kinetik power!

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

charging a battery that is setting low with a 2 amp charge is about pointless. An agm auto charger self adjusts over the charging cycle then clicks over to a 2 amp float/maintaining charge after the battery is at 90% (at least) full charge.

 

[loopkiller 10+ year member]

i just got my 2 kinetik HC1400's in the mail today
does anybody know how i go about charging them?

or do they come precharged and good to go?

i heard that you can't just use any method to charging these because it could be bad on the battery

im lookin for a solution for this, without having to buy that kinetik kips supply/charger they make.

what kind of charger to use, what output to use, etc etc. any and everything helps

They very likely will come with some charge, but checking the voltage is all that is needed. Take your DMM (Digital Multi Meter) and test the voltage of the battery resting without anything connected. It should be above 12.6v out of the box. If it is below 12.6v, you should charge it before using it.

Buy a 30 dollar charger from Autozone, and put it on slow charge. Also invest in a DMM and check your voltage first.

A slow charge will never fully charge a large battery. You will only see a small surface charge and the battery will never produce rated power. A fast charge followed by a float charge is necessary.

thanks, i bought that charger, went a little more better tho and got a 12 ampconcerning that, one battery reads voltage= 15.9, tells me charge = 100% and the other battery says =15.3 and 100%

is that normal, orr? whats it supposed to read at a FULL charge

ill definitely invest in a DMM now, thats a must need in my book

thanks! i think thats everything

Either your DMM is wack, you don't know how to use it, or you bought a 16v charger and over charged your batteries. At no time should a 12v charger provide over 15.0v. Your batteries when fully charged should rest between 12.8v and 13.2v, depending on temperature. So if your battery is truly resting at 15.9v like you mentioned above, you are doing something wrong!

just make sure you charge them slow

Quit giving this advice. It is simply wrong.

just want to make sure of things
originally, both batterys were around voltage ~15 when charging

right now i just finished one battery, its reading voltage =13.5 (saying complete)

the second battery is saying voltage~15.9 and is decreasing...

does anyone know what kinetiks should read at a full charge?

or/and also what the **** happened in my situation?

Are you sure you bought a 12 VOLT charger?

would a 2amp slow charge be fine for a stinger battery? sorry for the thread jack but its kinda related question

That would only work for the float charge. You still should have a fast charger as well. Even better would be a charger designed for AGM batteries that will automatically charge the battery properly for you.

Or just let your alt do the charging for you. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

my hc600 came new precharged.. 12.3V on the dmm.

That is low. You should get that one charged before use.

 

[Lakota 5,000+ posts]

So if your battery is truly resting at 15.9v like you mentioned above, you are doing something wrong!

My 12V batteries have sat at 15V for a couple minutes

 

[Enellz 10+ year member]

A slow charge will never fully charge a large battery. You will only see a small surface charge and the battery will never produce rated power. A fast charge followed by a float charge is necessary.

Wrong, I've charged all my Kinetiks slow, and havent had a problem with it. You could do a fast charge, though I wouldnt recommend it. So how am I giving wrong advice?

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

Wrong, I've charged all my Kinetiks slow, and havent had a problem with it. You could do a fast charge, though I wouldnt recommend it. So how am I giving wrong advice?

How is giving a battery a slow charge better than an auto agm charger that reacts to the battery?

 

[Enellz 10+ year member]

How is giving a battery a slow charge better than an auto agm charger that reacts to the battery?

Who says it's better. I said don't charge it fast, which means with super high voltage. Ive seen too many cheap chargers that do this.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

Who says it's better. I said don't charge it fast, which means with super high voltage. Ive seen too many cheap chargers that do this.

I have probably the cheapest agm auto charger you can get and it never goes over 14.7v at its highest setting. Key point is does the charger have AGM mode?

 

[Enellz 10+ year member]

I have probably the cheapest agm auto charger you can get and it never goes over 14.7v at its highest setting. Key point is does the charger have AGM mode?

true, but every 15 dollar charger isn't the same.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

mine was 28 bucks at wally world

 

[loopkiller 10+ year member]

Wrong, I've charged all my Kinetiks slow, and havent had a problem with it. You could do a fast charge, though I wouldnt recommend it. So how am I giving wrong advice?

A slow charge will not fully charge the battery, period. If you don't think I am right, check this link and educate yourself. This is battery 101 shit.

Here is an excerpt:

"False" CapacityA battery can meet all the tests for being at full charge, yet be much lower than it's original capacity. If plates are damaged, sulfated, or partially gone from long use, the battery may give the appearance of being fully charged, but in reality acts like a battery of much smaller size. This same thing can occur in gelled cells if they are overcharged and gaps or bubbles occur in the gel. What is left of the plates may be fully functional, but with only 20% of the plates left... Batteries usually go bad for other reasons before reaching this point, but it is something to be aware of if your batteries seem to test OK but lack capacity and go dead very quickly under load.

This is the type of charge you are getting with that trickle charger.

Who says it's better. I said don't charge it fast, which means with super high voltage. Ive seen too many cheap chargers that do this.

Fast charging is a combination of voltage and amperage. You must have a high enough voltage to reduce stratification and the charger must be big enough to handle the current draw of the given battery. 2A is never enough.

Here are the 3 charge cycles needed to properly charge your AGM battery:

1) BULK MODE - Fast charge @ 14.4v. The amperage draw will be determined by the depth of discharge (DOD) and size of the battery. An HC1400 will probably draw about 15A to 20A of current at 50% DOD. That puny little 2A charger will not even make a dent.

2) ABSORPTION MODE - Begins at 90% full charge. This mode is usually 13.6v. You will begin to see the amperage fall from the previous 15A to about 6A.

3) FLOAT MODE - Begins after 99% full charge and is 13.2v. This is to finish off the charge and is safe to leave the battery in this mode for storage. At this point the battery is probably drawing around 1A to 2A.

The charger you have only does step 3.

true, but every 15 dollar charger isn't the same.

Most likely it will cost the average Joe at least $50 for the most basic proper charger at retail. Deals might be found during sales for less. Here are a few of the cheapest ones at Sears and Autozone that I would recommend. I could not find any at Walmart.com.

$80 Sears

$60 Autozone

 

[smoka 10+ year member]

A slow charge will not fully charge the battery, period. If you don't think I am right, check this link and educate yourself. This is battery 101 shit.

Alot of good facts on that site, but wtf does Northern Az Wind and Sun know about lead-acid batteries? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wacky.gif.cf4a48f9e6dfe9504ffd2c946fd2f340.gif

I wouldn't take their advice about watering your battery....

Fast charging is a combination of voltage and amperage. You must have a high enough voltage to reduce stratification and the charger must be big enough to handle the current draw of the given battery. 2A is never enough.
Here are the 3 charge cycles needed to properly charge your AGM battery:

1) BULK MODE - Fast charge @ 14.4v. The amperage draw will be determined by the depth of discharge (DOD) and size of the battery. An HC1400 will probably draw about 15A to 20A of current at 50% DOD. That puny little 2A charger will not even make a dent.

2) ABSORPTION MODE - Begins at 90% full charge. This mode is usually 13.6v. You will begin to see the amperage fall from the previous 15A to about 6A.

3) FLOAT MODE - Begins after 99% full charge and is 13.2v. This is to finish off the charge and is safe to leave the battery in this mode for storage. At this point the battery is probably drawing around 1A to 2A.

Only thing I would add is that you should monitor the temp of the battery, especially if you are doing a fast charge. If the battery is hot to the touch then you should back off. Hot battery = shorter lifespan. A battery can get charged from 0 to full in less than 24hrs, but thats with watercooling.

 

[loopkiller 10+ year member]

Alot of good facts on that site, but wtf does Northern Az Wind and Sun know about lead-acid batteries? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wacky.gif.cf4a48f9e6dfe9504ffd2c946fd2f340.gif
I wouldn't take their advice about watering your battery....

Only thing I would add is that you should monitor the temp of the battery, especially if you are doing a fast charge. If the battery is hot to the touch then you should back off. Hot battery = shorter lifespan. A battery can get charged from 0 to full in less than 24hrs, but thats with watercooling.

They know a good deal batteries IMO. They use AGM batteries in solar backups. Basically they store power made by solar panels all day long and then use the stored power from the batteries to power their homes at night when the sun goes down. Systems like that deep cycle their batteries very frequently, so they require extensive knowledge of batteries to get the most out of them.

Watering batteries is essential for any non-sealed battery //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

You should never take ANY battery to 0v or 0%, whichever you were implying. I have taken my Kinetik HC1400 from 10.5v (20% DOC) to 12.9v (99% DOC) in less than 2 hours. After another couple hours of floating, it rested at 13.1v.

You can be sure that I did not have any water cooling apparatus //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

 

[smoka 10+ year member]

You should never take ANY battery to 0v or 0%, whichever you were implying. I have taken my Kinetik HC1400 from 10.5v (20% DOC) to 12.9v (99% DOC) in less than 2 hours. After another couple hours of floating, it rested at 13.1v.
You can be sure that I did not have any water cooling apparatus //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

Non-sealed batteries are getting very rare nowadays. I know a few have vents for safety, but I haven't seen a battery that you need to water for years.

How do you know that you aren't damaging or abusing your battery? Did it get hot during those 2 hours?

Btw I was talking about when a batt gets built, it gets water cooled during its initial charge. Temps during the 'forming' process can affect the lifespan of the battery, so I would imagine that excessive temps during charging will do the same.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

I have used a temp gun around mine before but not for the reasons you guys are talking about.

 

[loopkiller 10+ year member]

Non-sealed batteries are getting very rare nowadays. I know a few have vents for safety, but I haven't seen a battery that you need to water for years.

How do you know that you aren't damaging or abusing your battery? Did it get hot during those 2 hours?

Btw I was talking about when a batt gets built, it gets water cooled during its initial charge. Temps during the 'forming' process can affect the lifespan of the battery, so I would imagine that excessive temps during charging will do the same.

They get warm to the touch. I don't have a heat gun, but my educated best guess would be around 100F tops. That is the case temp, I am not sure about the inner temps since I have no way to get to them with a sealed battery.