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dead battery question

17 years ago

A newer battery was left on, and died. I jump started the battery, mowed the yard to recharge and then made sure to restart it to make sure.

My question is, I have a simple trickle charger... how long should I charge it to make sure it is fully recharged. I was thinking maybe 3-4 hours a night on a timer until I cut grass again. Is that too much? Is there any general rules when it comes to trickle chargers?

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Comments (2)

bill_kapaun
17 years ago
WELL-theoretically
A heck. Leave it on overnight:-)
If your charger has a meter, the needle will slowly decrease to a point where it'll basically "stabilize". After that, you're just "cooking" it.
castoff
17 years ago
If you spent about an hour cutting your grass, then the battery is likely at full charge or close to it. If it makes you happy to put the trickle charger on it for a few hours, then do so but I don't think it is necessary.

What matters is the amount of time between you discovering the dead battery and the battery actually going dead. If this was just a matter of hours, then no real harm was done. If this was several days, then that's a different story because one of the worst things that can happen to a "starting type" battery is to allow it to go totally flat and then leave it there for long periods. The life is generally shortened and the ability for that battery to take on a charge and hold it is also reduced.

I don't like "unregulated" chargers because they don't know when a battery is fully charged. They just keep on putting out a charge current and that too, can harm the battery by overcharging. Using your tractor to recharge the battery is really the best way.
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