External charger charging rate

Mark20

Original poster
Member
Dec 6, 2011
1,630
Is there any consensus on the charge rate for a battery (group 24)? I had left the battery connected to the camper and finally remembered to pull it off and bring it in. Using my three-stage charger what would be the best rate: 2, 6 or 12 Amps? From the open circuit voltage it looks like its at 50% charge. Right now I'm running it at 2 Amps and its been going all day.
 

Envoy_04

Member
Jul 1, 2013
749
Mark20 said:
Is there any consensus on the charge rate for a battery (group 24)? I had left the battery connected to the camper and finally remembered to pull it off and bring it in. Using my three-stage charger what would be the best rate: 2, 6 or 12 Amps? From the open circuit voltage it looks like its at 50% charge. Right now I'm running it at 2 Amps and its been going all day.

If it's an auto-shutoff charger then I'd leave it on 2 amps and let 'er trickle up to full charge.
 

Wooluf1952

Member
Nov 20, 2011
2,663
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Envoy_04 said:
If it's an auto-shutoff charger then I'd leave it on 2 amps and let 'er trickle up to full charge.


^^ That ^^

It depends on how soon you need the battery. Also, if you're going to keep it on a charger, look at one of the battery tenders. They run it through charge/discharge cycles. It extends the life of the battery.
 

Mark20

Original poster
Member
Dec 6, 2011
1,630
The charger is a three stage smart charger, it will auto shut off. I reread the chargers instructions, its been many years since I've done that. The manufacturer (Vector) recommends the current settings based on battery size. So I upped it to the 12A setting. It finished sometime overnight. Giving it a 2A top up charge as they recommend for a deep cycle battery (which it is).

I do have a battery tender that I use to charge smaller batteries, never thought about using it to float the camper's battery over the winter.
 

Mark20

Original poster
Member
Dec 6, 2011
1,630
Wow about another hour at 2A. Time to let it rest and the charge to even out. Need to get some distilled water. Need a little topping off.
 

Envoy_04

Member
Jul 1, 2013
749
That was a good move considering the battery. Deep cycle batteries like to be brought up at a bulk charge rate, then finished with a slower rate of charge. Also good you aren't watering it until after the charging - doing so before has been known to result in boiling over.
 

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