Fish finder battery

[makinawfisher19]

How long am I supposed to charge a 12v 7ah battery for my fish finder?
[signature]

[a_bow_nut]

How many amps does the charger put out?
[signature]

[makinawfisher19]

Not sure. It reads "Output: 6vdc 500mA." It is just a charger that plugs into a regular wall outlet. Thanks.
[signature]

[a_bow_nut]

Then if the battery is completely dead it will take around fourteen hours for a complete charge.

500mA = 1/2 of an amp.

So a 7 amp hour battery would be fourteen hours.
[signature]

[makinawfisher19]

Thanks for the help!
[signature]

[Dwyer]

I think at 6volts you would need to double your time again. I would say 28-36 hrs at 6v 500mah.

I use a switching power supply on mine. You can leave it plugged in all the time and it switches off when full. Those batteries can usually take 1.5 - 2.0 amp charge. Mine is a 2.0 ah power supply so in theory it takes 3.5 hrs. I'd recommend getting a decent power supply to charge it if you can. Mine is a Mean Well S-25-15.

Hope that helps.
[signature]

[a_bow_nut]

Yeah I didn't look at the voltage before replying.

I would look for a 12 volt charger.

The one you have will never get your battery charged the way it needs no matter how long you leave it on.
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]First, you should have a 12 volt charger.

Second, you should have one with either an automatic shutoff feature...or a red light/green light indicator to let you know when it reaches full charge.

There are small trickle chargers available for the SLA batteries. No not use an automobile battery charger...even down at 2 amps. The ones designed for the SLA batteries are usually .5 to 1 amp.

Third...get a voltage tester. Check your battery before charging. If it is below about 12.5 volts, charge it until it is full charge...usually just over 13 volts. It will gradually drop back to a resting charge of about 12.7 volts...if the battery is good.

It is a good idea to "top it off" just before each trip, and to fully recharge it as soon as you get back. Those SLA batteries are not designed to be deep cycle batteries and should not be run to full discharge. So do not just keep using them for different trips until they fail. Keeping them charged will result in much longer battery life.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]

[Tangled_not]

Harbor freight should have an inexpensive float charger that will work Great for a small sla battery, for less than 10 bucks. Like TD stated earlier, you want no more than about 1/2 amp(500ma) for those small batteries. They also work well to keep bigger batts topped off during the off season. I use one for my atv batt as well as my fish finder.
[signature]