Topic: C5 Original Charger specs.

[aandu]

Could anyone let me know of the C5 charger specs...

Info like the time it takes to charge a 100AH battery.
Max trickle charging capacity...etc

I have a C5 charger. Would like suggestions on how to find out if it is in working condition?

[Karl]

The original chargers were designed to charge the standard 36ah batteries and for those it will take 4 hours for a half charge, 8 hours for a full charge from "flat".

I've no idea how long a 100ah battery will take 

The chargers will only work once they are connected to a battery, when a red light will illuminate. The green light comes on once charging is complete.

[aandu]

Thanks Karl. Shall have to see if I need to buy another charger along with the battery I am going to buy.

[ogb]

the time is depending on the load amps   capacity in amps/hour  divided  load-amps = load time
you can load a 100 ah in good condition with up to 25 amp what do it in 4 hours
but the normal loaders have 5-10 amp capacity so need 100/5= 20hours or 100/10= 10 hours

for nicd they are now developing loading stations how can load your scooter in 15 min
see http://www.epyon.nl/company.html

[oldcomps]

Hi ogb

Does rapid charging of the battery not dramatically reduce the life span? or is that urban myth

[ogb]

mostly the max load amps are printed on the battery
it is designed for high currents  , starting your motor will have a current of 200amps for a short time
as long as you keep the temperature under the 60 degrees by loading it will be normal and not damage your battery

[aandu]

How I wish I could get a NiCD pack... But at the current price I would have to sell my car to get a battery pack for the C5...! 

[aandu]

Excellent information. Here goes my stupid question:

A charger has to stop trickle charging at a certain AH level (say 100 AH or 250 Ah etc). If charger fails to stop and is left charging the battery, in all probability the battery life would be reduced or in worst case, destroyed. Right?

Coming to the question, what is the point at which (the AH level) the C5 charger stops all charging (even trickle charging)?

Or is it the kind of charger that never stops and it is upto us to unplug the charger?

[aandu]

 thanks a lot for explaining cleanly.

From your post, I think I have to get the following tools:
a. Battery charger - 12V 6A/8A
b. Voltmeter or Multimeter
c. Digital Timer

Any idea where I can find items at a low price?

[Karl]

I just use my Optimate battery charger, copes with my 70ah leisure battery very well 

[spudit2003]

hi
ive got a problem with my charger. when i connect the charger to the battery lid it starts charging, but soon after it will stop and say it is ready and i have to take it off, usually fiddle with the contacts, put it back on and hope it charges a bit more. i have 3 batteries connected in parallel, first a 17ah then another 17ah then a 22ah, and the guy i bought it off says he thinks this is the correct way of wiring them up for equal charge/discharge accross the 3, but i dont know, although i assume if they were in series it would be 36v which would be wrong. ive found that if i dont put the charger connection on properly it will charge for a bit, whereas sometimes it wont when i put it on properly. i did try emerying the connectors of the charger but to no avail
any advice would be greatly appreciated, i have tried disconnecting the additional batteries but it made no difference
thankyou
Lewes

[spudit2003]

thanks, yes, they are yuasa sealed batteries. sorry, i cant really get any good pics cos the batteries are attatched to the C5 and you cant realy see much. each of the 17ah ones are about the same height as a car battery but about half the width (the 2 together are about the same size). yesterday i decided to try putting the charger on a different battery, but nothing changed. i dont have access to any other batteries to try and dont really fancy buying a new leisure battery. would buying a different charger solve the problem? i dont really know much about different types of battery and chargers, so what kind of charger would be suitable for these gel batteries?
thankyou
Lewes

[spudit2003]

hi
thanks for that advice. i managed to find out the model of my battery (the way they were installed made it impossible to actually see the label), and i just wanted to check it is a gel battery, i checked the website and i didnt see the word gel anywhere, but they may have a more technical name. its called a yuasa NP17-12I and the technical details are at http://www.yuasa-battery.co.uk/industrial/np.html (thanks for directing me to the yuasa site). i will also contact the previous owner to find out what he did.
i would be very grateful if you could advise me as to what type of battery i have, because i dont want to spend money where it is not needed obviously.
Thankyou
Lewes 

[Karl]

Given the age of all the original Sinclair chargers I think it would be unwise to expect one to charge 3 batteries at once.

[aandu]

hmmm... Right here in Milton Keynes.