Sun, 27 Jun 1999 15:47:41 +0200 (CEST) - Message No. 5875
From: Michael Dipper

Subject: Re: problems with maintenance free battery


Hi,

On Sat, 26 Jun 1999, Freddy Van Geit wrote:

> When you haven't used your @ for a long while (what a shame, but it happens)
> don't despair if your expensive battery seems to have a loss of capacity.
> These maintenance free batteries will not charge very well inside the bike
> or with a usual battery charger if they haven't been used for a long time.
> To 'revive' your battery, just take it out of the bike and try to get an
> adjustable power supply from 0-30 Volt and increase the voltage until you
> have a charge current of about 1-2 Amps (charging voltage will be between 16
> and 24 Volt)
> After a few hours, your battery will become warm, indicating that it is
> charged and as good as a new one.
> I did the following test before and after the 'supercharging':

IMO not a very nice way to charge your battery. If it gets warm this
normally means that you are overcharging it. Then it starts to produce O2
(oxygen).  A better way to charge is with constant voltage of exactly
13.8V. With this voltage the battery will take a rather high current
at the beginning (5-6 amperes) and this will decrease to zero. As soon
as the current reaches about 20mA your battery is full - without getting
warm or producing oxygen.

If you charge with 24 Volt (!) the current is only limited by your power
supply, so when having a super-power-supply you can easily add 50 amps to
the battery which will surely damage it.

Greets,        --- Micha ---

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