charging battery
 

hi I have a 12v 2000 mAh battery that I'm not quite sure how to charge. it doesn't say on it what setting to charge it on.

http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/...psa24910d6.jpg

I have a swallow charger that I charge my 7.2v battery at 6.0a so should I charge the 12V at the same?

sorry to be annoying or if this is a stupid question but i'd rather make sure rather than take the chance that it's right.

thanks buzzy

Re: charging battery
 

Hey Buzzy, there's a thread on this site covering chargers,
I'm on my phone, still don't know how to do links on it?
Cheers, Neil.

Re: charging battery
 

buzzy16-here is a good rule to remember when charging batteries. For slow charge-capacity of bat. divided by 10 would be 200-mah. Fast charge-capacity multiplied by 3-would be 6-amps. You did not say what type of battery it is although it doesn"t look like a lipo but I am not sure if this rule applies to lipo"s. Maybe someone else will know.

Re: charging battery
 

Looks like a ten cell pack. Are there two layers of five cells stacked? I would charge it at 2 amps max, but make sure your battery charger can handle a 12 volt battery. Some aren't adjustable.

Re: charging battery
 

I don't believe you will reach anywhere near full charge with a 7.6 volt charger on a 12volt battery. It seems to me a nicad charger is different than a nimh charger. I can't tell from the photo which your is. A nicad can handle higher charge rates then a nimh. The nimh should be charged at c1 the nicad can handle up to c10 although if you want a longer battery life stick to the low rate.

Charge rate for a 2000ah nicad battery: 10 - 14 hours
c1 200ma
c3 600ma
c10 2000ma

Charge rate for a 2000ah nimh battery: 10 - 14 hours
c1 200 ma

Re: charging battery
 

my battery is a NiMH

and my charger can charge:
Li-Ion/LiPo 1 - 6 cells
LiFePO2 1 - 6 cells
NiCd/NiMH 1 - 14 cells
Lead-Acid 1 - 6 cells

at a charge rate from 0.1a to 6.0a in 0.1a steps

Re: charging battery
 

Low and slow = longer life of the battery. @ 2000 i would charge at .8 amps. 2000/800(miliamps)= 2.5 hours.

Re: charging battery
 

Ok thanks, I'll try that tomorrow and see how it goes.



And thank you everyone that gave their advice, it's much apreciated.

Buzzy

Re: charging battery
 

Buzzy,

Good way to avoid accidents: stick a tag on the opposite from the main label, and note the slow and fast charge rates, and any other data that may not be on the label (like NiCd/NiMH, cell count, voltage/amps, etc.) If you have a printer, print up a label neatly, and stick it on.

Also, a label for slow and fast charge rates for the different types of batteries can be printed and stuck onto the charger (I'm going to make a 'cheat-sheet' and laminate it)

WhiteWolf