Trickle chargers can maintain a charged battery. Can they also bring up a partially or fully discharged battery to full strength?
I use a Berger Electronik trickle charger purchased from an MB dealer on my 2000 SL500. It puts out .4A at 14.4V and seems to do a good job of maintaining the battery's charge.
I wonder what an alternator's output is for a fully charged battery when under way and the radio or headlights are on.
Trickle chargers can maintain a charged battery. Can they also bring up a partially or fully discharged battery to full strength?
I use a Berger Electronik trickle charger purchased from an MB dealer on my 2000 SL500. It puts out .4A at 14.4V and seems to do a good job of maintaining the battery's charge.
I wonder what an alternator's output is for a fully charged battery when under way and the radio or headlights are on.
Herb
Herb
The output of the trickle charger that you cite is estimated to be 0.4 amp assuming the voltage is 14.4. If your battery is partially or even fully dischraged, the charger will put out more amperage. However the greater amperage can cause the charger to overheat. For that reason most chargers are limted in how much current they will pass. In all probability your trickle charger will not pass more than 0.6 amps regardless of how low the voltage is. That means that if your battery voltage is around 12 volts and the battery is rated at 100 amp-hrs, it could take around 200 hours to charge. It will take longer than you might expect because as the voltage rises, the charge rate drops.
With regards to how much current your alternator puts out with just lights and radio, that depends on your engine speed. At highway speeds its probably around 50 amps while at idle it's only around 30 amps. Add air conditioning and you're up aroud 80 amps. Remember that the current output of the alternator is determined by the charge state of the battery. As the electrical loads take current out of the battery, the voltage drops and the alternator increases its output to bring the voltage back up.
Larry and Lynn, thank you for the helpful information. What you told me was very clear and I had been unaware of all the technical information that is available at the batterytender site. It looks like they have an excellent product, perhaps more sophisticated and better for the battery than the one I have.
BMWs (I just got a 2005 545 to replace my '98 528 with manual tranny which is for sale) tend to be finicky about the charging rates in their electriacal systems, so it's impressive to see that this company has their approval.
Herb
Vehicle: 2001 SL500 / 2005 Honda Pilot / 2004 Dodge Ram 3500 HO CTD
Location: Williamsburg, VA
Posts: 155
Quote:
Originally Posted by lynns
Along with the BatteryTender I think one of the best things that I learned from the BenzWorld last year was about the AntiZap
So has anyone on this forum actually installed an AntiZap or read their installation instructions? I'd be concerned that without a very specific installation sequence you might actually cause just the kind of electrical transient that you're trying to prevent ... especially since the battery location is kind of cramped and there isn't much spare cable length to work with.
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