Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length.

[Seaspray]

That time of the year again and I won't forget to charge mine this year. 

I lost a good Gell Cell battery last year by putting it off to charge it. Never again,too dear to replace but I've notice that the prices of Gell Cells, SLAs have come down, but are they cheapos or second hand or from abroad.

Seaspray

[bigford]

hey guys this is the charger i use for everything


its a hobbico multicharger and they list gell cells but dont say what setting to charge at

Added - http://hobbico.com/chargers/hcap0100.html

[portside II]

Some interesting methods for charging your batterys , Myself i have a 6-12v charger that kicks out 1200ma , a bit savage for single 6v 4ah batterys but good for 12v7ah ones .
I do have a large quantity of batterys in the shed ,mainly from wheelchairs/scooters and some from alarm systems , the batterys are normaly good and hold over 70% of their charge and have been replaced as an anual check .
My method of charging such a number of batterys and to keep them topped up is to make a set of leads up with spade connectors for the batterys and all linked together ,connected to the charger . This way if i connect 10 x 12 7ah batterys together to the charger then they all recieve 1200ma divided by 10 = 120ma , a trickle charge .
works for me .
daz

[Seaspray]

I use the Mtronics model no.AD-1350800BS AC adaptor/ charger.

Its a dual one with setting are 7.5v and 13.5 for Gell cells. It is not a fast or a float charger.

It's current output is 800mA. Or you might consider a little lower overnight charge, if that is any help bigford

Seaspray

[bigford]

seeing as i cant edit my post here is the front of my charger
what would be the right setting for 12 volt 7amp gel cell

[alan colson]

I have always been told that Gell Cells should only be charged at  half an amp an hour, this is because they are sealed and a high rate of charge may cause them to explode because the gases cannot escape. I have been told this by 2 Alarm engineers, and they worked for different companies and I believe didnot know each other.
Alan

[ray123]

   i only charge my gell cells at 500ma   i have a 4  'robbe ' leader6 chargers that do the job   i get about 5years out of them before i get new one's
regards ray

[nhp651]

slightly changing from the original thread, I had my battery changed in my burglar alarm two weeks ago after a power cut in the local area. The burglar alarm failed. the chap came around and told me it was a kaput battery.
A new one cost me £20.00 and I asked if I could keep the old one.
I put it on the bench yesterday and charged it up( a 12v 2,4 amp/hr battery)
This morning I put a buhler 12volt motor onto it at 09.45.
It's now 20.05 and ( granted there is no load on the motor) the little motor is still going as strong as it was this morning without any thought of giving up.......
the moral is.next time you see your friendly burglar alarm fitter.ask him if he has any "kaput" batteries that he's throwing out...........mabe all they need is a good charge.

[malcolmfrary]

Any "sealed for life" battery has a pressure relief valve to prevent excess internal pressure.  The trouble is, when the excess pressure is vented, some of the liquid from the inside is now outside, with no chance of putting it back.  This can cause the remaining fluid to start bubbling faster, and if it gets to the point where the temperature rises above the flash point of hydrogen and oxygen, the rate of increase of pressure can overcome the ability of the valve to get rid.
Hence "sealed for life".  Once its gone, its gone.

[barriew]

seeing as i cant edit my post here is the front of my charger
what would be the right setting for 12 volt 7amp gel cell

Hi Bigford - I would use the 500ma setting - far right socket, switch fully down - initially. If your 7aH battery were fully flat in theory it would take 14 hours at that rate to fully charge. However, after 8-10 hours I would switch to a lower setting - say 100ma and leave it on that.

Barrie

[Seaspray]

Once you are happy that the battry is charged. Leave it sit for an hour or two up coupled from the leads and do a voltage check. I think I would be happy with anything just above or near to the twelve 12volts.

Do what Barrie says then do the above you'll get the experience knowing what you charger does and its times for charging over a period of time.

Seaspray

[portside II]

slightly changing from the original thread, I had my battery changed in my burglar alarm two weeks ago after a power cut in the local area. The burglar alarm failed. the chap came around and told me it was a kaput battery.
A new one cost me £20.00 and I asked if I could keep the old one.
I put it on the bench yesterday and charged it up( a 12v 2,4 amp/hr battery)
This morning I put a buhler 12volt motor onto it at 09.45.
It's now 20.05 and ( granted there is no load on the motor) the little motor is still going as strong as it was this morning without any thought of giving up.......
the moral is.next time you see your friendly burglar alarm fitter.ask him if he has any "kaput" batteries that he's throwing out...........mabe all they need is a good charge.

thats how i get most of mine ,and if they are realy duff then use them as weights for gluing ,especially when i use gorilla grip glue , or ballast  .
daz