> BB> There is a lot of difference between constant voltage charging
> BB> and constant current charging. The temperature at which they
> BB> are charged can also make or break a battery.
 
> What temperatures would you consider optimum?  Under what circumstances?
 
I've got that information somewhere, but don't want to take the time
to look it up right now so if memory serves me correctly, if during
the charging process, the internal battery temp goes over about 122
degrees one is supposed to halt the charging and let the battery cool.
or the cell plates may begin to warp badly.
 
> Yeah.  The handiest charger I've got here at the moment is a simple unit,
> with a timer on the front.  No regulation at all,  though it'll push a
> little harder and for a little longer than a regulated charger,  so it's
> handy for stuff that's run down real far,  but mostly I need to keep an
> eye on what's going on.  That's why this one is right here next to my
> desk...
 
I don't want any charger that has any kind of a timer on it because
that's exactly why all my customers need my batteries and why I can
take so many in from them and recharge their batteries and then go
sell them their old batteries all charged up and ready to go back
to work for them. The chargers they use all have timers on them.
Basically there are two types of timers that are used by battery
chargers. One is the mechanical or electrical type normally seen
on lots of battery chargers and the kind usually found sitting on
top of the necks of those doing the charging. I find both woefully
inadequate. The mechanical types go for maybe a couple of hours at
most and the "over the neck" type usually go for no longer than
"overnite." which could vary considerably. I charge for 12 hours
minimum on the first go-around. At the end of the 12 hours (more or
less) I pull the batteries that will hold above 10.6 on load test
and put dead or discharged ones in their place and go for another
12 hours or so whereupon the process is repeated. 
 
> I'm always interested in looking at more info with regard to charger
> design, if you know of any.
 
I don't. There are some extremely expensive ones being built by an
outfit in Dallas but I can't afford $1800.00 per charger X (the number
of them I would need) so until they sell enough of them so I don't
have to pay for their R&D and a goodly profit on that, I will have
to do without their fancy gadgets.
 
> I don't think that most people have a good idea of what it takes to bring
> a battery back up to a state of charge.  When I had that store I used to
> get people coming in all the time with something that they had assumed
> was no good becuase they'd stuck it on a charger for "almost an hour!" or
> something equally silly.
 
Yep. Technically speaking, there is no such thing as "charging" a battery.
What people think of is that in charging a battery they are putting
electricity into the battery which then stores it until they need it.
(storage battery). You simply can't do that since it is a chemical
process involving driving the acid out of the plates and back into the
water which increases the specific gravity of the water. If the battery
were 100 percent efficient you would be able to drive all of the acid
out of the plates and back into solution where it would then go back
into the plates when it is called upon to produce electricity. As you
know, all that is involved is a chemical process of which production
of electricity is the by-product or result of that chemical process.
 
So then, technically speaking, you can't "charge" a battery at all.
You can't actually put any electricity into the battery whatever.
 
Bill Bauer
--- DB 1.58/004358
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