Trickle charge

[25v6turbo]

I,ve just taken the battery of the Safrane to give it a trickle charge as i don,t use the car much and it needs as much juice as possible to start,the battery isn,t very old and is not flat,just down a bit,i,ve connected it up to the charger and its showing 2 Amps?

Now should it got up to 12 Amps when fully charged or drop to zero when fully charged?

Someone told me it drop to nothing when charged,but i would of thought it should read 12 Amps when fully charged???

[messerschmitt owner]

it drops to nothing on the battery charger when charged

[25v6turbo]

Great just wanted to be sure,now i understand,cheers!!

P.S i STILL need to find a V6 Safrane being broken up so keep your eyes peeled..

[Andrew353w]

Dear 25V6Turbo,

 

If the battery's really very flat you might find it helps to trickle charge it, as the plates within the battery will hold more charge if the current is passed to them slowly, as opposed to being poured on with force. The analogy an "old school" mechanic gave me (when I was the tender age of 19 and an apprentice mechanic!) was as water being soaked up by a kitchen towel or blotting paper; you'll make more efficient use of the towel if it's left to soak up the water over time, as opposed to sloshing it around. With your car battery, if it's really flat empty and your charger starts ramming 12 amps into it, the battery will show that it's charged but it wont hold as much as it would were it to be charged at a slower rate.

 

If you wire a headlamp bulb in series with the battery it will restrict the rate of charge to a maximum of about 4 to 5 amps, and you'll also have an indicator as to how quickly the battery is charging, as the bulb will go dim as the rate of charge drops.

 

Hope this helps!