Thread: possibility to use charger and battery at the same time
View Single Post
  #14   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 24-02-2015, 18:44
MrForbes's Avatar
MrForbes MrForbes is offline
Registered User
AKA: Jim
FRC #1726 (N.E.R.D.S.)
Team Role: Mentor
  
Join Date: Feb 2006
Rookie Year: 2006
Location: Sierra Vista AZ
Posts: 6,022
MrForbes has a reputation beyond reputeMrForbes has a reputation beyond reputeMrForbes has a reputation beyond reputeMrForbes has a reputation beyond reputeMrForbes has a reputation beyond reputeMrForbes has a reputation beyond reputeMrForbes has a reputation beyond reputeMrForbes has a reputation beyond reputeMrForbes has a reputation beyond reputeMrForbes has a reputation beyond reputeMrForbes has a reputation beyond repute
Re: possibility to use charger and battery at the same time
I did a little poking around with a couple battery chargers. I have a modern charger

http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-XC6.../dp/B004EIBX00

which I used to charge a battery that had been sitting for a while. It started charging at about 14v and after several seconds the voltage increased gradually to about 16v, then slowly went down to around 14 as the battery charged. I found an old probe and connected my scope, and did not see anything resembling pulsing, transients, etc. The analog voltmeter also didn't show anything to get concerned about.

I also visited the robot room today, and brought my analog volt meter. We have old KOP chargers, which do pulse the battery, as indicated on the "charging" light changing color from green to orange. Video

http://youtu.be/Vf4AfdQVWRo

Maybe it's not as bad as we might think?