On 01/05/2021 11:59, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Martin Brown wrote:
On 28/04/2021 11:04, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
williamwright wrote:
Following the suggestion here that the charging voltage for Circuit C
was too high
("C: 14.6V, +0.01A")
I checked with an accurate meter. The voltage was 13.86V. That accords
with the very low residual charge rate. As I suspected, the van's
voltmeter is reading a bit high.

That's still high for a float charge. Should be more like 13v.

13.8v is a nominal fully charged lead acid battery. I have one or two
PSUs kicking around that output that voltage for powering kits that is
designed for lead acid accumulators from the mains.

13.8v is the standard for a car, engine running. So tends to be the output
of a PS designed to be used with things like a car radio, etc. A fully
charged battery, left to settle, is under 13v.

It probably is a bit on the high side for a float charge. A silicon
diode in series and a 1k resistor in parallel might help.

For most people, car engines don't run for much of the time. They do
need to top up the starter drain reliably, it's not really a float
charge regime.