Charging a "Thumper" battery pack

Submitted: Wednesday, May 04, 2016 at 22:54
ThreadID: 132316 Views:4553 Replies:2 FollowUps:3
This Thread has been Archived
G'day All

Bit of a dumb query sorry !

I have a small 15 amp thumper pack that needs charging - if I plug it in to one of the 12 volt sockets I have in the back of my ute which are connected to an auxillary battery - would it charge to it's full capacity of 12.7 volts ( without motor running ) if the auxillary battery is only charged to say 11.9 volts ??

Or would the auxillary battery need to be 12.7 volts or plus for it to receive maximum charge ?

Cheers

Gazz



Back Expand Un-Read 0 Moderator

Reply By: Member - Alan H (QLD) - Thursday, May 05, 2016 at 06:42

Thursday, May 05, 2016 at 06:42
If there is no charger it can only equalize.

If the battery is 11.9 then it is flat!!!!

12.4 is a much healthier reading

Can you charge it while travelling to use the vehicle alternator?

Alan
AnswerID: 599538

Follow Up By: Member - Outback Gazz - Thursday, May 05, 2016 at 08:00

Thursday, May 05, 2016 at 08:00
Thanks Alan

Appreciate your reply !

I will be heading off on a 400 k trip tomorrow so I can charge it while driving.

The volt meter on my auxillary battery was showing 12.2 and after I had the thumper plugged in to the rear socket I saw it slowly go up to 12.2 where it stopped so that's what made me think the auxillary battery needed to be fully charged. All good !

Cheers

Gazz
0
FollowupID: 868816

Reply By: Member - Roachie - Thursday, May 05, 2016 at 15:31

Thursday, May 05, 2016 at 15:31
Gazz,

As a rule of thumb, you should always keep your battery/ies fully charged all the time. I keep mine on a good quality charger (or solar panels) whenever I'm at home....which is most of the time unfortunately!!

I have 5 batteries in my truck (2 under the bonnet as standard + 3x 100a/h AGMs in the canopy), as well as 4x 100a/h in the caravan.

In my experience, batteries will last a LONG time if they are kept fully charged.

I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I knew that any of my batteries was down to anything less than 12.8 volts......it'd be like finger nails being drawn down a black board to me!!!

Generally, even when I've been on a long drive and all the batteries have been well served by my charging regime, I still find that the 25amp 3 stage charger in the truck and the 60 amp 7 stage charger in the c/van still start to work hard to bring the batteries back up to FULL. I see the voltmeters go rapidly up to about 14.2 volts and sit there for several days, before dropping back to 13.2v (which means they are in FLOAT mode).

You may actually be able to get your thumpa up to a certain level ABOVE the donor battery....by using a DC-DC charger.

Roachie
Roachie....Don't follow me....I'm lost!

Member
My Profile  My Position  Send Message

AnswerID: 599554

Follow Up By: Member - Outback Gazz - Thursday, May 05, 2016 at 22:06

Thursday, May 05, 2016 at 22:06
Thanks Roachie

Will reply later as I'm packing ready for my trip tomorrow !

All the best

Gazz
0
FollowupID: 868872

Follow Up By: Member - Outback Gazz - Saturday, May 14, 2016 at 12:59

Saturday, May 14, 2016 at 12:59
G'day Roachie

"I have 5 batteries in my truck (2 under the bonnet as standard + 3x 100a/h AGMs in the canopy), as well as 4x 100a/h in the caravan. "

Do you own Battery World ?? lol

Most of my trips are never more than 2 nights in the one spot so my auxillary battery is nearly always fully charged with all the driving I do - I have a dc to dc charger which seems to be doing the job.

A couple times a year I have to set up a quik shade quite a way from my ute so I bought a little 15 amp Thumper to run a led strip light. It lives in the shed for most of the time so not sure about keeping it fully charged ?

Thanks for your reply


Cheers

Gazz
0
FollowupID: 869348

Sponsored Links