Rectifier Only Charges 53Ah Battery to Half After 10 Hours - Voltage Readings Inside

Hello everyone, I have been charging the battery for 10 hours now and the charge indicator on the rectifier is stuck at half scale. 4A RMS rectifier, 53 ah battery, what could be the problem? I will add that when I apply the meter to the connected rectifier, the meter shows a voltage of 14.95 on the terminals. Is it supposed to be like that? at noon the voltage on the terminals was 15.05

Do you have a user manual for this rectifier? If so, what does it say about it? In your opinion, what voltage should be present at the poles of a charged battery?

You probably have a meter needle stuck in the charger.

The voltage at which the device operates is limited to 14.1v, which protects the charger against overheating and allows the battery to be charged without the need to constantly monitor this process. That`s what I write in the manual, strange that it limits it to 14.1v and now I have 14.96v on the terminals

If you disconnect the rectifier from the battery, will the needle on the rectifier meter move to the initial zero position? That is, to the right. Because maybe the tip actually got hung up.

There is actually something wrong with this tension. Maybe they made a mistake in the instructions.

With the rectifier disconnected, the pointer is in the full position as in this photo

Try gently tapping the meter in the rectifier, maybe the needle will move.

I opened the aperture and tried to move the hand to the initial position, but it automatically returns to the full position.

Legoo wrote:

With the rectifier disconnected, the pointer is in the full position as in this photo

This is an interesting thing. It should be otherwise. Thinking logically.

If you have a good multimeter at home, connect it and measure the current while charging the battery.

Added after 1 [minute]:

The meter in the rectifier may be damaged.

The current is 1.15 Ampere

It is only an indicator, not a measure and its accuracy is non-existent. Use a meter and do not charge above 14.4V. You may damage your battery. If possible, check the electrolyte density. In a fully charged and functional battery it should be within 1.28g/cm3 at a temperature of +20C,

Thank you for your comments on the topic. I have a meter, so I will do this, I will rely on the meter reading. If it reaches 14.4 V, I will finish charging.

I don`t know what the current was at the beginning of charging, because maybe 1.15 A is an indication that the battery is already charged. And this meter in the rectifier reads incorrectly.

Does it say in the manual how long it takes to charge the battery? Because it may turn out that 10 hours is not enough.

You can also disassemble the rectifier, disconnect the rectifier meter and connect a multimeter instead and observe the current on the multimeter.

I write in the instructions to determine for yourself, according to calculations, how long you should land

Legoo wrote:

I write in the instructions to determine for yourself, according to calculations, how long you should land

It is impossible to calculate the required charging time because:
-it is not known how much Ah capacity is missing in the battery
-it is not known how much Ah it received from the rectifier because we do not know the charging current and it varies over time and depends on the state of charge.

Tell me, Grzegorz740, how should I plug in this meter, what did you say, I opened the casing and what next?

Legoo wrote:

Tell me, Grzegorz740, how should I plug in this meter, what did you say, I opened the casing and what next?

Do not disassemble anything, connect the meter (voltmeter) to the battery terminals. Will be
the most accurate measurement, without error due to voltage drop on the cables.

Added after 16 [minutes]:

The photo shows that there is no system in the rectifier that controls the charging process. It only contains a toroidal transformer with a symmetrical secondary winding, two diodes (probably 3A), a charging current indicator, a power switch, cables, a housing and that`s all. Unfortunately, you have to use a voltmeter, e.g. a multimeter. There are also special LED voltage indicators - testers - showing battery voltage on sale. Very convenient to use and accurate enough.

Added after 4 [minutes]:

E.g. like this:
http://allegro.pl/listing/listing.php?order=d&string=tester+alternatora

Legoo wrote:

With the rectifier disconnected, the pointer is in the full position as in this photo

Do you all think? The "full" position means no current consumption, i.e. with the rectifier turned off, it is rather logical. The drawing of an empty battery indicates the maximum current consumption, so this indicator is an ordinary ammeter calibrated in "kindergarten" units. And also voltage - who said that voltage above 14.4V is harmful to the battery? Does anyone here know what the correct voltage of a charged battery is with the charger connected?

balonika3 wrote:

Legoo wrote:

With the rectifier disconnected, the pointer is in the full position as in this photo

Do you all think? The "full" position means no current consumption, i.e. with the rectifier turned off, it is rather logical. The drawing of an empty battery indicates the maximum current consumption, so this indicator is an ordinary ammeter calibrated in "kindergarten" units. And also voltage - who said that voltage above 14.4V is harmful to the battery? Does anyone here know what the correct voltage of a charged battery is with the charger connected?

Answer to the question: YES.
The maximum cell voltage of a lead-acid battery is 2.4V. Therefore, the popular 12 volt battery can be charged to a voltage of 6x2.4 = 14.4V. Is that right or have I made a mistake?

zwolmar wrote:

Is that right or have I made a mistake?

Oh, you made a lot of mistakes...

Toroids are most often wound with 11.5V at the output, sometimes even more.
11.5V-0.7V (voltage drop across the diode) x √2 ≈15.3V at max. sinusoids. This voltage can be fatal when the rectifier is connected for a very long time. Unless the battery is epilepsy and has a high self-discharge current.

Added after 1 [minute]:

balonika3 wrote:

zwolmar wrote:

Is that right or have I made a mistake?

Oh, you made a lot of mistakes...

Enlighten me.

Old books gave a voltage of 15.6 - 16.2V. Old batteries lasted up to 10 years. And these old rectifiers actually charged like that. Today, the battery is supposed to die right after the warranty expires, and the rectifier is supposed to help it.

I wonder why regulators in alternators ensure that the voltage does not exceed 14.0÷14.2V?
As for durability: 1- the life of the battery is determined by the number of complete discharge-charge cycles and in the era of a multitude of energy consumers, this number is exhausted faster. It used to be just starting, and now there is an alarm, radio, computer, watches and other gadgets with the engine turned off,
2-producers are not interested in the durability of anything, because they would have no market. So every 3÷4 years you have to buy a new one.
3- the users themselves took better care of their batteries, because there was a problem with the new ones. Is anyone nowadays interested in the amount of water or the density of the electrolyte (of course, it is often impossible, but even where it can be checked, no one bothers so much. Why, it says MAINTENANCE-FREE.

Quote:

Old batteries lasted up to 10 years

...because the plates in the batteries were thicker - and now, due to cost cutting, they are not.

Umax=14.4V

After the whole night, I checked the battery voltage and it was 12.60.
It turns out that this indicator was factory broken

It`s not broken. Your charging voltage is too high (more than 14.4V) and therefore the battery was constantly being charged and even overcharged, and the "meter", i.e. the charging current indicator, constantly showed that current was flowing to the battery. The battery no longer needed it, but the rectifier forced further flow. I have already written to you that the charger does not have any protection and therefore you have to supervise the end of the charging process and turn off the charger yourself. The 14.4V battery voltage is one (but not the only) sign of charging.

Added after 5 [minutes]:

You yourself wrote that the current was 1.15A, so the indicator showed it, and the fact that this current was unnecessary and overloaded the battery was not his fault.

zwolmar wrote:

I wonder why regulators in alternators ensure that the voltage does not exceed 14.0÷14.2V?

Because the alternator is mainly used to power the receivers, not to charge the battery, so it must have a constant voltage. At the same time, it recharges the battery.

But in turn, the load voltage is adjusted to the battery voltage. Isn`t it?

zwolmar wrote:

But in turn, the load voltage is adjusted to the battery voltage. Isn`t it?

NO. Up to a certain voltage range.

An academic discussion began, contributing nothing and taking up time in the style of "which came first, the egg or the chicken". I will contact you when there is something important.