WTB: Battery Charger

[mjmarovi 8]

Alright, so sold off everything from old substage, well actually sold half of it, other half got stolen. Anyway will be running 2 1500d's on 3 SA-12's, and backing them on the electrical side will be a kinetik hc2000, hc1400, and optima blue top under the hood. right now alty is a small upgraded 120a. I am saving up for a real nice 200 a 240 peak custom valeo from ohio generator. Now the real question is this.

I want to charge batteries to 15volts.

right now with the optima, and two kinetiks that is a total of 4500 battery amps and 162 ah from kinetiks and I believe 55 ah on the optima blue top so 217ah total.

I do plan on adding another hc2000 and hc1400 on other side of trunk in the spring when I double up on amps and add the alty.

I have looked at the kinetik charger, but I'm thinking there is probably something out there for less that will still do the job I want it to do. also wondering what advantage/difference in power supply from charger and if you need both. I feel my knowledge of car audio is on a high level, so no need to talk to me like a kid, looking for expert advice on this, as this is the one area I feel I am weak in.

think that covers it thanks in advance for comments/advice!

[mjmarovi 8]

no one has a recommendation??

[CrazyKenKid 64]

well stay away from those automatic ones!

i currently own a SCHUMACHER SC-1200A 12V CHARGER 12/8/2

and ya i don't like it ihave to mess with it to charge my battery bank nearly every time!

if you have have the EXTRA cash like 250-300 buy a batcap charger lol those are 5 stage chargers lol!!

ya i know you wnat to keep cost down, as for the kinetik charger it is only like 100$ on ebay mabye more with shipping. i would say go with that once since you are using a bunch of kinetik anyways! plus that charger has a great feature called recondisioning (i think) which is suppost to extend the life of the battery at the cost of like 24hours of steady charging!!

and when you look at it you jsut spend like X number of dollars on it so why not pay an extra 100$ to get the power end up to spec!

and yes charging yoru batteries via a charger is the best way to TOP them off! your alt can't do that!

Edited November 3, 2009 by CrazyKenKid

[CrazyKenKid 64]

wiat you said you want to charge your batteries to 15volts...? why agm isn't suppost to be around 14.4-14.7 anything more and you risk damaging them i though?

also keep in mind your alt can't top off your batteries! that is where a charger comes into play. and if you top of your batteries it is better for them anyways!!! (but i could be wrong i am no super battery expert, shizzzzon would know the best about this kind a thing i would say)

Edited November 3, 2009 by CrazyKenKid

[mjmarovi 8]

it was recommended to me, and I have seen results that kinetiks do hold their charge much better at 15 volts. personally I don't know about whether or not it is good to charge them over 15 volts, but I do know I have seen many people in competition run up to 18 volts, and they were kinetik 12 volt batts...like the world record van, their voltage ~18 volts, and they use like 34 2400's or 64 of them or something stupid like that lol.

ok yeh I could probably find a good deal o the kinetik charger, that's not too bad a price.

what about power supplies? If i had that charger what is the point? I mean I am assuming they help as it seems most everyone uses them at comps, but personally I never have. I guess I've always been into just daily ground-pounding, that's why my concern is always alty's and batts, not charging systems up for burps.

[CrazyKenKid 64]

i dont' no much actually i don't no a darn thing abuot power supplies! other then i have on my computer lol! jk!!

but ya i do kno over 14.4-14.7 on any agm battery is bad and will lessen it's life (the battery that is)

but hey if you wnat to do something stupid like put a 12volt battery at 16-18 volts lmao go fro it! other then that there is a little device called a MLA (missing link audio) it makes your alt put out move volts to better charge your batteries or so they cliam but i wouldn't use it b/c agm batteries aren't meant for over 14.4 (which is what most alts can charge at anyways)

but if you are just a ground and pounding (mma fighter ) then i say don't worry to much about your keeping your batteries at 15volts if you ere heavy in the comp side then ya keep the voltage up and abuse the hell out of those batteries lol!!

but for sure those are jsut my thoughts about it wait for some of the experienced guys to chime in! give a few more days!! they will they always do!

[mjmarovi 8]

lol no I don't plan on running them at 16-18 volts, and I'm really not sure about being AGM that makes not handle the voltage, as kinetik makes a 16 volt batt that is AGM, as does batcap. but I don't really understand what the difference is between the two batteries. only reason I wanted to charge my batts to 15 volts was because I know some guys in competition that said they did and had greater success holding voltage.

[brandonf 9]

lol no I don't plan on running them at 16-18 volts, and I'm really not sure about being AGM that makes not handle the voltage, as kinetik makes a 16 volt batt that is AGM, as does batcap. but I don't really understand what the difference is between the two batteries. only reason I wanted to charge my batts to 15 volts was because I know some guys in competition that said they did and had greater success holding voltage.

I've read the same thing several times now, charging them to 15v does hold voltage better..

Assumption, feel free to correct me:

If the alternator only charges the batteries when they get low, it should take longer for the battery to drop to the charging point, thus less strain on the alternator. If you have an alternator putting out 16v, it will kill a 12v battery due to the constant overcharging. If you put a 16v battery into a car with a 12v alternator, the alternator will never fully charge the battery.

[mjmarovi 8]

well alternator don't really put "more power" just cause battery is lower. they will put out w/e voltage they are constantly, and can put out up to w/e their max amperage output is. your alternator is the power source, so it really powers everything in the car including the batteries, batteries are just their as reserve power. now yes, if batteries do undergo less voltage loss if fully charged to say 15 volts, voltage drop will still occur but not as bad. so yes that will help the alternator from trying to work as hard.

still waiting on other inputs about chargers though, I think I have a pretty good grasp on alternators and their job as I said before I'm used to more daily systems than pure SPL burping monsters.

[audiolife 14]

a 12v battery has 6 2 volt cells, where a 16v battery has 8 2 volt cells.

I do not have an issue with my auto charger at all always charges my kinetik to 14.8 volts and trips into 2 amp charge. If you are charging up more than one battery it would be a good idea to charge them up individually so they are BALANCED before you try charging them both up together where 1 might be setting more charged than the other when new or adding a newer cell in a system with an older. If the batteries are different as in brand and or size I would charge them seprately because they will not fully charged together, and you would run risk of over charging the smaller or weaker battery.

[jcarter1885 995]

a 12v battery has 6 2 volt cells, where a 16v battery has 8 2 volt cells.

I do not have an issue with my auto charger at all always charges my kinetik to 14.8 volts and trips into 2 amp charge. If you are charging up more than one battery it would be a good idea to charge them up individually so they are BALANCED before you try charging them both up together where 1 might be setting more charged than the other when new or adding a newer cell in a system with an older. If the batteries are different as in brand and or size I would charge them seprately because they will not fully charged together, and you would run risk of over charging the smaller or weaker battery.

I heard about a marine dual bank battery charger that I was gonna get from a dude at a local audio shop, would those charge both batteries equally if not then I wont waste the money on getting one. Thanks

[audiolife 14]

a 12v battery has 6 2 volt cells, where a 16v battery has 8 2 volt cells.

I do not have an issue with my auto charger at all always charges my kinetik to 14.8 volts and trips into 2 amp charge. If you are charging up more than one battery it would be a good idea to charge them up individually so they are BALANCED before you try charging them both up together where 1 might be setting more charged than the other when new or adding a newer cell in a system with an older. If the batteries are different as in brand and or size I would charge them seprately because they will not fully charged together, and you would run risk of over charging the smaller or weaker battery.

I heard about a marine dual bank battery charger that I was gonna get from a dude at a local audio shop, would those charge both batteries equally if not then I wont waste the money on getting one. Thanks

Depends what it is designed for. If it is not designed for agm batteries and you are charging agm batteries I wouldn't do it.