Published:2011/8/7 22:43:00 Author:Phyllis From:SeekIC
By Karel Walraven
This design is a follow-up to the triumphant ’Battery Revitaliser’ project published in the September 2001 issue of Elektor Electronics. From numerous reader responses, it appears that defective batteries are a common problem. Since prevention is naturally better than cure, here we present a circuit that can keep your battery in shape in a simple but effective manner.
The quality of lead-acid storage batteries has always been an awkward subject. Motorcyclists among our readers will be the first to agree with this. The most common example is a motorcycle that’s put in storage for the winter and proves to have battery problems when spring comes. This involves more than just the fact that the battery has become partially discharged, since in many cases the battery has also noticeably deteriorated. That can be seen from the fact that even immediately after being charged, it performs poorly and quickly loses it charge.
This is also true for all situations in which lead-acid batteries are not used for an extended length of time. You might immediately think of cars ’put away’ for the winter, but this problem also occur in other situations, such as batteries in backup power supplies (UPSs) that are not used for a while, batteries used with voltage inverters (in caravans), and batteries in pleasure boats that simply sit around doing nothing for most of the year after the boating season is over. It’s thus easy to think of situations in which lead-acid batteries age prematurely due to lack of use. The inset provides additional information about the background of the process responsible for all of this, which is called ’sulphation’.
Idleness is deadly
For the purpose of this article, it’s actually not necessary to know exactly why unused batteries deteriorate. It’s sufficient to note that a bit of exercise at the right time can help keep them in shape. And that’s what the circuit described here provides.
Unlike the ’Battery Revitaliser’ described in the September 2001 issue olElektor Electronics, this design is not intended to resuscitate apparently defective batteries, but instead to prevent premature aging due to lack of use. To avoid possible misunderstandings, it should be noted that this circuit cannot counteract normal aging or other conditions that can lead to defects.
As the whole idea is to keep the battery a little bit active, the circuit does not require a separate power supply. The necessary energy is simply taken directly from the battery itself. In the process, sulphation is prevented by loading the battery with a hefty current (40 A) for a short interval (50 us) approximately every two minutes. Of course, this will ultimately cause the battery to discharge more quickly, but a fully charged car or motorcycle battery will easily make it through the winter. After all, the current consumption at 12 V is only around 2 mA.
Reprinted Url Of This Article: http://www.seekic.com/blog/project_solutions/2011/08/07/Vehicle_Battery_Jogger_keep_your_battery_fresh_and_young__(1).html
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