Charging jump start packs.

[JohnC]

Just wondered if anyone can help.

I have one of the jumpstart packs for field use.

The supplied charger takes days so is it possible to use a normal battery charger clipped to the starter leads in order to charge the pack quickly?

Hope that makes sense.

Thanks

john

[Psychobilly]

Everything you wanted to know about charging SLA batteries and possibly as lot you didnt is available from here...

How to charge sealed lead acid batteries. Custom battery chargers for OEMs in a hurry from PowerStream

Peter...

[beamish]

Yup that's how I do it with an Optimate 3

[JohnC]

Thanks chaps.

Didn't want to connect it up and blow something.

[brianb]

Keep the charging current down to about 3 amps ... fast chargers may generate gas faster than the vents can leak it & internal pressure may reach bursting point (messy).

[Breakintheclouds]

Does anybody have any thoughts or experience on solar trickle chargers? I have a nice big jump-start powerpack which will be living out in my observatory most of the time. I'm thinking of mounting a south-facing waterproof 12V solar trickle charger next to my obsy and plugging it into my powerpack after observing sessions. Are there any potential problems with this?

[brianb]

I'm thinking of mounting a south-facing waterproof 12V solar trickle charger next to my obsy and plugging it into my powerpack after observing sessions. Are there any potential problems with this?

The major problem is that a trickle charger will not provide enough current to replenish the charge ... might be useful for keeping a fully charged battery topped up, though.

What I mean is - a full night's observing session uses most of the capacity of my 70 AH deep cycle battery, and solar trickle chargers supply around 50 mA so, if the sun shines 6 hours, the battery will receive 0.3 AH. If I have the battery on a mains charger at 3A for 10 hours then it gets 100 times as much ... and I'm not dependednt on the sun shining.

[Breakintheclouds]

Thanks, Brian, that's useful. Perhaps if I find a cheap trickle charger I might still go for it. After all, it's a bit less power I have to drag from the mains...