Matt Mc_Carthy wrote in a message to Roy J. Tellason:

 RJT> Well,  I'll work with that I have here...

 RJT> Last thing I used was a little power supply that I built,  puts 
 RJT> out a bit over the voltage that you'd need but not real much in 
 RJT> the way of amperage.

 MMC>    ----- CHARGING.TXT begins -----
 MMC> Charging the 12V 7AH gel cells:

 MMC> Cycle Applications: Limit initial current to 1400mA.

Interesting.  That works out to AH rating / 5.  Seems about right to me, 
though I don't think that higher currents for very brief periods of time
will hurt it.  The power supply I mentioned is built into a little bitty
radio shack aluminum minibox,  so I doubt that it's going to be a problem
in that regard.  Just a transformer,  a couple of big caps,  bridge
rectifier,  switch and LED,  and a barrier-type terminal strip on the other
end of the box.

 MMC> Charge until battery voltage (under charge) reaches 14.40 to 14.70
 MMC> volts at 68 F (20 C).

 MMC> Hold at 14.40 to 14.70 volts until current drops to approximately
 MMC> 70mA.

Also seems about right -- AH/100 in this case.

 MMC> Battery is fully charged under these conditions, and charger 
 MMC> should either be disconnected or switched to "float" voltage. 

 MMC> "Float" or "Stand-by Service": Hold battery
across constant 
 MMC> voltage source of 13.50 to 13.80 volts continuously.

I have some power supply boards around here someplace that have +5 and +12
regulators,  and also one that I didn't run across before until I looked it
up in the cross-reference.  Appears to be a 3-terminal part putting out
13.8v!  And rated at 5A,  which I hadn't seen before.  Most hefty part I'd
seen in a TO-3 case before was a 3A part...

I guess if I get into working something up for those bigger gels I have
sitting here with one of the numerous chargers that "need some
work" ,  this stuff will come in handy.

 MMC> When held at this voltage, the battery will seek its own current
 MMC> level and maintain itself in a fully charged condition.
 MMC>    ----- CHARGING.TXT ends -----

 MMC> The current will vary with the size of the battery, but the
 MMC> voltage levels should be pretty standard across the board.

Sounds good to me!

Where'd you snag this info?

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