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Making a 12 volt motorcycle trickle battery charger

Would it be possible to use one of those universal AC/DC power supplies as a 12-volt battery trickle charger?

The power supply is one of those that you can select the voltage via a switch, you can choose between 3 - 4.5 - 6 - 7.5 - 9 or 12 volts. The output is DC & the current of the supply is 300mA. (3.6VA max)

I ask as I have seen Motorcycle trickle battery chargers for sale, these only put out 300mA & looking at these they look very similar to the power supply I have with the exception that they can only be switched between 6 & 12 volts.

Any advice appreciated.

Reply to
tel1e
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Possibly but the voltage of a 12V battery rises to more than 12V when on charge.

Reply to
JS

It won't charge at all... takes at least 13.2V

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
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Reply to
Jim Thompson

For safety and to not damage the battery, you should buy a proper charger for it. You do not want to over or under charge a battery, especially one that is a lead acid type. Obviously you are not well versed in the engineering of chargers, and battery design, or you would not be asking this question on a public news group.

This is a very strong safety recommendation.

--

Jerry G. ======

The power supply is one of those that you can select the voltage via a switch, you can choose between 3 - 4.5 - 6 - 7.5 - 9 or 12 volts. The output is DC & the current of the supply is 300mA. (3.6VA max)

I ask as I have seen Motorcycle trickle battery chargers for sale, these only put out 300mA & looking at these they look very similar to the power supply I have with the exception that they can only be switched between 6 & 12 volts.

Any advice appreciated.

Reply to
Jerry G.

I have a couple of these power suppliers & I have tasted their output with a digital multimeter.

Most put out the voltage that is selected (or very near) but one of them puts out 13.24 v on the 9 volt setting & 17.90 v on the 12 volt setting!

If I had one of these adapters that say put out 14volts would it be ok to use as a charger?

Thanks.

Reply to
tel1e

You are most likely measuring the no load voltage on an unregulated power supply and not the loaded voltage. When you draw current from it you will see the voltage come down. Stick to a charger made for your application.

Reply to
Bill

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