Charging batteries for highbanker

[ozziii]

The batteries we have for the highbanker pump are both the lead acid calcium type, one is an AC Delco 80ah, the other is an RACV branded battery & is 95ah, both are cranking not deep cycle.
I was trying to find info about charging but its a bit hard to find charge rates etc. The best I could find was saying around 10 amps charge current & when it reads 14.4v, charge is about 80% full, then you drop current down to around 5 amps to top up & finish charging.

I used the AC Delco battery yesterday for the pump & it started getting less water flow so turned it off once it slowed down a bit.

My problem is that my charger says it can charge PB, or lead acid batteries but nothing about calcium & the highest amp rate I have is 6 amp, tried it on the AC Delco battery at 2 amps for around 4 hours & then around half hour at 6 amps when it beeped saying cap, for capacity meaning fully charged, ts only reading about 12.8v & being new I think it should be reading closer to 14v when fully charged.

The RACV battery however has been at my parents, hooked to a solar panel, I put it on the charge for a while & its now reading around 13.3v, this battery is older though maybe 12 months. It has the little green indicator in the window saying good where as the New AC Delco indicator suggests it need charging.

 

[blisters]

Is the 12.8 at rest after being disconnected for some time? That would be ok.

Get yourself some deep cycle batteries as cranking batteries will stuff up quickly if discharged. You might be seeing that with the Delco. If it gets a sulphate layer from discharging then it is more resistant to charge so a small charge current creates a higher voltage on the charger so it finishes. But the battery is not charged.

Normally max charge rate is around 10% of the capacity for lead acid (capacity/8) but AGM can go 400% (capacity*4). You should be able to get the specs from the manufacturers web site.

Make sure you don't discharge the battery more than what's recommend by the manufacturer as you'll reduce the number of charge cycles. You could monitor the battery voltage with a multimeter.

Jon

 

[jamie]

Ozziii, not being a smart a.. Or anything but is there a reason for using a battery and bilge pump, or is it just what was at hand at the time?

 

[ozziii]

Thank, & yeah some deep cycles would be alright, we got these batteries cheap though, the AC Delco was virtually new & cost a 6 pack of VB stubbies & the RACV isn't to old & was given to us from our Dad, it was hardly used & was in a caravan so thats why we have them & not deep cycle.
I might have ran it a bit to long when down the creek, I noticed the water starting to slow a tiny bit but kept going for around half an hour when the water had noticeably slowed more, probably should have stopped as soon as I noticed lower water volume.

Blisters, I checked the voltage not long after charging, I'll do another check first thing in the morning & see how they look.
On the charger while charging at the moment the volts read 13.5, not sure if thats the actual battery though because its on charge, the multimeter gives lower reading.

Jamie, main reason is for quietness & compactness, we were able to get the bits cheaper than a petrol pump set up as well so it got us going a little quicker. Once we can then we will look into a petrol pump, but as I only have a sedan, size is important.
I'm normally out by myself & I'm setting up a removal/box trolley to fit everything on so 1 person can cart it from car to creek in one trip so need to fit it on there as well.

 

[blisters]

Do a search for "lead acid battery voltage state of charge" and checkout some info and images like:

http://image.slidesharecdn.com/dscm...stems-seminar-020311-44-728.jpg?cb=1297171312

this would be at 25C.

I reckon it's ok but probably try to keep it from discharging less than 50% or approx. 12-12.1V and charge them back up as soon as possible. This is at 25C there are charts on the internet that adjust for different temperatures.

Your setup is awsome.

Jon

 

[jamie]

fair enough mate makes sense, at the moment i am in a family sedan so i can appreciate that size and amount of gear is important, i was going to say i have a spare small pump and hose you could use till you get yourself one but as you said quietness and my spare pump is a small 2 stroke so quiet it isn't

 

[Nightjar]

Ozziii,
If you happen to know anyone heading East from Perth with a bit of room in their vehicle you are welcome to a 4stroke fire pump gathering dust in my shed (Free).
Acquired it years ago with intentions of gold retrieval. Problem in WA is when the creeks run in the goldfields you have to stay home for fear of getting bogged.
Good luck with your project.

Cheers

 

[ozziii]

Do a search for "lead acid battery voltage state of charge" and checkout some info and images like:

http://image.slidesharecdn.com/dscm...stems-seminar-020311-44-728.jpg?cb=1297171312

this would be at 25C.

I reckon it's ok but probably try to keep it from discharging less than 50% or approx. 12-12.1V and charge them back up as soon as possible. This is at 25C there are charts on the internet that adjust for different temperatures.

Your setup is awsome.

Jon

Thanks Jon, slowly getting it sorted out & trying to work out how to mount it on a removal trolley to save making multiple trips to the car & back, a few occy straps come in handy,haha.
I found something similar earlier on, little different as these batteries are calcium. At 50% they should read around 12.45v & the charge input, both amps & volts, need to be higher than a lead acid to start with then once battery is around 70-80% charged then the charge amps get dropped down. For these batteries I could charge at around 10-15 amps then drop down to 5 amps for the top up from info I've found & can have the voltage around 14v. The boost function on some calcium battery chargers can run at over 15v to get a low battery charging, without the high power the calcium batteries are hard to start charging if they've been run down a bit to low.
My charger only has 6 amps but I worked out I can up the input volts, it has setting for different size batteries so by choosing the 8P setting instead of 6P I can have it flowing 14v & set the amps up to 6. Just took it of charge & tested, reading was 13.7v, but thats straight after charging so will let it set then test again. Still no green in the inspection glass though.

 

[ozziii]

fair enough mate makes sense, at the moment i am in a family sedan so i can appreciate that size and amount of gear is important, i was going to say i have a spare small pump and hose you could use till you get yourself one but as you said quietness and my spare pump is a small 2 stroke so quiet it isn't

Thanks Jamie but yeah a 2 stroke would be a bit to noisy, a 4 stroke wouldn't be to bad but I'd look into getting a mod done to quieten it more I think.

 

[ozziii]

Ozziii,
If you happen to know anyone heading East from Perth with a bit of room in their vehicle you are welcome to a 4stroke fire pump gathering dust in my shed (Free).
Acquired it years ago with intentions of gold retrieval. Problem in WA is when the creeks run in the goldfields you have to stay home for fear of getting bogged.
Good luck with your project.

Cheers

Thanks very much Nightjar, I wouldn't know anyone over that way or heading back this way so no chance of getting it over here.
But the electric is ok anyway, fitting it all to a removal trolley at the moment so I can cart it all by myself I one trip from creek to car, also already going to have a slight problem trying to fit everything in my car so the electric set up comes in handy there as its so much smaller. I've looked at a few 4 stroke petrol pumps & will eventually get one, but will also get longer hose & mod the exhaust.
Probably wait until I make a bigger highbanker though I think, current one is just a baby.

Outback W.A is one place I wouldn't want to get bogged, could be stuck out there for god knows how long once it starts raining, & thats without getting bogged.

 

[jamie]

No worries mate, my 4 stroke 2' pump is really quiet, with it running at idle about 8 meters from me i cant hear it over the water coming out my spray bars and running down the sluice, but i also try and have the exhaust facing away from me too

 

[ozziii]

Thats ok then, nice & quiet, thats the sort I reckon I would want, I like the quiet & to be able to hear whats around.

 

[blisters]

Sounds like your right on top of the charging ozziii
Jon

 

[ozziii]

Fair bit of reading & trying to find info on the net Blisters, on here as well so thankyou all.
Just pretty much need higher voltage, like 14v going into it, more amps, 10-15 is good to start with & when battery about 75-80% full drop amps & volts. I had it on today at 6 amps & 16 & 14v, made sure voltage didn't go over 14.4 although the calcium's can take more when dead flat to get them charging. Turned it off for a few hours & checked voltage & it was reading 13.1v, so pretty close I think, & the little indicator is showing green again so hopefully its all good now. Making sure its topped up fully at the moment, 2 amps & charger is reading around 13.5v, that should make sure its fully charged going from things I've read.

 

[blisters]

And car batteries can take 12 to 16 hours to get a full charge so don't be shy leaving it on for a day or so on trickle especially after a big discharge.
Jon

 

[ozziii]

Yeah it was on a low charge for a bit to start with, then I read about some calcium battery chargers & how to charge, thats why I started to put more amps & volts, everything I read about said its how calcium batteries get charged, higher power input compared to lower power for a normal lead acid. On the AC Delco website there was a bit about their batteries, once at 80% charged they say to drop amps to 5, down from 10 to 15 amps depending on charger. After fully charged then they can be put on trickle but they also have a much lower power loss percentage compared to standard lead acid.