After reading the details in the article, I came to the conclusion that the
voltage that you reported from your charger is at the lower end of the
recommended range. It could be fine for maintaining a fully-charged battery,
but might be marginal if the battery voltage got lower over a long period of
time. Things may be fine after your recharge using the automotive charger.
Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chuck Norcutt" <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Olympus Camera Discussion" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 7:21 PM
Subject: Re: [OM] 12 volt battery advice
> This is the charger I've been using. It's a high quality unit and I
> think my simple volt meter probably can't accurately measure the output
> which is probably not pure DC. Other owners seem happy based on the
> user reviews on Amazon.
>
> Chuck Norcutt
>
> Jim Nichols wrote:
>> Your charger may be ok. Take a look at the info in this linked document.
>>
>> http://www.powerstream.com/SLA.htm
>>
>> Jim Nichols
>> Tullahoma, TN USA
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Chuck Norcutt" <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> To: "Olympus Camera Discussion" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 6:29 PM
>> Subject: Re: [OM] 12 volt battery advice
>>
>>
>>> Perhaps that's the reason for the decline of the battery. On the other
>>> hand I have treated it poorly and despite my maltreatment it has lasted
>>> I think about 3-1/2 years.
>>>
>>> Chuck Norcutt
>>>
>>> Jim Nichols wrote:
>>>> I'm not sure what the experts say, but, in my experience, one needs
>>>> about
>>>> a
>>>> 1-volt "headroom" between the charger output under load, and the
>>>> voltage
>>>> expected from the fully charged battery. Anything less just leaves you
>>>> partially up on the recharge curve, and cannot fully recharge the
>>>> battery.
>>>>
>>>> Jim Nichols
>>>> Tullahoma, TN USA
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Chuck Norcutt" <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>> To: "Olympus Camera Discussion" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 6:18 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [OM] 12 volt battery advice
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Possibly. I measured the output of the maintenance charger and could
>>>>> only see 12.85 volts which is about what the battery was raised to.
>>>>> But
>>>>> it dropped to about 12.5 after firing two Alien Bee B800s only 6
>>>>> times.
>>>>> I had expected to see something between 13 and 14 on the maintenance
>>>>> charger. The old car charger puts out about 13.5 so I hope to see a
>>>>> bit
>>>>> more voltage in the morning. But the charge rate has already dropped
>>>>> to
>>>>> something very low... something I can't accurately read on the guage.
>>>>>
>>>>> Chuck Norcutt
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Jim Nichols wrote:
>>>>>> Since a car alternator puts out a little over 14 volts, you have
>>>>>> probably
>>>>>> gone about as high as it will go. I usually see a recharged battery
>>>>>> sag
>>>>>> a
>>>>>> little if it sits overnight. Could your problem be with the
>>>>>> maintenance
>>>>>> charger?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Jim Nichols
>>>>>> Tullahoma, TN USA
>>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>>> From: "Chuck Norcutt" <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>>> To: "Olympus Camera Discussion" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 5:02 PM
>>>>>> Subject: Re: [OM] 12 volt battery advice
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I have assumed it's toast and ordered a new one from a local
>>>>>>> electronics
>>>>>>> supplier who promises delivery in 3 days. That's good because I
>>>>>>> need
>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>> do some formal outdoor portraits of a friend's daughter in her
>>>>>>> wedding
>>>>>>> dress before the wedding day. In the meantime I have put my old 6
>>>>>>> amp
>>>>>>> car charger on the old battery and it is now charging at about 2
>>>>>>> amps
>>>>>>> vs. the other 1.5 amp maintenance charger. After a couple of hours
>>>>>>> it
>>>>>>> raised the no load voltage to about 13.25 or about 0.4 volts higher
>>>>>>> than
>>>>>>> I had seen before. I think I will let it charge, then rest for 24
>>>>>>> hours
>>>>>>> and then charge it again as per the advice on the Battery University
>>>>>>> link.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I'm sure I'll send it off to the local toxic waste facility but I'm
>>>>>>> curious to see if it will be at least somewhat rejuvenated.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Chuck Norcutt
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Ken Norton wrote:
>>>>>>>>> This battery is about 3 years old but rarely used and rarely
>>>>>>>>> charged.
>>>>>>>>> Do you think it's toast?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Without a regular float (maintenance) charge on the battery, I'd
>>>>>>>> say,
>>>>>>>> yes,
>>>>>>>> it is probably toast. SLAs don't take to slow-drain very well.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> AG
>>>>>>> --
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>>>>>>>
>>>>> --
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>> --
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>>>
>>
>>
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