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[Sir Sideways]

Ive got the chance of a free battery charger and was wandering if it would be ok for the Omega. On the battery it says 12v 60 amp while the charger is 12v 10 amp. Would this be enough to charge the battery as the alternator chages at around 14.4 amps.

Would this cause any damage to the battery or electricals?

Many Thanks

Jim

[Andy B]

Ive got the chance of a free battery charger and was wandering if it would be ok for the Omega. On the battery it says 12v 60 amp while the charger is 12v 10 amp. Would this be enough to charge the battery as the alternator chages at around 14.4 amps.

Would this cause any damage to the battery or electricals?

Many Thanks

Jim

A 10 amp battery charger will be more than enough. The Ctek I bought the other day only chages at around 3.6 amps although a Ctek is a little cleverer than your average battery charger. 

[Dave DND]

Chargers that charge at a low rate, are often referred to as "trickle" chargers as they can take quite a while to charge a battery, often overnight.

Have a little patience with these, as they are without doubt the best way to safely charge a battery.

Battery plate and cell damage is often associated with rapid and overcharging.

 

[Sir Sideways]

Thanks for the replies, one battery charger coming my way 

[Andy H]

Ive got the chance of a free battery charger and was wandering if it would be ok for the Omega. On the battery it says 12v 60 amp while the charger is 12v 10 amp. Would this be enough to charge the battery as the alternator chages at around 14.4 amps.

Would this cause any damage to the battery or electricals?

Many Thanks

Jim

Beware the confusion of electrical units

Amps are a measure of current flow.
Volts are a measure of 'electrical tension' (think of it as like water pressure)

Your battery is rated at 60 Amp-Hours. That means that if you connected a load that drew 1 amp (say a 12 watt bulb) then the battery would go flat after about 60 hours. If you draw a larger current then the battery would go flat quicker.

A fully charged battery connected to a properly working alternator should have a voltage (pressure) between the terminals of between 13.8 and 14.4 volts.

An alternator might be rated at 120 Amps but it is also limited to 14.4 Volts so if the battery doesn't need any more amp-hours then it won't be forced to take them.

I would only ever use an unregulated battery charger in an emergency (I might use a 10 amp charger for half an hour to get enough charge into a battery to get an engine to start).

A regulated charger will shut off at about 14.4v and not do any damage if left on overnight (but will eventually overcharge a battery if left on all winter)

An intelligent charger (Like the C-Tek) will charge for a while at 14.4 Volts then stop and check that the voltage drops to 12 volts (if it drops to less than 12 Volts then the battery is past saving and the charger will give up). If it holds at 12.5 Volts then the battery is fully charged and the charger wont try to put any more charge in until the voltage drops again. This kind of charger can be left connected all winter if needs be.

(NB the C-Tek operation is probably more complicated than my description and the threshold voltages are probably slightly different)

[KillerWatt]

Would this be enough to charge the battery as the alternator chages at around 14.4 amps.

I think you'll find that is 14.4V, which is the upper maximum for charging voltage.

As far as the current goes (10 Amps), that will do the job fine.
For your reference, it is accepted that any battery is charged at 1/10th it's amp/hour capacity if you want to get anal about battery life...so in your case, you should be charging at 6 amps for 10 hours if you are obsessed with gaining an extra couple of months of battery life over (say) a 3 year period.

[Sir Sideways]

Thanks for the information guys, most useful