C5ALIVE Forum

C5Alive Forum - Archive Section => General Archive => Complete Archive => C5 Chatroom => Topic started by: aandu on 15, August, 2008 - 22:37:11

Title: C5 Original Charger specs.
Post by: aandu on 15, August, 2008 - 22:37:11
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?
Title: Re: C5 Original Charger specs.
Post by: Karl on 15, August, 2008 - 22:52:04
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.
Title: Re: C5 Original Charger specs.
Post by: aandu on 16, August, 2008 - 21:40:35
Thanks Karl. Shall have to see if I need to buy another charger along with the battery I am going to buy.
Title: Re: C5 Original Charger specs.
Post by: ogb on 17, August, 2008 - 12:09:22
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 (http://www.epyon.nl/company.html)
Title: Re: C5 Original Charger specs.
Post by: oldcomps on 17, August, 2008 - 12:23:07
Hi ogb

Does rapid charging of the battery not dramatically reduce the life span? or is that urban myth
Title: Re: C5 Original Charger specs.
Post by: ogb on 17, August, 2008 - 15:42:05
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
Title: Re: C5 Original Charger specs.
Post by: aandu on 17, August, 2008 - 15:53:54
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...!  ::)
Title: Re: C5 Original Charger specs.
Post by: aandu on 18, August, 2008 - 22:07:35
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?
Title: Re: C5 Original Charger specs.
Post by: aandu on 19, August, 2008 - 22:39:28
 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?
Title: Re: C5 Original Charger specs.
Post by: Karl on 20, August, 2008 - 10:40:42
I just use my Optimate battery charger, copes with my 70ah leisure battery very well  ;)
Title: Re: C5 Original Charger specs.
Post by: spudit2003 on 20, August, 2008 - 20:07:32
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
Title: Re: C5 Original Charger specs.
Post by: spudit2003 on 21, August, 2008 - 12:27:20
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
Title: Re: C5 Original Charger specs.
Post by: spudit2003 on 21, August, 2008 - 19:32:35
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 (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 
Title: Re: C5 Original Charger specs.
Post by: Karl on 21, August, 2008 - 22:07:02
Given the age of all the original Sinclair chargers I think it would be unwise to expect one to charge 3 batteries at once.
Title: Re: C5 Original Charger specs.
Post by: aandu on 22, August, 2008 - 23:21:34

hmmm... Right here in Milton Keynes.  :)
Title: Re: C5 Original Charger specs.
Post by: aandu on 04, September, 2008 - 23:02:05
I was sunk in neck deep work the past couple of weeks... Hope to start work on the C5 again.

I have managed to buy a good leisure battery. A friend has loaned me his Halfords charger. When I connected it for charging, it came as charged after just 2-3 hours. So have to see if it really charged or if the intelligent charger is actually dumb.
Title: Re: C5 Original Charger specs.
Post by: Wizbat on 04, September, 2008 - 23:54:07
Hi, I,m running a brand new liesure battery that,s 85 amps and It was first used on this sunday last, I stuck it on charge sunday night and at the mo it,s still storming!( been round the village lots of times :-) and up to the pub and the dash still shows both little green lights).
I take it from what was said earlier that a typical halfords car battery charger will knacker it, so whats the most suitable charger for this type of battery and where can I get it?
Wiz.
Title: Re: C5 Original Charger specs.
Post by: fezza_rs on 05, September, 2008 - 09:06:00
No a decent autobattery charger will be just fine for it.
Title: Re: C5 Original Charger specs.
Post by: aandu on 05, September, 2008 - 10:21:43
Quote from: Wizbat on  04, September, 2008  - 23:54:07
Hi, I,m running a brand new liesure battery that,s 85 amps and It was first used on this sunday last, I stuck it on charge sunday night and at the mo it,s still storming!( been round the village lots of times :-) and up to the pub and the dash still shows both little green lights).
I take it from what was said earlier that a typical halfords car battery charger will knacker it, so whats the most suitable charger for this type of battery and where can I get it?
Wiz.
Mine is 105AH Trojan Battery with a 25 Amp Reserve capacity of 175 minutes. So hopefully should be able to do atleast 30+ miles on a single charge.

The halfords charger I loaned is suitable for car, leisure and bike batteries... atleast that is what the manual says.

Going to buy multimeter and stuff today. Hope I can go for a spin tomorrow i.e if the controller and motor work!