Charging calcium car batteries.

[Forestlands]

Evening folks! Have a calcium car battery, used for electric fence, run right down and not taking a charge. They take a higher charge 14V plus to charge them, I read, had no problem charging them till now. Both amber and green light come on when I put it on to charge. Have one working on a fence and 2 need charging.

Got 2 chargers, neither special ones, a very old one and a newish one. Is the older one more likely to charge the battery, older cars having slightly higher voltage I believe! Would be good to get them up and going as goats eyeing up blackberries on other side of the fence! Next stop from blackberries is the garden! thank you!

 

[Burnerman]

Time to invest in a smart charger Im afraid.....these things can recover a battery that was thought doomed, and maintain the calcium one in good order.
John

 

[ericmark]

Not seen a calcium car battery, however the NiCad cells used in house hold things had a problem with crystal growth, as new stored discharged, but once in use, if fully discharged the crystal if it grows has nothing to zap it, while there is a voltage if it grows the power of battery burns it off. So not sure if you can ever recover from that state, with a single cell a capacitor or other battery in parallel can zap the crystal, but as a battery this does not work.

With a Ni/Iron the electrolyte is renewed in the discharged state.

But today lead acid is much improved, with the valve regulated lead acid (VRLA) some times called absorbed glass mat, they can sit unused for a lot longer, they do not spill acid, and are used with the new stop/start system used on modern cars, they do need a smart charger, but Lidi do them from time to time at around £15, and the advantage of smart charger is you connect and forget, not need to remove from charge once fully charged.

 

[Mottie]

Most modern cars use a silver calcium battery.

 

[Burnerman]

Essential for the stop/ start systems that we have to endure these days.....deep regular discharge and all that. They are also maintenance free.
They do need a high output alternator ideally so wouldn’t be used with an old alternator or god forbid, a dynamo
John

 

[Keithmac]

Would you not be better off with a Leisure battery if you need to replace them, these are designed to be run down (to a point!) and recharged.

Our old Fucus had a Calcium battery and that charged around 13.5 to 14v when running.