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Well, OK, but my question was whether a regulator from a car wouldn't
work. If it needs a bigger load to be within proper operating
parameters, an appropriate resistor in parallel with the output would
take care of that pretty easily.
"They maintain constant voltage, while lowering the amp flow." This is
precisely what I thought the regulator would do well, as it is
obviously the case that its load is highly variable. Otherwise, we'd
hear horror stories on the news about people's batteries exploding as
they drove down the road.
So, so far, this still sounds like a good idea to me.
Regards,
Jim Wallace
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: Battery not overcharging
Author: Non-HP-stiebing (stiebing@flash.net) at HP-USA,mimegw5
Date: 17/02/98 9:49 PM
First off, there are very few if any DC power supplies that don't have a
transformer, rectifier and regulator. You have described the basic
construction of all power supplies (trust me, I've built a fewu). The
difference is, on a car not only is power being sent to the battery, it is
also being drained at the same time. The battery acts as a buffer for the
power between the alternator and the rest of the car. When you put the car
on a charger it is only being sent power. There is no drain imposed on the
battery. The problem that arises is what's called 'gassing off' of the
fluids in the battery. When the balance of power entering the battery is
greater than that of what is leaving, the water molecules break down into
hydrogen and oxygen. After a while you are left with an exposed core and an
explosive situation (long story, maybe I'll put an example on my page).
Never the less, there are solutions. There are a few companies that make
chargers for storage purposes. They maintain constant voltage, while
lowering the amp flow. These have shown to reduce the 'gasing off' result
of regular chargers. The best option is to install 'Optima' batteries.
They use a suspended electolyte and can not 'gas off'.
Hope this helps.
Alan Stiebing
'77 Spit
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/3476/
> From time to time, a discussion comes up about how not to overcharge a
> battery that's in storage. This got me wondering: why don't they
> overcharge while they're in use in the car?
>
> Which leads to: Why not build a battery charger that replicates the
> car's charging system? One could just use a transformer and rectifier
> (this would be like the alternator and rectifier), followed by a
> voltage regulator from a car. It seems to me that it would look the
> same to the battery.
>
> Why not? Any (constructive) comments?
>
> Please respond in terms of electrons rather than molecules if
> possible, as I'm chemically-challenged but electronically-oriented.
>
> Thanks,
> Jim Wallace
>
>
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From time to time, a discussion comes up about how not to overcharge a
battery that's in storage. This got me wondering: why don't they
overcharge while they're in use in the car?
Which leads to: Why not build a battery charger that replicates the
car's charging system? One could just use a transformer and rectifier
(this would be like the alternator and rectifier), followed by a
voltage regulator from a car. It seems to me that it would look the
same to the battery.
Why not? Any (constructive) comments?
Please respond in terms of electrons rather than molecules if
possible, as I'm chemically-challenged but electronically-oriented.
Thanks,
Jim Wallace
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