car battery charger ?

[rebs]

How many amps is ideal for charging a car 12 volt battery ? My last one was 10 amps and worked good and the new one I got for xmas is a 6 amp. How much longer will it take the 6 amp to charge a battery ?

[yarcraft91]

My car battery chargers are all 10 amp automatic or 2 amp maintenance chargers.

Your 6 amp charger will do the job, just slower, figure roughly twice as long as the 10 amp.

[FuzzzyIL]

Originally Posted by rebs

How many amps is ideal for charging a car 12 volt battery ? My last one was 10 amps and worked good and the new one I got for xmas is a 6 amp. How much longer will it take the 6 amp to charge a battery ?

Rebs

Re-gift the 6 amp. Get a new 10 amp.

I do use a 6 amp to re-charge the trolling batt on our 'pond jumper' 14 foot Crestliner with a transom motorguide. I like to re-charge that one low and slow after a full day burn.

[cyber16]

my .02c is you are talking about a car battery here.
First thing to ask is why is it running low or in need of additional charging outside the charging system from the car/truck it self.

Most auto charging systems do a great job at the bulk & absorption charging stages.
Sure I use an auto charger once in awhile to top off and float my auto batteries, but doing this the charger spends very little time on it's bulk stage with full amp output. Once the battery reaches near 80% most chargers turn to an absorption stage, this stage is much lower current "AMPS" and higher volts.

Therefore the only time them higher amps do any good is when the battery is below a 80% level, then one needs to ask why that is so.

If the battery is diminished due to age, just replace it.

[gofishwalleye]

My shop charger is 2 10 40 60 and boost. Use them all in the dead of winter to start a few pieces of my turf equipment.

10 and 40 are the most used

[cyber16]

Here is an explanation better than the one I provided.
http://www.batterystuff.com/blog/3-s...-chargers.html

I own several car chargers and they also range from 2a - 200a
The only times I ever need to use anything over 40a is to assist in a jump start usually a neighbor that just ran his battery down for various reasons, not one that has been sitting outside in the cold for long as a battery the is about 60% depleted will & can freeze at +18f and you never want to charge a frozen battery and if you do, don't be surprised when it explodes.

[REW]

I agree that best to return the 6 amp charger and purchase a 10 amp charger.

After the first few minutes, the 6 amp charger will be charging at a rate of about 2 amps.

But the 10 amp charger will be charging at 5 amps after a few minutes of the typical battery.

Good luck

[last chance]

I have a 10 20 40 amp automatic black and decker charger that I use. I just set it on 40 amps and let her go. it never reaches 40 amp's but somewhere in between. then as the battery gets charged the amp's drops. then when the battery gets charged it will shut off. then if the battery gets low it will kick back on at a very low amp and top the battery of. wouldn't have another battery charger.

[yarcraft91]

Originally Posted by last chance

I have a 10 20 40 amp automatic black and decker charger that I use. I just set it on 40 amps and let her go. it never reaches 40 amp's but somewhere in between. then as the battery gets charged the amp's drops. then when the battery gets charged it will shut off. then if the battery gets low it will kick back on at a very low amp and top the battery of. wouldn't have another battery charger.

Similar to how your car's charging system charges the battery- all she'll take to start with, tapering off as it nears full charge.

[cyber16]

all batteries have c/rate.
Most battery manufacturers have a recommend c/rate for their given models
This c/rate spec has been around since the 1700's

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/a..._is_the_c_rate