>> "I'll have another look in daylight tomorrow..."
>>
>> Yes - it's definitely a Panasonic battery (looking from the top) unless there are very
>> convincing copies available!
>> I was interested to read the information sheet given for the Westco battery - a
>> different type again, as you say, and appearing to have its own particular requirements. The
>> 'AccuMate' charger was recommended - is that, in essence, any different from a Ctek?
One is gel, the other agm. A typical smart charger will cope with either. I'd avoid the snowflake setting with a gel battery though as it uses a higher voltage IIRC.
Old type basic chargers (Halfords, 1977 in my case) just applied a constant voltage and the current would drop as the state of charge increased; as long as the charger was connected the same voltage was applied, and the initial charging current could be quite high depending on the rate available from the charger.
Smart chargers have minimum three modes:
- Initial constant current mode, in which the voltage rises as the battery absorbs more charge. This prevents the battery getting too high a current initially.
- Then constant voltage, during which the current gradually falls and the battery is brought to full charge.
- Finally pulse (trickle charge) mode, which will keep the battery at full charge without causing it to gas or overheat.
I spent a lot of time looking into this a few years ago when we had some problems with batteries on a boat - I can't recall all the technicalities and advice now, but my MX5 battery has survived long periods connected to both the Aldi charger and the CTEK at different times despite it being the Panasonic gel type which don't like high charge rates (neither of my chargers is capable of more than 3.6/3.8 amps according to the specs).
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