I am connecting a new 12v-19ah motorcycle battery to a Trimble 5600 with an alligator clip cord. I charge it over night with an automatic charger/battery tender. The charger is supposed to charge, trickle and maintain (Deltran Battery Tender Jr.). The charger indicates that it has charged and maintained the battery correctly. Also, the battery does last all day (and then some), but my Ranger TSC 12.5 always indicates a battery charge of less than 20% and gives me an annoying warning after a few hours.
Any thoughts what is going on? What is the gun basing the reading on?: voltage, voltage drop, amperage draw?
I have noticed one quirk: Lately, I tend to start losing radio communication after I have received the low battery warning on the gun for a while (warning through TSC12.50 Ranger DC). Is this because of low battery power? Am I really having power issues after all?
Scott
I don't know if my experience pertains, but I have a bunch of Battery Tender chargers that I use with 18 ah SLA batteries. When I later bought an Optima 54 ah deep cycle battery I figured that the BT chargers would work and just take longer to charge it, but I discovered that they either didn't charge it at all or charged it so little that it wasn't noticeable. I bought an Optima Digital 400 charger, and that took care of the problem.
In short, your BT Jr. may not be up to the task of charging your motorcycle battery.
OK - I'll hook the battery up to my car battery charger. It can charge at 2, 15, and 125 amps. I'll start with 15 amps for 4-6 hours and then 2 amps over night. The BT Jr. can only charge at up to 3/4 amp (or so it says).
One question: did your Battery Tender charge your 18ah SLA batteries OK?
Scott Bordenet, post: 336982, member: 10097 wrote: did your Battery Tender charge your 18ah SLA batteries OK?
Yes, but I'm not using a Jr., I'm using 6-amp chargers that look like this one (though mine aren't waterproof):
The instrument charge transferred to the collector is based upon voltage. Amperage is the key to your issue, a 5600 uses 1.1 to 1.3a/hr in use and your charger is good for 0.75a/hr in charge. Basically, you are going backwards most evenings
Most of the exotic car guys I know have moved to CTEK chargers and away from Battery Tenders because they give a better float and have several charging steps. I have a couple for my cars, but, I don't use that chemistry for surveying. Might be worth a look http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=ctek+battery+chargers&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=71554044295&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8453550209836643548&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_9bu3nymaa_e
I have a small Ctek charger that I use for 7ah SLA batteries. No complaints about it. I like the connectors, but they're proprietary and therefore kind of costly.
I will change my charger and report to you guys after a couple days of use. After your input and a little research, I see my understanding of charging capability/speed is way off. I bet you are right and my battery is not getting recharged. Thanks for your help.