Battery charger charging stages

8-Stage Recharging Process for MXS5.0

Stage 1 – Desulphation

This occurs when the battery charger sends pulses of electricity to break down and remove the build-up of sulphate within the battery. This is important as by having clean battery plates within the battery will enable the battery to charge faster and deeper. The battery will also accept a greater charge and will release all of its stored energy.

Stage 2 – Soft Start

This step will check the vitals or health of your battery. This ensures that the battery is in good health and is able to accept bulk charging. If the terminal voltage has not reached the set level within a set time, the charge is stopped, and the charger indicates error mode. The battery is then probably defective.

Stage 3 – Bulk Charge

This stage will occur to charge the battery until 80% of the charge is complete. This charge is conducted at maximum current charge until the terminal voltage reaches the set level. Bulk charging has a maximum time. The battery charging then switches to Absorption.

Stage 4 – Absorption

This final stage gets your battery up to 100% capacity. During this charging step, the charge current falls gradually to ensure the terminal voltage does not get too high. If the maximum time for Absorption is exceeded, the charger switches automatically to maintenance.

Stage 5 – Battery Analysis

Now with the battery full charged, the battery charger will evaluate the self-discharge or how the battery can hold the charge. If the self-discharge is too high, the charging is interrupted, and error mode indicated.

Stage 6 – Recond

Reconditioning of deeply discharged batteries. This step is used to restore deeply discharged open vented batteries. With increased charging voltage over a limited time, the voltage is allowed to rise so that the battery starts to emit gas. As a result, you get a mix in the battery that is good both for its capacity and service life. Recond takes place between the analysis and maintenance steps.

When choosing the Recond-mode, the charger will first charge your battery up to full-charged. When this is done the charger will start the Recond and the upper Recond-lamp will lit. The charger reconditions the battery between 30 min and 4 hours depending on the need of the battery. Once the Recond is done, the charger will switch into maintenance-mode (green light for fully charged). The bottom Recond-lamp will still be on as a reminder that you have chosen the Recond.

Stage 7 – Float

This is the maintenance charge provided by the battery charger to keep the battery topped up. This is provided by a constant voltage charge.

Stage 8 – Pulse

The battery charger will monitor that the capacity and will maintain the state of charge between 95% - 100%. The battery receives a pulse when the voltage has dropped to a predefined level. This keeps the battery in trim when not in use. As the charger measures the terminal voltage continuously it then determines whether a charge pulse should be started.

Repco’s Battery Charger Range

So, there you have it, a breakdown of the various battery charging stages that can be undertaken with a CTek battery charger in this example. Whether you are looking at CTek, Projecta, Repco or any of the quality brands of battery chargers we stock, you should hopefully now see the benefits of these ‘smart’ battery chargers when recharging your car battery.

When looking for your next battery charger please reference the battery charger’s specifications and capabilities as well as your battery type and size prior to purchasing. These variables all contribute to efficient and effective battery charging and our Repco team can help with any questions you have.