Re-charging lead, acid-free batteries

[mea305]

My last post to this group was erroneous. I have a scooter that uses
two 12 volt lead. acid-free batteries. I just received one of the best
re-chargers available. Generally, it takes about 2 to 3 hours to
recharge the batteries.

Here are my questions:

1. After riding the scooter up an incline (about 1 percent grade or
so) that stretches for about 1/4 to almost 1/2 a mile (twice) -- the
"meter" on the scooter now registers 3/4 the normal "high power" rate.
Is it best to recharge the batteries now, or should I wait until the
"meter" on the power indicator on the scooter goes down a little more?
I have been through three sets of batteries due to having a poor
charger. With this new, more powerful one, it charges the batteries to
the full marking on the meter.

2. I have two other sets of batteries -- should I "occassionally"
recharge these batteries every month or so? Does this do any good?

Thanks,

Mark, in Florida -- hoping that the Tropics remain quiet this year!

 

[default]

My last post to this group was erroneous. I have a scooter that uses
two 12 volt lead. acid-free batteries. I just received one of the best
re-chargers available. Generally, it takes about 2 to 3 hours to
recharge the batteries.

More powerful may, or may not, be better. The meter indicates voltage
and the new charger charges to a higher voltage - not necessarily good
or bad.

The charger supplied with the scooter is likely to be junk, so the new
one is probably better.

What you really want is a charger that doesn't over-charge or charge
the battery too fast. An automatic battery charger would be good -
something that shuts down or maintains a float charge after the
battery is fully charged. There may be some evidence to suggest
"pulse chargers" are better - but advertising hyperbole aside, it is
possible that all pulse chargers are not better..

How fast is too fast? Depends on a lot of factors. Look for the
battery manufacturer's recommendations for that. If you bought one
that is too fast you can introduce a low value resistor in series with
one wire and slow it down a bit.

A safe rule of thumb is 1/10 the amp hour capacity for long life
batteries - or ten hours of charging for one of use - may not be
practical for a scooter - but if you plan to leave it on the charger
overnight slower is better.

My automobile charger was eating my motorcycle battery. I put a 2 ohm
40 watt resistor in series with the positive lead with a switch across
it so I can slow charge the MC battery and use the full power for my
truck. Works better. Instead of trying to push 15 amps into a 14 amp
hour battery, it pushes 3 amps.

Here are my questions:

1. After riding the scooter up an incline (about 1 percent grade or
so) that stretches for about 1/4 to almost 1/2 a mile (twice) -- the
"meter" on the scooter now registers 3/4 the normal "high power" rate.
Is it best to recharge the batteries now, or should I wait until the
"meter" on the power indicator on the scooter goes down a little more?
I have been through three sets of batteries due to having a poor
charger. With this new, more powerful one, it charges the batteries to
the full marking on the meter.

The battery is going to be happiest when it is at or close to a full
charge so you have to decide what is practical. If the charger is
over sized it will be slightly less detrimental to the battery to
charge more often and not let it droop too much between chargings.
Heat shortens the life of batteries - batteries last longer in colder
climates. Charging batteries causes them to heat up. Charging from a
lower initial voltage will cause more heat before fully charged.

Also . . . the meter showing the "capacity" may not give a very
accurate indication. Voltage may droop shortly after a heavy load and
rebound a little after the battery is allowed to rest - less common,
or less pronounced, with sealed batteries but they also exhibit this
behavior.

2. I have two other sets of batteries -- should I "occassionally"
recharge these batteries every month or so? Does this do any good?

Yes, but it may not be necessary to charge every month. I keep a pair
ol sealed lead acid batteries for hurricane lighting use - they get
charged every six months, and right before a storm - and still have a
lot of capacity after 14 years.

Thanks,

Mark, in Florida -- hoping that the Tropics remain quiet this year!

This is all general stuff - look up the battery manufacturer on line
and see if they give some hints on how to apply their batteries. Last
time I looked, Gates and UASA had lots of good information.

 

[Alan B]

Here are my questions:

1. After riding the scooter up an incline (about 1 percent grade or
so) that stretches for about 1/4 to almost 1/2 a mile (twice) -- the
"meter" on the scooter now registers 3/4 the normal "high power" rate.
Is it best to recharge the batteries now, or should I wait until the
"meter" on the power indicator on the scooter goes down a little more?
I have been through three sets of batteries due to having a poor
charger. With this new, more powerful one, it charges the batteries to
the full marking on the meter.

As I mentioned in a previous post, you should keep the scooter on the
charger when not in use. The less a battery is tasked to discharge deeply,
the longer it will last. This means that if your normal discharge is to
75%, and you recharge after every use, your battery will last much longer
than if you use it three times (discharging to 25%) before you recharge.
The charger you now have should do a good job of keeping the batteries on
float.

2. I have two other sets of batteries -- should I "occassionally"
recharge these batteries every month or so? Does this do any good?

The best idea is to keep these batteries on float (or trickle charge), and
your original battery charger is ideally suited to this task. It is not
terribly harmful to leave charged batteries untended, but if allowed to
discharge and/or be subjected to extremes of heat and cold, battery life
will be severely degraded. For a battery kept on a tender, these extremes
will have less effect.

 

[John Jardine.]

My last post to this group was erroneous. I have a scooter that uses
two 12 volt lead. acid-free batteries. I just received one of the best
re-chargers available. Generally, it takes about 2 to 3 hours to
recharge the batteries.

Here are my questions:

1. After riding the scooter up an incline (about 1 percent grade or
so) that stretches for about 1/4 to almost 1/2 a mile (twice) -- the
"meter" on the scooter now registers 3/4 the normal "high power" rate.
Is it best to recharge the batteries now, or should I wait until the
"meter" on the power indicator on the scooter goes down a little more?
I have been through three sets of batteries due to having a poor
charger. With this new, more powerful one, it charges the batteries to
the full marking on the meter.

2. I have two other sets of batteries -- should I "occassionally"
recharge these batteries every month or so? Does this do any good?

Thanks,

Mark, in Florida -- hoping that the Tropics remain quiet this year!

My comments would be exactly those of Alans.
Nice to see you're now getting a good charge!.
john

 

[John Riley]

Have a read here:
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/