Set the multimeter to DC. Locate the dial on the face of the tool indicating the different testing Voltages and Specific Gravity are listed for a 6-volt or 12-volt battery, and battery banks of 24 and 48 volts. Bring professional-grade automotive charging and features to your garage with the Vector BC15BV. I am running 2 optima yellow top battery's. Up to this voltage and at normal temperatures, the battery will only gas very slightly. After 8 hours, no self-respecting modern charger should still be charging at 15 volts. I know the volts should be high if the battery is low. So in effect the battery plates have become disconnected from the electrolyte and is acting like a huge capacitor? Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in, EBL 8 Bay AA AAA Battery Charger and Batteries, EBL 8 Bay AA AAA Battery Charger - Individual Battery Charger with 5V 2A Fast Charging Function for Ni-MH Ni-CD AA AAA Rechargeable Batteries, EBL Rechargeable AA Batteries 2800mAh (4 Pack) and AAA Ni-MH Rechargeable Batteries 1100mAh (4 Pack) with 8-Bay AA AAA Individual Battery Charger, EBL Rechargeable AA Batteries 2800mAh 8 Pack and 8-Bay AA AAA Individual Rechargeable Battery Charger with 5V 2A USB Fast Charging Function. https://mechanics.stackexchange.com/questions/45283/is-15v-too-high-for-a-standard-car-battery/45284#45284. The amps may drop down very quickly if the batteries are fully charged but the ammeter should show at least 15 amps to start off. Some flooded cells will tolerate over 15 volts. Be careful if there is, because this is acid which can burn you. Today I let my car battery charger charge a car battery over about 8 hours and probed the voltage to be about 15V with still 2 amps being pumped through by the charger (though the current was slowly falling over time) Is the battery damaged? My truck does not have a battery current sensor on the negative cable. How long to Charge a Car Battery at 15 Amps. The 15V is not a real reading. There are many ways of charging a battery, plus a myriad of chargers to choose from. You may have also noticed that the battery started to get warm/hot. The gauge may show a high charging rate at first, but this drops gradually as the battery becomes charged. Most of these basic charger types have an ammeter on the front to show the number of amperes being provided to the battery pack. Blomiky 15V Wall Charger with 11.1V XH-4P Plug Balance Box for 11.1V 3S Li-ion or Lipo Battery 1 Your best solution is to buy an intelligent charger that watches various parameters and ramps down the charging toward the end. For instance, if a battery is partially discharged to 12.4 volts, the way to get it charged back to 12.7 volts is for a charging system to give it a bunch of current and temporarily force it up to some higher voltage in the 13 to 15 volt range. A 15 amp charger can charge a 50% discharged small car battery (200-315 CCA or RC 40-60) in about 2 hours, a mid-sized battery (315-550 CCA or RC 60-85) in 2.25 hours, or a large car battery (550-1,000 CCA or RC 85-190) in 2.5 hours. Yet one of the most common questions is that, what charger should one use when charging a car battery, 2 amp or 10 amp?. Clamp the negative (-) lead, usually black, to the negative terminal . If it's old school, this is pretty normal, and it's time to stop charging. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. Oct 17, 2015 | Volvo Cars & Trucks. The target voltage for a 12 volt charger for AGM or some flooded batteries is 2.4 to 2.45 volts per cell, which is 14.4 to 14.7 volts. Voltage: 7.4V 3. How long to Charge a car Battery at 2 amps. The chart is listed below. You say false voltage potential, but either there is a potential somewhere or the meter is indicating erroneously. Percentage of Charge 12 Volt Battery Voltage Specific Gravity 100 12.70 1.265 If the electrolyte level has gone down, it will need to be topped up with distilled water. So, to answer your question, Yes, 15 volts is too high. Above this, and it will gas increasingly with increasing voltage. Once these two criteria are met, the charger will do a refresh charge to bring up the volts again to 100% fully charged. (Well, technically it's there, but the bubbles are acting as tiny cells in series, but have no actual stored potential. First, disconnect the charger, then follow the answer provided by @SteveRacer to load the battery and, https://mechanics.stackexchange.com/questions/45283/is-15v-too-high-for-a-standard-car-battery/45289#45289. 3.Smart LED charging status indicator. Measuring battery voltage at zero load is almost always wrong. Theyre great for charging UPS batteries for emergencies or small cabins. This creates a false" voltage potential that really isn't there. 15vdc is borderline too high. If it got hot, it may have been. Is 15V too high for a standard car battery. Solar panels are usually rated for 12 volts DC. A regulated charger will hold the voltage to 13.5 to 13.8 volts once the voltage has peaked, to prevent gassing and overcharging, and the current will drop to almost zero in a healthy battery. Youre seeing this ad based on the products relevance to your search query. CAUTION: This gas is a highly explosive mixture, so be very careful not to create any sparks near the battery while gassing continues, or for a while afterwards. Start with Battery Tender. The charger is a standard one designated for car batteries not an improvised one. If it reads somewhere in the mid 13vdc without the charger on it, you're probably in okay shape. Julian I bought a Powerfilm F15-600 10W folding panel to power my Maha PowerEX C401FS (12V DC)battery charger to charge my AA/AAA NiMH Eneloop batteries. Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2021, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. If it's taken your battery up to 15 volts, and it's a modern, regulated charger, it appears to me to be faulty. Plug the charger into the mains and switch on. I can't answer as to whether the battery will have been damaged. Only extended over-charging that boils away the electrolyte has the potential to damage the battery. About 10-12mm (1/2 inch) above the top of the plates is about typical, but wait until gassing has stopped, then rock the battery back and forth a few times to release any gas bubbles from the plates first. If it's old school, this is pretty normal, and it's time to stop charging. With a Schumacher battery charger, you can set a voltage threshold. All customers get FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon, Automotive Replacement Batteries & Accessories, Household Batteries, Chargers & Accessories. Battery Type: Li-ion 2. Gassing due to overcharging also "uses up" the water in your electrolyte, and in sealed batteries will fairly soon ruin the battery. Although a battery is called a '12 volt' battery, its voltage varies from about 12.6 volts down to 10 volts when it is discharging and can rise to 15 or 16 volts during charging. Start with Trust. The next step up is a 240-volt A 15 watt solar panel will deliver roughly 1 amp DC. As Nick T pointed out, most SOC instruments observe the effect of a calibrated load for accurate results. A high impedance DVOM is not enough load to break down the bubbles, so you get an exaggerated reading of Open Circuit Voltage (OCV) that is not a good indication of true State of Charge (SOC). I use an automotive headlight bulb in a socket for a minute or two. At some time or another, every car owner - especially the DIY (Do It Yourself) type will need a good battery charger. This may depend on the type of battery & charger: Modern cars may use AGM batteries & smart alternators which can pump out >16v on occasion, likewise smart chargers may do this for specific reasons. I am having issues with it charging at 15.3 volts and about 2 amps sometimes. As far as "topping up" with distilled water, long gone are the days with removable cell caps. Gassing is undesirable. After 8 hours, no self-respecting modern charger should still be charging at 15 volts. Are you probing the voltage with the charger still attached? Check again with a DVOM, and you will find your 15 volts is now 13.2 or something - much more accurate and indicating the battery is fully charged -- not damaged. Note, by gassing, I don't mean boiling. Good point about removing the surface charge - also just letting the battery stand but that takes longer. Gassing is the breakdown (electrolysis) of water (H2O) in the electrolyte into H2 gas and O2 gas. Product Type: Replacement Battery 5. So, to answer your question, Yes, 15 volts is too high. First of all, unplug the charger if you haven't done so already. Happen to notice that the "battery voltage" on my display was reading 15.2 volts while driving around town and highway but did see it go down as low as 14.5 after restarting the car. Called AAA and they checked the charging system and didn't see a problem but suggested the battery be replaced. there is no PbSO4 left to be converted, meaning the plates are fully charged) if the voltage goes too high. I put together the following battery state of charge chart which indicates the state-of-charge (percent) as it relates to battery voltage or specific gravity. With experience, one can accurately determine state of charge using a voltmeter. Ac Adapter 15V 2A DC Power Supply Charger AC 100-240V 50-60Hz to DC 15V 2A 30W Charger Power Supply 15V 30W 2A Ac Adapter Charger with 5.5mm x 2.5mm Plug 3.8 out of 5 stars 4 $9.99 $ 9 . Capacity: 1500mAh 4. the battery voltage should start to rise rapidly and should rise above 15 volts - do not allow the battery to charge at this 15 volt or greater level for more than a minute or two if the battery voltage rises above 15 volts with the SG field terminal grounded, the SG is functional sir weve been assembling our battery charger and sold for very long time but until now i could not determine the exact output amperes of my charger.weve just limit the output charging amperes at 6 amperes.it can charge upto 15 different size of batteries. Compatible with AGM/GEL/WET 12V battery systems. All you have to do is set the meter to a maximum value above 12-15 volts (a 25 or 50-volt range should be enough), and touch the positive cable of the voltmeter to the positive terminal of the battery, and the negative cable of the meter to the negative terminal. The trimmer TR1 is tweaked to ensure that at the output of the battery charger there exists a voltage of about 14.4 volts without load. Charging your car battery with a 2 amp car battery charger will take a reasonably long time, up to 24 hours to reach an acceptable charge, this is determined by the fact that your car battery is usually 48 amps and it takes about 1 amp charge per hour on average. 1 Answer. As a battery is charged the indicated voltage increases and, as discharging occurs, the indicated voltage decreases. Otherwise they are very different. This is mostly a question that focuses on charge time, because determining how long to charge a battery is important so that you can schedule tasks in line with when the task finishes. Most battery chargers use a This stirs up the chemistry in the entire battery, "equalizing" the strength of the electrolyte, and knocking off any loose sulphation that may be on the battery plates. "Maintenance Free" is another way of saying, https://mechanics.stackexchange.com/questions/45283/is-15v-too-high-for-a-standard-car-battery/45285#45285. Battery voltage reacts highly to charging and discharging. I take it that the "car battery charger" you mention in your post is an old-school type, which does not have any built-in charge regulation? The Level I charger runs on ordinary 110 Volt current from your home; whereas, the Level II charger uses a 240 Volt charge, which means you can charge your car up twice as fast. It is very important, however, to limit the maximum battery voltage during charging otherwise the battery will be damaged. No current limit as long as battery temperature remains below 125F (51.7C). You'll get debris and acid flying in all directions. This will damage your plates by causing flaking of plate material and shortening your battery's life. The absolute maximum distributable current is 3 Amperes, so DO NOT make an effort to recharge batteries with a capacity higher than 36Ah. In this mode, the charger keeps the battery fully charged by delivering a small current when necessary. The maintenance mode on a charger sends only a small amount of current to the battery, just enough to keep it topped off. Next, probe the battery at the terminals with your multimeter to see what the voltage is reading. I have seen it go down to 13.1 volts and the battery's were charging at .7 amps. Most car alternators, that normally recharge your battery after every start, and provide power while the engine is running, are normally voltage regulated to about 13.8 to 14.0 volts. That is awesome! After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. The same vehicle at different chargers will experience wildly varying charge times. Battery explosions are very nasty and dangerous. This happens when the plates cannot accept any more charge (I.e. Vehicles have different battery sizes, and charge at different speeds. 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