Which amperage is best for charging? 2/10/15?

[howieranger]

Your old time mechanic did not have the use of modern chargers. Modern chargers start out at high amps with lower voltage and as the battery charges the amps decline and the voltage increases to where the battery cannot accept more charge. Think of filling a pressure tank with water; when the tank is low you can pump in a high volume of water (amps) at a lower pressure (volts) as the tanks fills the pressure in the tank rises co that the filling pressure has to increase and the volume decreases until the tank is full and up to pressure.

Being one of those old mechanics I can say there are lots of old theories and myths about batteries.

[Skeeterbait]

… the bubbling that occurs during higher rate charging is a big help in mixing the electrolyte and allowing charging to move forward more quickly...

This statement by CatFan I think deserves a little expanding. Short term, incomplete, and low amperage charging causes electrolyte stratification. This is why charging your cranking battery with a charger after every trip just like your trolling batteries is important. Short runs on outboard alternator/stator typically are not adequate to keep a battery fully charged and conditioned. Charging a battery on sufficiently high enough amperage during the first charge phase to cause good hydrogen bubbling helps to agitate and remix the electrolyte.

[Phisherman]

Pulse Tech Chargers. Never look back.

[TritonTRXV8]

Your old time mechanic did not have the use of modern chargers. Modern chargers start out at high amps with lower voltage and as the battery charges the amps decline and the voltage increases to where the battery cannot accept more charge. Think of filling a pressure tank with water; when the tank is low you can pump in a high volume of water (amps) at a lower pressure (volts) as the tanks fills the pressure in the tank rises co that the filling pressure has to increase and the volume decreases until the tank is full and up to pressure.

Being one of those old mechanics I can say there are lots of old theories and myths about batteries.

The smart charger makes sense the one we have at work works the way you explained. The older ones definitely were not as sophisticated and boiling a battery was easy to do. Thanks catfan for the explaination i learned something new.

[CJ1]

And just to add to Cat Fan's post. The only true accurate way to determine amps for charging is by battery temp and mfg specs. As he stated once you begin to over amp a battery it starts expelling heat. Batteries at different temps will accept different amps also but that is not a issue as much as over temp or cooking a battery. All of my larger chargers or pv systems that I install have a temp sensor. My largest charger is 90 amps into 24v and it is regulated by volts and temp for the amps delivered. When I set these chargers up I set 4 different parameters for voltage and time. Bulk,absorb and float. Also if the manufacturer recommends it a equalize setting. Everything in the settings I do to manufactures specs. Also as cat said too low of amps will detract some life from the batteries but it is way better than over amping and cooking a battery. Cj

[Mikez521]

Your old time mechanic did not have the use of modern chargers. Modern chargers start out at high amps with lower voltage and as the battery charges the amps decline and the voltage increases to where the battery cannot accept more charge. Think of filling a pressure tank with water; when the tank is low you can pump in a high volume of water (amps) at a lower pressure (volts) as the tanks fills the pressure in the tank rises co that the filling pressure has to increase and the volume decreases until the tank is full and up to pressure.

Being one of those old mechanics I can say there are lots of old theories and myths about batteries.

Including the one about if you set a battery down on concrete it will loose it's charge.

[Highcentered]

Including the one about if you set a battery down on concrete it will loose it's charge.

That's a myth too?