did booster kill vett
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
If it was a charger that was a constant 40 amp charger, then you could have damaged some parts of the electrical system because that charge would have put about 17 volts across your battery and 16 is the limit. You would have noticed smoke out of the cluster if the voltage was too high. Normally battery chargers won't do this because car battery chargers don't have output voltages higher than 14.7 volts. The 40 amp rating is usually what the charger can safely deliver. On good but discharged batteries, 40 amps can flow until the battery state of charge starts coming up, then the charging current drops. Personally I doubt the battery charger did any harm to your electrical system. Modern car batteries shouldn't be charged for long (1 hr +) periods above 10 amps because they can't convert the gassing back to water any faster than at the 10 amp rate.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 2,753
Likes: 15
From: backwoods upstate ny
probably
bad luck to even charge your battery with it connected to the car (should unhook the ground cable)...starting with charger attached may be a serious bad day for your ecm, digidash, radio, etc.
"correct" charger will give 10-15 amp MAX charge rate...rate may be "o" for first hour or so for a fully discharged battery, then rise to 10-15 amps for an hour or two before slowly reducing as battery charges...fully discharged battery will need 24 hour charge to reach full capacity (charge period may be continuous or not)..."feel" the "long" sides of your battery with your hand during charge, "warm" is normal but "uncomfortable to touch" indicates a shorted cell(s) and new battery time.
your electrical system will operated satisfactorily at up to 18vdc, but NEVER allow a "service" moron to jump start your car with a "double battery cart" that has two batteries wired in series to give a 24v kick (old truck service technique)...two batteries in parallel is OK but do not take "yup, it's done all the time this way" for an answer if you ask, check the wiring on the cart.
Last edited by redrose; Nov 7, 2008 at 10:03 AM.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
Partial Quote:
"correct" charger will give 10-15 amp MAX charge rate...rate may be "o" for first hour or so for a fully discharged battery, then rise to 10-15 amps for an hour or two before slowly reducing as battery charges
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++
Not true for a discharged battery. A discharged battery offers a very low resistance at the beginning of charging and large current flows and as the battery becomes charged, the charging current continually decreases to a constant small value. A discharged battery that does not accept current upon recharging is a defective battery and is probably sulfated.
Also, you do not have to disconnect a battery cable to charge a battery in your car. A battery charger does the same thing as the alternator does! Alternators don't disconnect your battery when you drive your car!
"correct" charger will give 10-15 amp MAX charge rate...rate may be "o" for first hour or so for a fully discharged battery, then rise to 10-15 amps for an hour or two before slowly reducing as battery charges
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++
Not true for a discharged battery. A discharged battery offers a very low resistance at the beginning of charging and large current flows and as the battery becomes charged, the charging current continually decreases to a constant small value. A discharged battery that does not accept current upon recharging is a defective battery and is probably sulfated.
Also, you do not have to disconnect a battery cable to charge a battery in your car. A battery charger does the same thing as the alternator does! Alternators don't disconnect your battery when you drive your car!
Last edited by jfb; Nov 7, 2008 at 10:06 AM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 2,753
Likes: 15
From: backwoods upstate ny
Wrong
fully discharged batteries will NOT accept a measurable charge, may require some time before rate comes up...good practice may even require attaching a second "good/charged" battery in parallel with the discharged battery to get the dead one to start charging.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 2,753
Likes: 15
From: backwoods upstate ny
Wrong
[
Also, you do not have to disconnect a battery cable to charge a battery in your car. A battery charger does the same thing as the alternator does! Alternators don't disconnect your battery when you drive your car![/QUOTE]
many battery chargers "spike" horrendously high voltage and can easily damage circuitry that was designed to operate at nominal 12v..."good" alternators do not "spike" your electrical system, but even an alternator with too much "ripple" will cause problems and an excessive ripple (aka "spike") can destroy .
Also, you do not have to disconnect a battery cable to charge a battery in your car. A battery charger does the same thing as the alternator does! Alternators don't disconnect your battery when you drive your car![/QUOTE]
many battery chargers "spike" horrendously high voltage and can easily damage circuitry that was designed to operate at nominal 12v..."good" alternators do not "spike" your electrical system, but even an alternator with too much "ripple" will cause problems and an excessive ripple (aka "spike") can destroy .
Last edited by redrose; Nov 7, 2008 at 10:34 AM.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
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From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2006
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From: Madison WI
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Verdad Gallardo
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
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From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
No mention of reverse polarity. Take a known good battery, discharge it, then connect a battery charger. You will observe very high current at first and the charging current will decrease as you continue to charge the battery and then reach a constant low charging current.
All you had to do was pay attention to the older cars that had an ammeter on the dash. When you started the engine, the ammeter would indicate high charging current and would fairly rapidly decrease. I've owned cars with ammeters, most CFers haven't.
I might add that I am an EE and I understand lead acid batteries and their charging characteristics. Try Google sometime.
All you had to do was pay attention to the older cars that had an ammeter on the dash. When you started the engine, the ammeter would indicate high charging current and would fairly rapidly decrease. I've owned cars with ammeters, most CFers haven't.
I might add that I am an EE and I understand lead acid batteries and their charging characteristics. Try Google sometime.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 853
Likes: 0
From: Slinger WI
No mention of reverse polarity. Take a known good battery, discharge it, then connect a battery charger. You will observe very high current at first and the charging current will decrease as you continue to charge the battery and then reach a constant low charging current.
All you had to do was pay attention to the older cars that had an ammeter on the dash. When you started the engine, the ammeter would indicate high charging current and would fairly rapidly decrease. I've owned cars with ammeters, most CFers haven't.
I might add that I am an EE and I understand lead acid batteries and their charging characteristics. Try Google sometime.
All you had to do was pay attention to the older cars that had an ammeter on the dash. When you started the engine, the ammeter would indicate high charging current and would fairly rapidly decrease. I've owned cars with ammeters, most CFers haven't.
I might add that I am an EE and I understand lead acid batteries and their charging characteristics. Try Google sometime.
