Battery charging..

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jonnythan · #1 Post by **jonnythan** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 1:17 pm

I have a car battery charger, and my bike battery is at about 7 volts. I've used the charger to charge a maintenance-free car battery. I had it set to "10 amp" and "maintenance free/deep cycle."

The bike battery is a low maintenance battery, so I set that switch to "low maintenance." However, I wasn't sure what to put the amp switch to. Possible settings are 2 amp, 10 amp, and 50 amp "starting power." I would assume 10 amps, but I'm not positive.

MidSSouth · #2 Post by **MidSSouth** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 1:22 pm

I've got a trickle charger and when I totally drained mine accidently once I used it. At 1.5 amps it took under 12 hours to top it off so 10 should be plenty for a recharge and 2 plenty for maintanance.

jonnythan · #3 Post by **jonnythan** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 1:33 pm

What voltage should I read across the battery before I stop charging?

TechTMW · #4 Post by **TechTMW** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 8:00 pm

A Battery should IDEALLY be charged at 1/10th of its amp-hour rating.

(the amp-hour rating can be found in the battery manual, or on the battery, if the battery has a number with the letter "N" in it, the number after the "N" is usually the amp hour rating.)

You should probably set your charger to the 2 amp setting for your battery.

Each battery is unique in its storage capacity. I usually try to take mine up to 13 volts. Get at least 12.5 in there.

jstark47 · #5 Post by **jstark47** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 5:51 am

I shelled out $39 and got a Battery Tender, specifically made for bikes. Trickle amperage is about 0.75. It's worth it to be sure I'm not cooking the bike battery.

jonnythan · #6 Post by **jonnythan** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 6:13 am

I charged it at 10 amps. The green "charged" light popped on after a couple hours when the battery measured 12.9 volts. It was only slightly warm. Everything looks good. Thanks

asiantay · #7 Post by **asiantay** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 6:17 am

I usually use 2 amp overnight.