Re: [TANKS] scooter motor on e-bay

[George Mastoras <idiom-at-optusnet.com.au>]

on 3/5/06 11:04 PM, Steve Tyng at STyng-at-acptrust.com wrote:

> Rick wrote:
> 
>> Forgive my ignorance but could you charge batteries using a
>> regular battery charger? Most new ones have circuitry to
>> prevent overcharging.
> 
> I'm not an expert on this but it's my understanding that entry level car
> and motorcycle chargers do not have the overcharge limit circuits.
> These need to be avoided.  The charger I linked to is a nice low cost
> 1amp charger perfect for the batteries used in the hobby.
> 
> I mentioned the EV Warrior charger because it is designed to charge at
> 24volts (two batteries at once).  I find this an advantage not only in
> time savings but when I'm installing the batteries in the tank I know
> that one will not have a higher charge than the other (they are
> equalized).  I keep three pairs of batteries for the Cromwell.  The
> pairs are color coded and I charge and discharge them as pairs.
> 
> 
> Steve Tyng
> 
I am no expert either but heres some info I have learnt from others
regarding this.
Car battery chargers are crude devices and can output voltage spikes way
above what your hobby batteries like and thus they can be damaged, Car
batteries can take these spikes.
To use a car charger you have to get a little electrical kit that will
regulate the voltage.

The other thing that is important is that if the voltage is regulated to
14.4 volts then u will need to monitor the battery somehow so u know when
its charged to remove it, which is a real pain.

If the regulator is set to 13.8 volts then you can pretty much leave the
battery on charge as its like a trickle charge. I used to use this set up
with 6 batteries connected at once and just left it for days.
Its slower but its safe and cheap. If u already have a car charger a
regulator kit is like less than 20 Aus dollars so its a cheap solution till
u can get a better one. I got by using this method for a long time.