From: m35products (m35prod@optonline.net)
Date: Wed Aug 20 2003 - 20:45:41 PDT
David,
I'm surprised that you have had "cooked" batteries. The basic
chemical/electrical makeup of lead-acid storage batteries is such that the
internal resistance increases as the battery is charged. As the internal
resistance increases, less current can pass into/through the battery,
essentially making it self-regulating. Even using the most primitive of
Sears 2Amp-10Amp chargers, you will see an initial high rate of charge,
followed by a gradual reduction of charging current, and once the battery is
fully charged, you will see the ammeter just flickering at the low end of
the scale.
Generally, the only way to cook a battery is to allow too much voltage, not
current, to pass into the battery. You will note that modern alternators
have VOLTAGE regulators, not CURRENT regulators, because the assumption is
that the battery is self-regulating, with respect to amperage (current).
But I could be wrong.
Arthur P. Bloom
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Cole" <DavidCole@tk7.net>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2003 11:29 PM
Subject: Re: [MV] 24VDC battery charger
> If you have room in the charger, you may be able to fit a standard
bathroom
> fan type timer into the case. I've seen them with 1 hr to 4 hr settings.
> They are about $10 or so at Home Depot type places. Grainger probably
> stocks a couple of windup type timers also. I've had terrible luck with
> "Automatic" chargers. They work for a few months and then the automatic
> part fails. And if they are working in Automatic, they will cook the
> battery anyway if left on for a couple of weeks. That's not what I call
> automatic, unless they really mean "Automatically fries your battery". (:-
> <)
>
> How much do you have to pay for an automatic charger that really works
> automatically?
>
> Dave
>
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>
> On Wed, 20 Aug 2003 00:25:41 -0400, Bill Kealey <cwkealey@charter.net>
> wrote:
>
> > Glen,
> > Instead of a wind-up timer, would one of the 110 volt electric timers
> > from a
> > hardware store work? These are also available, I believe, at stores
like
> > WalMart, Lowes, Home Depot and other stores with home repair items. The
> > kind that I have plug into a wall socket and you can either switch it to
> > "ON" all of the time that the switch is in that position or slide it to
> > the
> > "TIMER" position. This has a 24/7 clock type timer on the dial which
you
> > can set the individual hours that you want the timer on or off.
> >
> > I used one on our waterbed when the heaters thermostat broke, both
> > heaters
> > worked but the thermostat refused to. The timer worked great.
> >
> > There are different types and amps. capable timers. Sorry, about the
> > power
> > description here, I am totally electrically inept.
> >
> > Just wondering if this might be easier and possibly less work and
> > expense.
> >
> > Bill K.
> > MVPA
> > 1954 USMC M38A1
> > 1972 US Army M35A2
> > 1985 USAF M105A2
> >
> >> I bought a Schauer DX5 (Japlar/Schauer) awhile ago and it works great!
> >> It has a switch on the front to select 6, 12 or 24V; so I can use it on
> > the
> >> MV or the civy cars. It's 10A but I have been able to pull 15A with no
> >> problem as indicated on the meter on the front.
> >>
> >> The only thing its missing is a timer or automatic cut-off. But there
> >> is
> >> plenty of room inside for a mechanical wind-up timer that I plan to
add.
> >
> >
> >
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> >
>
>
>
> --
> Dave
>
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