Battery Charger

 Battery Charger

Batteries drain due to usage or overtime due to leakage current and need to be recharged. We use a battery charger to recharge batteries. These devices force the current through the plates of the batteries to store energy. The charging time depends on a number of factors, the size of the battery, the output capacity of the charger to charge, the type of battery being charged, and the temperature. The selection of the right type of battery charger is of high importance since the wrong type of selection may lead to damaged battery cells. Additionally, the power source for charging needs to be specified as well as this also varies in charging performance for batteries.

Categories of Battery Charger:

Some of the most commonly available chargers are:

The Simple Charger is a slow recharging unit that provides continuous AC or DC current at a fixed voltage level for recharging, but these don’t come with any overcharging detection and may damage the battery in the long run.

Fast chargers have especially built-in circuitry that helps to boost the charge rate of the battery. This is done so by increasing either the current rate or the voltages. The nominal value of charring for handheld devices is 5V/2.4A, but for fast charging, the voltages may jump to 6, 9, or 12 volts to gain a current bump of 3A.

Pulse Chargers have unique features like rising time, pulse width, and controlled voltage and current levels, which differentiates them from other chargers available in the market. These types of chargers are preferred for batteries, that self-discharge, generating a layer of lead sulfate crystals, which eventually limits the battery's charging capacity. A short pulse of high voltage for a specified duration help to dissolve sulfate particles, thus increasing battery efficiency.

Solar Chargers make use of light energy and convert it to DC current. The most common example of solar chargers is the solar panels that charge the batteries. Though the main source of powering for sola rechargers, however, modifications have now made it possible for them to operate even partially clouded.

Trickle Chargers are preferred for charging batteries with low ratings of 3-30 Ah. They make use of a trickling charging mechanism, which is a low-current charring method. Typically the current is between 5-1500mA. However, this method is limited to battery types. If charged with trickle current, a li-ion battery would result in damaging the battery unit or may even end up exploding.

Universal Battery Chargers are intelligent devices that draw input from multiple input levels to charge different batteries. These are mostly preferred for charging mobile and handheld device batteries, which are usually Li-ion.

 

Charging and Discharging Rate:

 

Charging Of Battery = Battery Capacity Rate / Applied Current

Example:

Take 200 AH Battery. If the applied current is 10 Amperes, then it would be 200Ah/10A= 20 hrs approximately.

 

Discharging Rate = Battery Ah X Battery Volt / Applied Load.

 

Example:

Say, 200Ah X 12V/ 100 Watts = 24 hrs

(With 40% Loss At The Max = 24 x 40 /100 = 4.8 hrs)

For Sure, The Backup Will Last Up To 9.6 Hrs.

Cautions:

Some batteries have overcharging high tolerance. These types of batteries continue to charge even if they are at full charge. The charge needs to be removed after a certain time or any indicator indicating the full charge on the battery. However, chargers are available with a cut-off mechanism that can detect the full charge on the battery and disconnect the mains to prevent overcharging.