sold Accessories to set up my little Tinnie....

[Aaron H]

I think it works like this mate,, the charger will charge at 12 amps per hour? (I am sure I remember reading that on mine somewhere) therefore to charge 225amp hour = 225 divided by 12. However the fact that you have combined the two 6volts it might take longer. I am not 100% sure on this mate so Feral or Ray might be able to shed more light on it. With my charger I just wait for the little green light for float charge to come on and I know its cooked so to speak

[Fisher_90]

Yup and 225 divide 12 is just over 18

[rayke1938]

225 amphere hour divided by 10 ( realisticly that is probably all the charger will put out continously ) equals 22.5 hours. You will have to charge them in series as the charger looks like it is 12 volts only. Dont leave it on unattended because if the battery voltage is down the charger will keep on pumping in full charge and the battery will boil the electrolite.

I cannot use my 4 stage ubeaut charger on my 2X6volt trojan batteries for that reasin.

I just use my old arlec charger on them and it is ok.

I would suggest leaving it on for around 12 hours and if the charger is still saying empty have a feel of the battery and see how warm it is.Also see if the electrolite is bubbling.If either of these is happening I would suspect that the battery wont take any more charge.

Do you have a hygrometer if so what is the specific gravity of each cell. If it varies by more that 20 points between cells you have a problem.

Cheers

Ray

[Aaron H]

Hey Ray how come yours cook, still being a novice to battery charging myself have not had it happen to my 12v batteries, is it because they are 6 volt and the float charge thingy doesn't work on the 6v? Need to know as might have two 6v batteries coming to me

[Rocket75]

Thanks guys.

Rayke:

Do you have a hygrometer if .....

No mate, unfortunatly I do not own one, nor would I know one if it was in my cornflakes!

I will keep an eye on the process as suggested.

If the charge metre is going up as time progresses, am i OK to leave it on till reads full? Should I only be concerned if it has been on for a long period and not gaining charge (or getting hot and bubbling as suggested)?

If it continues chargeing OK this evening, I was planning on leaving it on overnight to fully charge, is this wise?

Rocket

[rayke1938]

If the battery isnt getting warm when you go to bed it should be ok.Shouldnt do too much harm if it does get hot overnight just check the electrolite levels and make certain that the plates are not exposed.

We used to give the batteries an overcharge every 6 months to help prevent sulphation of the plates.

Cheers

Ray.

[Rocket75]

Thanks Ray.

Fingers crossed!

Rocket

[Feral]

Rocket they must be charged in series, not parallel (IE one positive terminal connected to the negative terminal on the other battery, with the charger connected to the remaining terminals). They should charge just fine with that charger, as Ray said keep an eye on the batteries first time to see how they react. Older batteries that wont take a full charge wont allow those smart chargers to switch to float mode, they will just keep pumping in the juice.

Once you have charged them successfully once, and are happy that the batteries charge up to the float stage, theoretically you can leave the charger connected for ever without damaging the batteries, but I'd reckon about 24 to 48 hours past when it first switches to float is the ideal. Depending on the electronics in the charger, that extra bit of time can add an extra few percent charge.

Ideally you want the batteries to be reading 12.7volts or a bit higher after charging.

Have a look here for all you ever needed to know about batteries!

/>http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm

[Rocket75]

Thanks Feral.

I switched it off when we went out this evening, and just switched it back on, but there is no obvious overheating of the battery or bubbling noises so far, so I'll take that as a positive sign:dry:.

Hopefully I will see some increase on the charge metre tonight and then leave it on overnight to charge it good and proper!

Rocket