SLA charging

Charging any cell/ battery technology is not 100% efficient and so it is necessary to return more than 100% energy or charge to the system after discharge.

A Lead acid battery may be recharged using either a constant voltage (CV) charger or a constant current (CC) charging system, or a modification of either or both of these.

Constant voltage charging, where a single voltage level is applied across the battery terminals, is the most suitable method to recharge lead acid batteries. Depending on the CV charger's current limit, it is possible to recharge these batteries from a 100% discharged condition to better than 95% state of charge in a very quick manner.

Constant voltage (CV) charging should be within the following ranges:

To avoid thermal runaway in warmer temperatures, and to improve charge acceptance in colder temperatures, the charger voltage should be compensated by approximately 3 millivolts per cell per degree Centigrade variance from 25°C. This is a negative coefficient, with the voltage being lowered as the temperature increases, and vice versa.

In rush or the initial current applied to a discharged battery will have to follow the manufacturers specifications. There is no need to limit the inrush current to the battery during the initial phase of constant voltage charging.

Since not all of the charge returned is accepted to replenish the electrochemical potential, a good rule of thumb to use is that the charge returned should be 105% to 110% of the capacity delivered on the previous discharge.

Consult us for more detailed explanation on charging systems that would meet your needs.