(ET) Dan's 2/10A charger

[tbamc <tbamc gbta net>]

Dan,

In spite of you hijacking my thread  :-), I'll give you my opinion.

Since both undercharging, and overcharging are bad for batteries, I 
would not leave a battery charging on 10A overnight.  The chart on my 
large wheeled charger, shows a totally dead battery being charged, at 
10A, in 2.5 hours.  You should be able to check the battery voltage 
before you start, with your (digital) meter, and then again after a few 
hours charging, then a few hours 'resting' off charger, to get a feel 
for how long you need to charge.  After that, a mechanical timer would 
get you close, if you can't be around to shut it off.

When your battery is low you can certainly hook your charger to the 
battery, and check the VOLTAGE across the terminals.  That will tell you 
the 2A setting is putting out adequate voltage.  Checking the Amps is 
tougher.

I suspect your car battery is old and not holding it's charge well.  
Once it's charged up, and your meter reads full charge, let it sit, and 
check it a week, 2 weeks, etc. later.  Shouldn't change much if it's a 
good battery.  Or take the battery to Autozone, etc. and let them test 
it for you for free.  :-)

HTH

Thon