorithm. They claim the battery is not always in the ideal "ready for service" voltage if it is in the "pause" and voltage is dropping down, especially if you put it into service just prior to it hitting the set point where it would start charging back up again.

 

[bonjo]

the resting voltage of the battery when the charge cycle is finished with the charge still connected, should be 13v -/+0.1(flooded lead acid).
If you are getting 14+, then it is still charging. Faulty battery or charger??