If you are referencing the 2.4 denominator to figure out Ah from reserve capacity, it was in a conversion formula I found online. I have no idea where they got that denominator from? The better method IMO is by using the reserve capacity in hours x 25A. If you are referencing the 2.4 volts number I mentioned, that is the typical voltage applied across each cell in a lead acid (PB) battery during the topping/absorption constant voltage phase of the charge cycle.
@@Rchelicopterfun my charger has a setting for cell voltage which defaults to 2.4 for pb. this is the correct setting? i'm reading 2.1 v in some other research i've done so i'm not sure which to go with. great video
Thank you, my vehicle specific charger crappdd out during this pandemic so I dug out my old chargers and thanks to you got my truck up and running again.
@@Rchelicopterfun Thank you, it not only got the truck up and running again but made me a hero to my wife. And due to the pressure off since my truck was working, I was able to figure out what was wrong with my old Schumaker 600a charger. Turns out it was a bad fan, snipped it out of there, grabbed a replacement from an old spare parts box and it was up and running again.
Thank you for a solid explanation and video. Having my van and car battery down at the same time both are now charging at the same time with car and lipo chargers. 👍👍👍
Hi John !! Very nice tips. Have icharger for a couple years. Never used to charge lead batt. Now on covid-19 pandemy need, search and find your video. 5 LIKES
Thank you for the outstanding tutorial! I have an iCharger 106B+ and my “normal” battery charger recently broke. I was curious if I could charge lead-acid powersports / lawnmower / car / boat batteries and stumbled upon your video. This will help me save $40-60 on a new battery charger
Planning to use my duo 4010. Wasn’t sure if I needed a special cable with battery clamps. Also wondering if you can desulfate a battery with one by turning up voltage and minimizing amperage. I haven’t yet looked into the charger options to see what’s available.
The way you connected it can i connect it to the car battery and charge my RC car from the car battery? Question is because we go camping and would like a power source to do so. Thanks.
I knew it would work lol My son got a power wheel and the charge time is 15hrs !!! I just cut that wat down with my rc charger lol took only 2.5 hrs or so now
Can any RC chargers you're aware of be used as battery maintainers and or desulfators? I have a Hitec and don't see anything in the menus that seems like it can do this...wondering if there is anything out there aside from stuff like the NOCO chargers that don't really work for the RC world....
I don't know of any *computerized* RC charger/s that has a de-sulfate PB battery algorithm. No idea if they would work as "maintainers" since they will generally stop the charge cycle once the battery reaches its full voltage potential. I suppose if you used a really low charge current rate, it likely wouldn't turn off due to the internal resistance of the battery not allowing a full peak voltage to occur so the charger would keep apply a tiny flow of current (provided you disable any time or capacity auto shut offs in the charger) . Again, that is just an educated guess as I've never used a computerized charger to maintain a PB battery - I've only charged them.
PB charging principles and algorithm used are exact the same. CC (constant current) for most of the charge cycle and then finishing/topping up with CV (constant voltage).
@@Rchelicopterfun my optima battery was on 6 volts its been sitting for a year, i have the 4010 icharger and it's telling me low voltage. I tried charging it on NMH and the charger read it. All good now like brand new. Thanks for the response.
It really depends on the quality of the battery, age of the battery, capacity of the battery and how long it was left in a discharged state. I've had many vehicle and power equipment PB batteries go flat over night/several days due a light or accessory being left on or a high parasitic drain. Most of the time they charge back up fine if done ASAP. No question usable life has been reduced & compromised with such events as some plate sulfation has definitely occurred, (the longer it sits in a discharged state, the more it will sulfate), but if it happens to a healthy battery a few times and it's recharged ASAP, there should still be lots of usable life left in the battery.
Thanks John, I used my Imax to recharge my battery. It took almost 24 hours and at 3.5amps it put a whopping 14,000mah back in. I tested the IR (my Imax has that feature) and it's given me a very low score of 14. I'm not sure if I can trust this battery for trips around town. I don't want to get caught out. My car has been sitting in my garage for 7 weeks as I had a crook knee and was unable to drive it. Although I have been starting it once a week and letting it run for around 15 minutes. Obviously that wasn't enough for the alternator to re-charge it. Maybe a good long run on a freeway might do the trick ?
Load testing the battery is the sure fire way to know if the battery can still deliver its rated current. And yes, not much good can come from starting the vehicle several times and let it idle for 15 minutes each time. Likely took more charge out of the battery during each start than was put back into it. Would have been better to just hook your charger up to it every couple weeks. No point driving it on the freeway if you have already charged it back up to capacity with your charger.
Where does the 2.4 come from? Just curious
If you are referencing the 2.4 denominator to figure out Ah from reserve capacity, it was in a conversion formula I found online. I have no idea where they got that denominator from? The better method IMO is by using the reserve capacity in hours x 25A. If you are referencing the 2.4 volts number I mentioned, that is the typical voltage applied across each cell in a lead acid (PB) battery during the topping/absorption constant voltage phase of the charge cycle.
I was reafy to ask the same question.
@@Rchelicopterfun my charger has a setting for cell voltage which defaults to 2.4 for pb. this is the correct setting? i'm reading 2.1 v in some other research i've done so i'm not sure which to go with. great video
@@trevorstuart3950Same with mine. Using a K2 Air.
Thank you, my vehicle specific charger crappdd out during this pandemic so I dug out my old chargers and thanks to you got my truck up and running again.
Thanks Jim, glad it helped. Stay safe.
@@Rchelicopterfun
Thank you, it not only got the truck up and running again but made me a hero to my wife. And due to the pressure off since my truck was working, I was able to figure out what was wrong with my old Schumaker 600a charger. Turns out it was a bad fan, snipped it out of there, grabbed a replacement from an old spare parts box and it was up and running again.
Thanks for posting this. Excellent, clear, and to the point. 😁
Glad it was helpful 🙂
Thank you for a solid explanation and video.
Having my van and car battery down at the same time both are now charging at the same time with car and lipo chargers. 👍👍👍
Glad it helped
nice video!!! I just realized my car's battery is dead (didn't use it for a while), it's amazing I can charge it with my rc car's charger
Quase dois anos depois e você ajudou alguém aqui no Brasil! Obrigado.
Glad it was helpful.
Hi John !! Very nice tips. Have icharger for a couple years. Never used to charge lead batt. Now on covid-19 pandemy need, search and find your video. 5 LIKES
Glad to help
Thank you for the outstanding tutorial! I have an iCharger 106B+ and my “normal” battery charger recently broke. I was curious if I could charge lead-acid powersports / lawnmower / car / boat batteries and stumbled upon your video. This will help me save $40-60 on a new battery charger
Fantastic and clear explanation. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it
Great video 👍 was helpful. I didn't have to buy a car charger since I had one of these 4 button chargers. Thank you!
Glad it helped
Planning to use my duo 4010. Wasn’t sure if I needed a special cable with battery clamps. Also wondering if you can desulfate a battery with one by turning up voltage and minimizing amperage. I haven’t yet looked into the charger options to see what’s available.
Thank you very much. Very clear.
Glad it was helpful 🙂
Thank you! Very helpful info.
thanks - hope it helps
The way you connected it can i connect it to the car battery and charge my RC car from the car battery? Question is because we go camping and would like a power source to do so. Thanks.
Can I leave my VENOUM PRO 2 charger hooked to my motorcycle battery as a trickle charger?
What if my charger doesn't have p.b type can I use Lithium ? I have a onyx230 charger do you know if I can use this to charge a car battery
To charge a Lead Acid battery, you must use a charger that supports it.
Very helpful video and nicely explained. Thank you very much.
I knew it would work lol
My son got a power wheel and the charge time is 15hrs !!!
I just cut that wat down with my rc charger lol took only 2.5 hrs or so now
👍🙂
Nice XD
Thnx for sharing 😊
Can any RC chargers you're aware of be used as battery maintainers and or desulfators? I have a Hitec and don't see anything in the menus that seems like it can do this...wondering if there is anything out there aside from stuff like the NOCO chargers that don't really work for the RC world....
I don't know of any *computerized* RC charger/s that has a de-sulfate PB battery algorithm. No idea if they would work as "maintainers" since they will generally stop the charge cycle once the battery reaches its full voltage potential. I suppose if you used a really low charge current rate, it likely wouldn't turn off due to the internal resistance of the battery not allowing a full peak voltage to occur so the charger would keep apply a tiny flow of current (provided you disable any time or capacity auto shut offs in the charger) . Again, that is just an educated guess as I've never used a computerized charger to maintain a PB battery - I've only charged them.
my battery is 45 mAh, 12 v, 6s, 13p, what should be the charger capacity cutoff in mAh?
All of these should apply with optima battery as well right maybe amp charging a little different?
PB charging principles and algorithm used are exact the same. CC (constant current) for most of the charge cycle and then finishing/topping up with CV (constant voltage).
@@Rchelicopterfun my optima battery was on 6 volts its been sitting for a year, i have the 4010 icharger and it's telling me low voltage. I tried charging it on NMH and the charger read it. All good now like brand new. Thanks for the response.
My brain is refusing to work for me, what settings would I use for a 12 volt 3ah battery?
Assuming you want to use a PB safe 0.1C charge rate; 0.1x3Ah = 0.3 Amps
@@Rchelicopterfun
Thank you so much.
My PSU is a 12v only. (modded Dell server PSU), would that be enough? It should, right?
Depends on your charger, charge voltage, and current.
@@Rchelicopterfun i am using iCharger 208B, same settings as in your video.
I've always believed that once a car battery is allowed to go flat, it's toast and will no longer hold a charge. Is that correct ?
It really depends on the quality of the battery, age of the battery, capacity of the battery and how long it was left in a discharged state. I've had many vehicle and power equipment PB batteries go flat over night/several days due a light or accessory being left on or a high parasitic drain. Most of the time they charge back up fine if done ASAP.
No question usable life has been reduced & compromised with such events as some plate sulfation has definitely occurred, (the longer it sits in a discharged state, the more it will sulfate), but if it happens to a healthy battery a few times and it's recharged ASAP, there should still be lots of usable life left in the battery.
Thanks John, I used my Imax to recharge my battery. It took almost 24 hours and at 3.5amps it put a whopping 14,000mah back in. I tested the IR (my Imax has that feature) and it's given me a very low score of 14. I'm not sure if I can trust this battery for trips around town. I don't want to get caught out. My car has been sitting in my garage for 7 weeks as I had a crook knee and was unable to drive it. Although I have been starting it once a week and letting it run for around 15 minutes. Obviously that wasn't enough for the alternator to re-charge it. Maybe a good long run on a freeway might do the trick ?
Load testing the battery is the sure fire way to know if the battery can still deliver its rated current. And yes, not much good can come from starting the vehicle several times and let it idle for 15 minutes each time. Likely took more charge out of the battery during each start than was put back into it. Would have been better to just hook your charger up to it every couple weeks. No point driving it on the freeway if you have already charged it back up to capacity with your charger.