Associated Starter Box 12v Battery

[jcongerton]

Hi

i've just brought an associated starter box on ebay, comes with a 12v battery i have never had to charge one of these. What type of amp's should i put through.

cheers

 

[Pinblaster]

The charger rate for those lead acid 12v batteries is usually around 500mah or 0.5 amps. You can pick of a plug charger for them at your LHS that comes with aligator clips for around $15. If you have a Great Planes Triton charger, it should already be set up to charge them under "PB"type battery but you will have to make your charging harness.

 

[jcongerton]

it looks like the charging harness is already there, just like a sport pack, i have a prolux digi peak charger i'm sure it can charge this type of battery, just can't find the manual anywhere.

 

[rocknbil]

The best charger you can get for an SLA/gel cell is called a float charger. Find them at hobby shops, NIB on eBay, or anywhere that sells RC accessories. You can hook it up and when it approaches full charge the charge rate drops off - just leave it connected whenever it's not in use, no chance of overcharging.

You can charge an SLA at UP TO 1700 mah, and lower rates will allow it to live longer. When I first bough one I toyed with the idea of a full size car charger at slow sharge, but that's two amps. The guys at the battery shop said no way, it MIGHT work but that was too hot, never exceed 1700 mah.

 

[jcongerton]

i might be being a tad thick here, but can i use my normal charger? or will it kill it

 

[Pinblaster]

i might be being a tad thick here, but can i use my normal charger? or will it kill it

We can't answer that question unless we know what kind of charger you have. As long as you can turn it down to between 0.5-1.7amps your charger may work fine. But like Rockinbil said, you don't want to over heat the battery and the lower amp rate you charge it at the longer it will last. Usually between 0.5-0.7 amps for longer life. But as I said before, you can get a trickle charger for around $15 or less.

This is what you need to look for.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXL353&P=M
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXJC38&P=M
:hammer:

 

[jcongerton]

cool thanks for that, my charger will drop to that, its a prolux digi peak