Charging Time - Cabelas ProSeries OnBoard Charger

[Footdoc55]

I purchased a three bank Cabelas ProSeries On Board Charger and have 3 - 27 series batteries. Supposedly, this charger charges and "reconditions" the batteries each time. I have noticed it takes at least 12-15 hours to charge once plugged in - even when I have not really drained the batteries. Does this seem normal? Thanks in advance.

[sidfish]

Originally Posted by Footdoc55

I purchased a three bank Cabelas ProSeries On Board Charger and have 3 - 27 series batteries. Supposedly, this charger charges and "reconditions" the batteries each time. I have noticed it takes at least 12-15 hours to charge once plugged in - even when I have not really drained the batteries. Does this seem normal? Thanks in advance.

Doc
Mine would do the same. Even when the batteries were charged recently and then unplugged, the charger would always indicate it was charging. Others know more about charging batteries but the charger always worked well for me and I never had battery problems with it. However it did take time to recharge a battery. I was told it was easier on the battery to charge it slowly.

[yarcraft91]

Your new charger is probably spending most of its time in the part of the charging cycle that "reconditions the batteries every time". If that is an equalization charging cycle, then your batteries are being intentionally overcharged for several hours, which is good for conventional wet cell batteries every so often and potentially fatal for certain other battery types.

You can tell if the charger is delivering an equalizing charge by monitoring the battery voltage during the charging cycle. An equalizing charge will result in batteries being held at 15+ volts for hours, up to as much as 16.5 volts, which generates gas, which stirs up the fluids in the cells. Occasional equalizing charges are recommended practice for conventional batteries. Monitor the battery fluid levels in a conventional battery, add only distilled water after the batteries are charged.

If the batteries are being held at 13.2 to 14.4 volts, that is not an equalization cycle.