Equalize my batteries with a car charger

joris
joris Registered Users Posts: 3
Hello,
I have one dud cell in my battery, SG 1.210 while others are SG 1.250+, and my solar charger seems to be able to slowly revive it when I do an equalization charge for many days at 7 AMPS, my question will a normal car battery charger do this as well? I see several 8/12 amp chargers on amazon that have the right current limit.

Can I just leave my Roll 108A30H battery connected to one of them for days monitoring the SG and Temperature every few hours or is there a different problem which I dont know about?

This is easier in the long run. or do I need a very special AC charger to get the voltage up?
Best regards Joris...

Comments

  • Blackcherry04
    Blackcherry04 Solar Expert Posts: 2,490 ✭✭✭
    Re: Equalize my batteries with a car charger

    It's not as much amps / current as it is Voltage. It takes 15.5 V or so on a 12 volt battery to do a proper Equalization. Raising the SG level is a over charge that takes enough current to get you to EQ level voltage without cooking the battery, it should be done once the battery has a full charge at it's normal level. There are chargers that can be adjusted to give that voltage in the $100 range. I doubt you can find a auto charger that can do that.
  • CDN_VT
    CDN_VT Solar Expert Posts: 492 ✭✭✭
    Re: Equalize my batteries with a car charger

    Check here Joris
    :http://www.ctek.com/

    I use Iota 55,75 & 90 amp with the cell controller IQ4 as well as a few of these .
    For the AME crowd : http://smartercharger.com/battery-chargers/

    Best automotive charger for a reasonable price.
    VT

    Link for below chargers :http://www.geniuschargers.com/G26000/specs

    Nice !!
  • PNjunction
    PNjunction Solar Expert Posts: 762 ✭✭✭
    Re: Equalize my batteries with a car charger

    Probably the easiest and safest way for EQ for those who don't have specialized procedures is to use a NOCO 7200 or 26000.

    To get there, you have to push a special button-combination to get the EQ working, so it makes it hard to put it into this modey by accident. It runs up to about 16.5 - 17v at low current, (they call it boost) and monitors the battery. If it detects that boost is not improving things, it will time out, with the max timeout being 4 hours, and it will just go into standby. It might time out earlier than that if it detects no improvement.

    Ideally you activate the BOOST mode AFTER you have attempted a full charge at the normal settings!

    *** NOTE THAT NOCO USES DIFFERENT TERMINOLOGY ***
    For what we normally think of as an EQ, NOCO calls this a "boost" to 16v.

    What noco calls an "equalization", is merely holding the charge at 13.6v in an attempt to bring all batteries up to this level, without putting them into an absorb. Once the batteries are at 13.6v, you can reset the charger and do what you like.

    ***********

    However, if there IS a measurable increase, it will continue BOOST until it detects that there is nothing more to be obtained, and then reverts back to a normal charge cycle and of course stops. (remember that noco's boost is what we normally think of as EQ).

    I tested this on an old AGM (NOT RECOMMENDED, unless specifically stated ok by the manufacturer) with my 7200, and after 30 minutes at 16.5v, it stopped, and went back to a normal charge cycle. Normally one only uses this on FLA, but I just wanted to watch the algorithm work - and it did. The agm didn't like it. :)

    Some earlier posts may be confusing the second-step "recovery" with the BOOST (16v) mode. They are different. The "recovery" mode is activated automatically when it comes across a very low voltage battery, but not entirely dead, that appears to be massively sulfated. It will then "burp" in current in an attempt to bring the battery up to a normal voltage range whereupon the normal charge process can begin. It does not just hammer the battery with high-voltage pulses.

    Despite the somewhat vivid marketing, the NOCO is not stupid, or offering just a bunch of hype. It actually works and passed my manual monitoring of the algorithms with my Fluke gear. It does what is says it does.
  • solar_dave
    solar_dave Solar Expert Posts: 2,397 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Equalize my batteries with a car charger

    I have 3 NOCO chargers here and they are top notch. I keep 2 Motorcycles and my truck on them, the truck battery should have been dead long ago, vintage 2008, but keeps on ticking. The NOCO resurrected that truck battery a couple times. Love they have a AGM setting and multi-stage charging.
  • joris
    joris Registered Users Posts: 3
    Re: Equalize my batteries with a car charger

    Thanks thats very helpful, now I know where I can get chargers. Unfortunately I think the cell is broken as my battery looses a full volt over 3-4 days. New batteries then ;!) Joris