Charging multiple glider batteries

On Mon, 06 Jan 2014 14:53:37 -0500, Don wrote:

Our club (US) keeps 8 batteries charged in two banks of 4 batteries. We
use two Battery Tender Junior chargers, one for each bank. The charging
rate is not very fast, but they have at least 20 hours between use and
often a week. Mostly this has worked pretty well, but we are more often
finding batteries that are not fully charged, even though the battery
tender is green indicating full charge.

Are you sure that charging a number of batteries in parallel isn't
confusing the charger and causing it to switch to the next phase earlier
than it should?

How do other clubs, commercial ops keep multiple batteries charged up?

I carry two batteries, one running T&B and radio, the other driving both
varios and a satnav running LK8000 and I use a pair of mains powered
Sunpower UK two-phase SLA chargers to charge them. Unsurprisingly, they
have differing charge states after flying and, as a result, there is
usually a large time difference between the two chargers signalling that
they are in float mode.

My club has, I think, nine batteries for the club fleet, which are
charged by a set of mains powered two-phase SLA chargers, one per
battery. When they are not in gliders, the batteries are permanently
connected to their individual chargers, which look to be in the same
performance and price range as the ones your club uses.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
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