Chargers

A charger is a type of special-type power supply designed to charge batteries. It implements the dual CC-CV control characteristic (first constant current then constant voltage) and has a charging indicator. The charger is selected for the battery based on the final charge voltage. For lead-acid batteries, this is 7.2V (6-volt) or 14.4V (12-volt battery). For lithium-ion cells, the final charging voltages are 4.2V, 8.4V, 12.6V, 16.8V, etc. The output current of the charger determines the rate at which the cells are charged and should therefore be selected according to the capacity of the battery. It is assumed that a standard charge occurs with a current of 0.1C, where C is the capacity of the battery. Thus, for a 12V lead-acid battery with a capacity of 14Ah, we should choose a 14.4V 1.4A charger. This will charge the battery in 10 hours. When the output current is higher, charging will occur faster, e.g. for 2.8A (0.2C) the charging time will be 5h.