Chargers and Inverters Introduction

A battery charger is a device used to put energy into a cell or battery by forcing an electric current through it from an AC such as main, generator or shore power. The battery chargers output current depends upon the battery's state of charge. An intelligent battery charger may monitor the battery's voltage, temperature and/or time whilst charging to determine the optimum charge current at that instant. Battery charging is terminated when a combination of the voltage, temperature and/or time indicates that the battery is fully charged.

Most modern battery chargers are now fully automatic and intrinsically safe. Our battery chargers have reverse polarity protection and can be left on permanently without fear of overcharging you battery.

A battery chargers cycle can be described as multi stage. This normally consists of Bulk, Absorption and Float. The Bulk charging stage is designed to deliver the majority of charge back to the battery. Once the battery reaches approximately 80% charged its resistance is much higher and it does not want to accept as much current. This stage is known as Absorption or constant voltage. The voltage will be held and the battery is able to absorb the remaining current required to reach a fully charged state.

Once charged the voltage is reduced to a Float voltage and the third stage begins. This stage is designed to maintain the battery at 100% state of charge by supplying a constant voltage lower than that of the Absorption stage but high enough to stop self discharge. In theory the battery can be left on a permanent float charge without fear of overcharging. Some battery chargers employ other special stages such as pulsing and equalisation to further improve charging and prolong battery life.