Halcyon Lead Acid Charger Question
- Thread starter rlockett
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cool_hardware52
Contributor
Rlockett,
My "day job" for the last 18+ years has been designing, building and selling high end bike lights. We have not used SLA batteries in years due to their greater weight (big deal for cyclist) and because although they are inexpensive, they have real problems with cycle life.
Here is the skinny with SLA batteries. Because Sealed Lead Acid batteries are in fact Sealed there is no way to add electrolyte. This means that SLA batteries are intolerant of overcharging. If you over charge any Lead Acid battery you make hydrogen and the internal pressure of the battery rises, this is a minor problem in old style wet cells like car batteries, but in a Sealed Battery electrolyte can be forced past the internal pressure vents.
SLA batteries should be charged with "Float" style charger. This type charger will charge the battery and then automatically switch to a very low float current that will not overcharge the battery.
I don't know if Halcyon uses a float charger, but if their instructions speak to being able to leave the battery on long term charge it is probably a float type. (I can say that some of Halcyon's claims about Ni-Cads are outright wrong, which does raise questions about their battery system enginneering practices)
The real killers of SLA batteries is over discharge. The battery can be over discharged in use, i.e. run down too far, and can selfdischarge to very low levels in storage.
All batteries self discharge, i.e. just sitting there, not connected to anything, the problem with SLA is that self discharge will lead to failure. Typical senario is the users runs his light down on the last use of the season, stores it without charging (more self discharge) pulls it out at the beginning of the next season and it's "toes up" This why we won't sell them.
My "day job" for the last 18+ years has been designing, building and selling high end bike lights. We have not used SLA batteries in years due to their greater weight (big deal for cyclist) and because although they are inexpensive, they have real problems with cycle life.
Here is the skinny with SLA batteries. Because Sealed Lead Acid batteries are in fact Sealed there is no way to add electrolyte. This means that SLA batteries are intolerant of overcharging. If you over charge any Lead Acid battery you make hydrogen and the internal pressure of the battery rises, this is a minor problem in old style wet cells like car batteries, but in a Sealed Battery electrolyte can be forced past the internal pressure vents.
SLA batteries should be charged with "Float" style charger. This type charger will charge the battery and then automatically switch to a very low float current that will not overcharge the battery.
I don't know if Halcyon uses a float charger, but if their instructions speak to being able to leave the battery on long term charge it is probably a float type. (I can say that some of Halcyon's claims about Ni-Cads are outright wrong, which does raise questions about their battery system enginneering practices)
The real killers of SLA batteries is over discharge. The battery can be over discharged in use, i.e. run down too far, and can selfdischarge to very low levels in storage.
All batteries self discharge, i.e. just sitting there, not connected to anything, the problem with SLA is that self discharge will lead to failure. Typical senario is the users runs his light down on the last use of the season, stores it without charging (more self discharge) pulls it out at the beginning of the next season and it's "toes up" This why we won't sell them.
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