Deep cell Charging, Proper procedure?
 

Is there any procedure that I need follow to charge my deep cell
batteries? I have a "Marine" 12 volt charger. When I try to charge them
it seems to take a very long time and I have never charged them fully
because I am worried about the long charges. How long should it take to
charge a deep cell?

Depends on the capacity of the battery and the output of the charger.

Is your "marine" charger also a "smart charger"?
Some marine chargers are just rust resistant (not rust proof) versions
of cheapie auto store chargers sold for 3 times the price.

If it's a smart charger, it will charge in three distinct stages. The
first two pour a lot of juice into the battery to bring up cells fairly
rapidly, and the last is a "float" stage that supplies just a trickle
of current to keep the battery topped up.

If you have a smart charger, you should be able to run it until the
batteries are fully charged and then leave it connected (assuming you
check your boat every few days or so) to keep them that way.

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 15:45:01 -0600, Jim wrote:

Is there any procedure that I need follow to charge my deep cell
batteries? I have a "Marine" 12 volt charger. When I try to charge them
it seems to take a very long time and I have never charged them fully
because I am worried about the long charges. How long should it take to
charge a deep cell?

Here's a guess. You are probably trying to charge the battery with a
trickle battery charger. Probably need a larger charger.

Believe it or not, Wal-Mart sells a great "smart" charger - fully
encapsulated and while not rated as water proof, it is. I know from
practical experience.

If you have a smart charger and your battery is behaving like this,
it is probably shot.

Later,

Tom

No my charger is not a smart charger. Thanks fo the info I will look
into a better charger.

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 15:45:01 -0600, Jim wrote:


Is there any procedure that I need follow to charge my deep cell
batteries? I have a "Marine" 12 volt charger. When I try to charge them
it seems to take a very long time and I have never charged them fully
because I am worried about the long charges. How long should it take to
charge a deep cell?


Here's a guess. You are probably trying to charge the battery with a
trickle battery charger. Probably need a larger charger.

Believe it or not, Wal-Mart sells a great "smart" charger - fully
encapsulated and while not rated as water proof, it is. I know from
practical experience.

If you have a smart charger and your battery is behaving like this,
it is probably shot.

Later,

Tom

Thanks I will look into getting a smart charger.

wrote:

Depends on the capacity of the battery and the output of the charger.

Is your "marine" charger also a "smart charger"?
Some marine chargers are just rust resistant (not rust proof) versions
of cheapie auto store chargers sold for 3 times the price.

If it's a smart charger, it will charge in three distinct stages. The
first two pour a lot of juice into the battery to bring up cells fairly
rapidly, and the last is a "float" stage that supplies just a trickle
of current to keep the battery topped up.

If you have a smart charger, you should be able to run it until the
batteries are fully charged and then leave it connected (assuming you
check your boat every few days or so) to keep them that way.

yeh, I got a $25 smart charger (6 amp) from W*l-Mart and it works great.
Called Vector or Victor or something. 't's all I need.


"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 15:45:01 -0600, Jim wrote:

Is there any procedure that I need follow to charge my deep cell
batteries? I have a "Marine" 12 volt charger. When I try to charge them
it seems to take a very long time and I have never charged them fully
because I am worried about the long charges. How long should it take to
charge a deep cell?

Here's a guess. You are probably trying to charge the battery with a
trickle battery charger. Probably need a larger charger.

Believe it or not, Wal-Mart sells a great "smart" charger - fully
encapsulated and while not rated as water proof, it is. I know from
practical experience.

If you have a smart charger and your battery is behaving like this,
it is probably shot.

Later,

Tom

On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 01:27:59 GMT, "Falky foo"
wrote:

yeh, I got a $25 smart charger (6 amp) from W*l-Mart and it works great.
Called Vector or Victor or something. 't's all I need.

=============================================

For $80 at Walmart you can get a REAL charger that will do 35 amps,
has a desulfate mode that works, and a built in alternator tester.

It's called a Vector.

Jim writes:

Is there any procedure that I need follow to charge my deep cell
batteries? I have a "Marine" 12 volt charger. When I try to charge them
it seems to take a very long time and I have never charged them fully
because I am worried about the long charges. How long should it take to
charge a deep cell?

Besides the Vector brand already mentioned, check out the Schumacher brand
sold at auto parts stores. A sturdy 30 amp digital charger for less than
$100. I followed this thing with an ammeter, and you can see it finessing
the very top of the charge with a differential time-varying voltage.

Thanks everyone for the info

Jim wrote:
No my charger is not a smart charger. Thanks fo the info I will look
into a better charger.

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 15:45:01 -0600, Jim wrote:


Is there any procedure that I need follow to charge my deep cell
batteries? I have a "Marine" 12 volt charger. When I try to charge
them it seems to take a very long time and I have never charged them
fully because I am worried about the long charges. How long should it
take to charge a deep cell?



Here's a guess. You are probably trying to charge the battery with a
trickle battery charger. Probably need a larger charger.

Believe it or not, Wal-Mart sells a great "smart" charger - fully
encapsulated and while not rated as water proof, it is. I know from
practical experience.

If you have a smart charger and your battery is behaving like this,
it is probably shot.

Later,

Tom