Charging a 12V fieldbox battery while using the box

Hi guys. Anyone know if it's possible to charge a fieldbox battery while at the same time drawing current from said battery to power a Triton charger? Would you damage the charger or the battery? I have two types of chargers for my fieldbox battery, one gives a green light when fully charged and is of a compact type, the other is a fairly large charger with a needle that indicates current. It too seems to reduce current when battery is full.

Stefan Pettersen

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Stefan Pettersen
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I do it all the time, using a 12V Pb battery always connected to a float charger to supply various chargers. If the Triton charger is okay with a 13.8 V supply, and it would be a poor design if not, it should work fine too.

Abel

Reply to
Abel Pranger

"Abel Pranger" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Thanks. I've examined my charger and suspect that it is a float charger, but it doesn't say. How can you tell if it is? It has a red LED when charging and a green when full. Does that make it a float charger?

Stefan Pettersen

Reply to
Stefan Pettersen

On Sun, 27 May 2007 21:02:17 +0200, "Stefan Pettersen" wrote in :

Another poster has indicated that it works OK.

There are a couple of guys at my field who have solar panels that charge their fieldbox battery continuously. It must be a fairly small current, but if you're out all day, it may help keep the battery topped off.

Marty

Reply to
Martin X. Moleski, SJ

It should be no problem at all, just make sure that there is no way the battery can become disconnected and leave your charger connected to the Lead Acid charger by itself. That might let the smoke out of your Triton. Lots of people use a lead acid battery constantly hooked to a charger for a 12 volt source in their work shop.

Reply to
Red Scholefield

Thanks for the help :)

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Reply to
Stefan Pettersen

Stefan-

Float chargers put out a small constant current that is intended to make up for the normal self-discharge of wet or gel cell batteries during storage or infrequent use. It has the advantage of maintaining charge without boiling off the electrolyte, as the usual rapid chargers do when left connected for extended periods. It's a trade off - I am using a 17AH gel cell that was salvage from a motorized bicycle factory that tanked, and the float charger keeps it ready for as often as I use it for charging R/C and E-flite batteries, a couple of times a week. The advantage is the operation is set it up and forget it. Easier than using a normal Pb battery charger that needs to be turned on periodically to recharge the gell cell. OTOH, it wouldn't work well under the demands of a greater duty cycle. Actually, I keep in the garage where it is convenient for charging batteries in larger models I don't want to lug to the shop, and use a workhorse 20 A benchtop power supply in my shop for most charging. The $15 gel cell battery and $5 (at Harbor Freight) float charger make a power supply for R/C chargers at a price that's hard to beat, though. Oh, your charger with the green LED is not likely a float charger, as the float charger's job is never done - they charge continuously at the same rate until disconnected from the AC source.

Abel

Reply to
Abel Pranger

It's a gel type :)

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Reply to
Stefan Pettersen

Thanks for your reply. I guess it's not a float charger then. But for my use it would probably be best with the charger I have since I was thinking of hooking up the charger to the battery while I do cycling of packs with my Triton. A flot charger would then not supply enough power to keep my gel-cell topped off while in use I guess?

"Abel Pranger" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Reply to
Stefan Pettersen

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