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Author Topic: Charging Deep Cycle Batteries  (Read 1721 times)

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Offline Doug B.

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Charging Deep Cycle Batteries
« on: May 01, 2009, 03:38:08 AM »
I own a series 24 deep cycle/trolling motor battery. I  have a 1 amp, 12 volt charger, and knowing there are high tech chargers available (don't want to buy an additional), I am wondering how long I can leave this charger on my battery. I realize that may depend on just how "drained" the battery might be. Getting my rig ready for the season and I was just curious.

Any thoughts?
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Offline Cookiemann

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Re: Charging Deep Cycle Batteries
« Reply #1 on: May 06, 2009, 01:16:25 PM »
This site has some FAQ's on batteries and charging.
 http://www.schumacherproducts.com/faq/?id=0004

I used to charge my deep cycle batteries for my RV with my generator and that put out about 12 amps.  The converter on the RV was rated at 3 amps charge rate.  3 amps takes a long time to recharge a dead battery.  I used to have 2 size 24's, or 27's, hmmm, anyway, I would hook them up to my gas generator and charge about 1 1/2 to 2 hrs a day and they ran everything on the trailer from lights to water pump.  I could even skip a day here or there without any problems.
Hope this helped you and maybe answered some questions.
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Offline flintlock

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Re: Charging Deep Cycle Batteries
« Reply #2 on: May 06, 2009, 02:16:55 PM »
A 1 amp charger isn't going to charge a large deep cycle battery, it will maintain a charge but it's not going to charge it...

I know this isn't what you want to hear but you need to go buy a larger charger...The one you have is for the small batteries on motorcycles/4-wheelers etc...

Go get a good 10-20 amp charger, I recommend Schumacher...
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Offline flintlock

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Re: Charging Deep Cycle Batteries
« Reply #3 on: May 06, 2009, 02:34:17 PM »
I thought I'd add a little...

Amps is the flow of electrons...Think of it as water flow and the battery as a 5 gallon bucket...
If you put the bucket under a faucet that drops one drop a minute then the water in the bucket will evaporate as fast as you "fill" it...Increase that flow to a pint of water a minute and you will fill the bucket...

A battery stores electrons that can be released later...As you mentioned, if the battery is totally empty then it takes longer to charge than if it's only half empty...
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Offline Hairtrigger

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Re: Charging Deep Cycle Batteries
« Reply #4 on: May 06, 2009, 02:43:27 PM »
Part is going to depend on the amp/hour rating of your battery
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Offline torpedoman

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Re: Charging Deep Cycle Batteries
« Reply #5 on: May 06, 2009, 03:01:21 PM »
1 amp per hr charger    400 amp hr battery =  400 hours to charge it   
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Offline Hairtrigger

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Re: Charging Deep Cycle Batteries
« Reply #6 on: May 06, 2009, 03:35:45 PM »
Good timing, I spent yesterday morning with the owner of a battery charger company.
We were talking about 24V chargers.
Nothing we talked about related to the above question....
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Offline mechanic

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Re: Charging Deep Cycle Batteries
« Reply #7 on: May 06, 2009, 04:03:28 PM »
Quote from: torpedoman on May 06, 2009, 03:01:21 PM
1 amp per hr charger    400 amp hr battery =  400 hours to charge it  

Of course a group 24 battery is not 400 amp hours.  It's more like 70, but the post is correct, you can't feasibly charge it with a 1 amp charger. Your boat motor alternator will put out more than that by a long shot.

Undercharging the battery or not maintaining it, will cause very short battery life, which in the long run is a lot more expensive than the charger.  A charger for deep cycle batteries should state so on it's nomenclature.  The charge rate and maintenance rate for deep cycles is different than other lead acid batt.s
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Offline btmidwest

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Re: Charging Deep Cycle Batteries
« Reply #8 on: January 31, 2010, 03:58:53 PM »
It is best to have a good quality dual amp deep cycle charger with both manual and auto charging ability. If a battery gets down too far it will start to sulfate and an auto charger will get a false reading - it takes a manual/heavy charge to TRY to burn that off.  We have had customers leave their batteries charging with auto chargers for days with no results, if they were sulfated.  Automatic chargers are for batteries in good shape, manual chargers can possibly help a battery than has gotten down a little.  BT
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