Re: Charge Your Bike/Car Batteries At Home

DIY Approved
[MENTION=6623]sen[/MENTION]ior experienced folk. How good or bad is this please let us know your views.

Re: Charge Your Bike/Car Batteries At Home

^^ though not an expert, one has to be extra cautious when working on UPS as it has AC inputs and outputs unless you want to get a shock !!
To charge a battery, you can buy a transformer (preferably a centre tapped one) and two appropriate diodes and capacitor and make a full wave rectifier. This is a simple method. The cons of this are
This full wave rectifier doesn't have a auto cut off once the charge is complete.
Also it provides a constant current which is not that good for a battery, initial constant current and later switching to trickle charging maybe good for the battery health.
The above DIY may have the benefit of auto cut off and trickle charging as its a UPS.
Correct me if I am wrong.


Sent from xBhp Connect for iOS

Re: Charge Your Bike/Car Batteries At Home

For bike batteries use UPS
For car batteries use home inverter

For severely discharged batteries and for very super quick charging I use Laptop charger. O/P is 19V and AMP rating is nearly 4 amps. I disconnect the lappy charger when the battery voltage reaches 15V(with charger still connected).

Avenger 220 Battery Charging

Hi friends,

Recently i faced a discharged battery issue while travelling. It was very annoying as it was around 11:30 at night and my bike, avenger 220, did not have a kick start.
I was not able to crank up my bike only. It was already so late at night and i knew i wont find any battery charging shops open and i needed the bike for my daily commute to work as well.
So i pushed started my bike and reached home. I did not want to go to a battery charging shop and give my battery there as they sometimes dont charge it properly ( at least 8 hours) So i thought of charging it at home only. Here is what i did to get a fully charged battery at home

Tools needed
1. 10 size spanner and a flat head screw driver
2. Distill water (available at petrol bunks) - Rs 20
3. Thick wires (1 meter would suffice ) - Rs 15
4. Funnel
5. Insulation tape (black or red)
6. PC UPS
7. Protective clothes (dealing with acid here!!)
8. Patience



Precautions
Be careful while draining the acid from the battery. It should not come in contact with your skin. If it does wash immediately.

Steps By Step Procedure
First open the right side cover of your bike to reveal the battery. Open the 2 nuts marked in image to release the holder of the battery.

Once its open , remove the rubber caps from the battery terminals and unscrew the terminals using the flat head screwdriver.
Then take the battery to home and clean it first of all the dirt and muck.


Once clean open the water caps and check for the level of water inside and refill as needed.
Use a funnel for putting in the water. I made a funnel out of a bottle.


Since my battery was very thick i could not make out the level with a torch.
So placed a bright source of light behind it in a dark room and checked.
The setup for same:

and the result for flawless checking

Once the water is filled to the desired level. its time to connect to the UPS for charging.
Open the UPS from below to reveal the battery. The battery is connected with clips.
Just unhook them and remove the battery. Once removed connect the wires to the terminals and tape them with the insulation tape.

Do the same with the battery terminals. Make a tight loop with the wires and tape them down tight.



Once all the connections are done check for loose contacts. If all is well then its time to charge
Just connect the UPS plug to the outlet and switch it on.


Points to NOTE:

1. Leave the battery caps for water open while charging.
2. Do it in a well ventilated area.
3. DONOT press the power on switch of the UPS. Keep it in standby mode. If its switched on then direct current will flow to the UPS and the battery wont get charged.

keep the battery on charge for 8 hours and you should be good to go the next day

Awesome DIY @DebayanS

direct current? You mean Alternating Current?

Since it's a lead acid battery, trickle charging happens naturally even if you provide constant current.

Re: Avenger 220 Battery Charging

Good job . I am using the same APC ups model as my battery charger since a few years now and it works well . A few observations from my experience with it -
1) no need to leave the top-up caps open , the battery has vents for expelled gas . The caps if left open may introduce dust and dirt into the electrolyte and that's not good for battery - why else would they ask to use distilled water .

2) With this and most APC brand UPSs there is no need to turn on the UPS itself to charge battery . The UPS starts to charge the battery as soon as it gets mains( AC ) power at it's base plug . But charging does not stop if it is turned on - only it's unsafe ( as then the power outlets on the UPS get live ) and UN-necessary to do so .

3) Better to solder the wires and connections permanently and cover the joints with heat-shrink tubing - for safety . It is easy to find discarded UPSs these days at computer shops since most people just throw them once battery gets exhausted and buys new . Mine is like that - dedicated battery charger .

4) Never top up battery electrolyte with water before charging . Always do that after full charging - if necessary . The electrolyte level rises up after a charge - and if topped up before it can overflow . Also never add any external acid to a battery .

Re: Charge Your Bike/Car Batteries At Home

Thank you [MENTION=59691]HeartBrokenBiker[/MENTION]
ya by direct current i meant AC current

And i dont think trickle charging happens naturally.. then the UPS battery should get charged while using it.. but it doesnot.. i might be wrong though..

Re: Charge Your Bike/Car Batteries At Home

Nice thread, Very helpful

Re: Charge Your Bike/Car Batteries At Home

Very good indeed. I have a UPS that's about to get junked, now I think I've found a simple, easy and jugaad to fix. But what about VRLA guess they work the same way?

Cheers!
VJ

Re: Charge Your Bike/Car Batteries At Home

This is what I did last summer.



Now this battery has become permanent part of that UPS. This UPS could run 21'' CRT tv for half an hour. Now days it power my wifi network only.

Re: Charge Your Bike/Car Batteries At Home

The default battery in the UPS is VRLA only.

Re: Charge Your Bike/Car Batteries At Home

That's great. The UPS is V Guard, and haven't removed the battery as of yet, but will surely keep posted if in need of any assistance. Great work.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: Charge Your Bike/Car Batteries At Home

Just keep in mind that some UPS are very picky when it comes to batteries. I have a powersafe which simply ignores if I connect a non-lead acid battery.

Re: Charge Your Bike/Car Batteries At Home

Well, we'll have to first open the UPS to see how it fares. Not anytime, soon, but if it goes well or blows up, updates will be promptly provided.

Cheers!
VJ