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Battery Charging



Brian-
  Here's my non-EE's view:
 Overcharging: a charger is made to put out a maximum voltage (mine says
12.6VDC), since voltage is electrical "pressure", the charger will pump
current into the battery until the battery reaches that 12.6 volts
potential.  At this point, the "pressure" (voltage) is balanced, i.e. just
as much voltage trying to come OUT of the battery as is trying to go IN. The
charger cannot force any more current(amps) into the battery and charging
stops.
Which begs the question: don't they ALL have "overcharge protection"?

 I'd go with a charger that has an output of at least 13VDC, since a healthy
battery can operate at 13 to 13.5 volts. I'd also look for one that has a
"trickle" feature (2A or so) along with something around 15-20A for those
occaisions when you don't have the time to wait.
I know that sounds pretty simplistic, and I may be wrong....what do the
elect/techs out there say?  Allyn, this is right up your alley....

Larry   sandiego16V




> Specifically, I'm wondering about trickle chargers.  How do they prevent
> overcharging?  I assume that once the battery reaches some level of
> proficiency, then the charging circuit is interrupted, but how is the
charge
> level determined
> BH