Originally Posted By: wrcsixeight
A battery big enought for a Suburban, is likely 85 Amp hours capacity.
A trickle charger is generally 2 amps
A deader than doornail battery can be considered 100% discharged
2 amp( trickle charge) for 8 hours would return a small fraction of the charge back into the battery.
I wish people would stop thinking a trickle charge is magically restoratice, especiually if it is not left on for 24 to 48 or more hours.
Driving for an hour.
Well how much the laternator returns in this hour is Very variable, and the main variable is the voltage allowed by the voltage regulator.
If the battery was brought to and held at 14.5 volts for that hour, the battery might have gotten to 80 to 85% charged, and 85% to 100% charged, if continued to be held at 14.5v would require no less than 3.5 more hours.
But it is far more likley 14.X volts was allowed for aonly a few minutes before dropping to 13.7 ish volts.
So what has happened is the starting battery was drained, likley below 10.5v, which is considered 100% discharged on a 12v battery.
8 hours of trickle charge returned a very small portion of the charge to the battery, then the hour long drive might have also accomplished very little.
So the gasping and drowning battery was given barely enough to keep its head above the water line, and the unknown level of parasitic draw acted to submerge the battery again.
The Alternator is not a magical physics defying instant battery charger
A trickle charger applied for only a few hours is an insult to a deeply discharged battery that is big enough to crank a v8 engine.
Charge the battery fully. This might take 36 and likely more hours on your despicable 'trickle' charger. Investigate the vehicle's parasitic draw.
If the battery doe test bad, you likely killed it, or at least significantly contributed to its very premature demise.
A lead acid battery ideally wants to ALWAYS be at 100% state of charge. Hovering lower than this is detrimental. how detrimental is determined by how low it goes, and how long it remains there.
And a battery so Depleted it needed a Jumpstart, CANNOT be charged to true full 100% in less than 6.5 hours, and that is when the high amp charging source seeks and hold voltages in the mid 14's for that 6.5 hours.
Lesser voltages GREATly increase the charge times, no matter how powerful, amperage wise. the charging source is capable of. Voltage is electrical pressure. With not enough pressure there is little flow.
Originally Posted By: wrcsixeight
A battery big enought for a Suburban, is likely 85 Amp hours capacity.
A trickle charger is generally 2 amps
A deader than doornail battery can be considered 100% discharged
2 amp( trickle charge) for 8 hours would return a small fraction of the charge back into the battery.
I wish people would stop thinking a trickle charge is magically restoratice, especiually if it is not left on for 24 to 48 or more hours.
Driving for an hour.
Well how much the laternator returns in this hour is Very variable, and the main variable is the voltage allowed by the voltage regulator.
If the battery was brought to and held at 14.5 volts for that hour, the battery might have gotten to 80 to 85% charged, and 85% to 100% charged, if continued to be held at 14.5v would require no less than 3.5 more hours.
But it is far more likley 14.X volts was allowed for aonly a few minutes before dropping to 13.7 ish volts.
So what has happened is the starting battery was drained, likley below 10.5v, which is considered 100% discharged on a 12v battery.
8 hours of trickle charge returned a very small portion of the charge to the battery, then the hour long drive might have also accomplished very little.
So the gasping and drowning battery was given barely enough to keep its head above the water line, and the unknown level of parasitic draw acted to submerge the battery again.
The Alternator is not a magical physics defying instant battery charger
A trickle charger applied for only a few hours is an insult to a deeply discharged battery that is big enough to crank a v8 engine.
Charge the battery fully. This might take 36 and likely more hours on your despicable 'trickle' charger. Investigate the vehicle's parasitic draw.
If the battery doe test bad, you likely killed it, or at least significantly contributed to its very premature demise.
A lead acid battery ideally wants to ALWAYS be at 100% state of charge. Hovering lower than this is detrimental. how detrimental is determined by how low it goes, and how long it remains there.
And a battery so Depleted it needed a Jumpstart, CANNOT be charged to true full 100% in less than 6.5 hours, and that is when the high amp charging source seeks and hold voltages in the mid 14's for that 6.5 hours.
Lesser voltages GREATly increase the charge times, no matter how powerful, amperage wise. the charging source is capable of. Voltage is electrical pressure. With not enough pressure there is little flow.
Originally Posted By: wrcsixeight
A battery big enought for a Suburban, is likely 85 Amp hours capacity.
A trickle charger is generally 2 amps
A deader than doornail battery can be considered 100% discharged
2 amp( trickle charge) for 8 hours would return a small fraction of the charge back into the battery.
I wish people would stop thinking a trickle charge is magically restoratice, especiually if it is not left on for 24 to 48 or more hours.
Driving for an hour.
Well how much the laternator returns in this hour is Very variable, and the main variable is the voltage allowed by the voltage regulator.
If the battery was brought to and held at 14.5 volts for that hour, the battery might have gotten to 80 to 85% charged, and 85% to 100% charged, if continued to be held at 14.5v would require no less than 3.5 more hours.
But it is far more likley 14.X volts was allowed for aonly a few minutes before dropping to 13.7 ish volts.
So what has happened is the starting battery was drained, likley below 10.5v, which is considered 100% discharged on a 12v battery.
8 hours of trickle charge returned a very small portion of the charge to the battery, then the hour long drive might have also accomplished very little.
So the gasping and drowning battery was given barely enough to keep its head above the water line, and the unknown level of parasitic draw acted to submerge the battery again.
The Alternator is not a magical physics defying instant battery charger
A trickle charger applied for only a few hours is an insult to a deeply discharged battery that is big enough to crank a v8 engine.
Charge the battery fully. This might take 36 and likely more hours on your despicable 'trickle' charger. Investigate the vehicle's parasitic draw.
If the battery doe test bad, you likely killed it, or at least significantly contributed to its very premature demise.
A lead acid battery ideally wants to ALWAYS be at 100% state of charge. Hovering lower than this is detrimental. how detrimental is determined by how low it goes, and how long it remains there.
And a battery so Depleted it needed a Jumpstart, CANNOT be charged to true full 100% in less than 6.5 hours, and that is when the high amp charging source seeks and hold voltages in the mid 14's for that 6.5 hours.
Lesser voltages GREATly increase the charge times, no matter how powerful, amperage wise. the charging source is capable of. Voltage is electrical pressure. With not enough pressure there is little flow.
Great info here. You never fully recharged your battery.