"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
In article ,
Chris Green wrote:
£100 for a simple PSU - and they still couldn't make it properly? Jesus
wept

It *should* be rather more than a 'simple' PSU as the battery charging
circuit needs to have some cleverness to charge a lead acid battery
properly.

Blurb with it suggests it's just a regulated 13.8v PS. Which should be OK
for the sort of charging use it would normally get.

Not really. A lead-acid battery should be charged to something like
14.5 volts to get it fully charged (and it's important to get them
fully charged sometimes). Then, when it's fully charged, the charger
should drop back to 13.5 volts or so to maintain the battery in
'float'. Most 'intelligent' lead-acid battery chargers will do
something like this, the 14.5 volts guarantees full charge but if
maintained long term will make the battery gas. Really clever
chargers will occasionally wake up out of float mode and do a sort of
battery conditioning sequence.

(All voltages above are 'typical', they're the ones that vary slightly
with battery chemistry and temperature)

--
Chris Green
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