Thread: car battery charge

A normal car battery can handle very high levels of current distchage such as is found when starting an engine via an electric starter motor......

my question is since they can handle high current dischage can they handle the opposite - a high current charge - at least to the same degree as they would be rated to discharge at?

Thanks!

According to this web site, you shouldn't charge a lead acid battery at a current more than 1/8 of its amp-hour rating.
http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Bat...AQ.htm#Battery Charging

Most flooded batteries should be charged at no more than the "C/8" rate for any sustained period. "C/8" is the battery capacity at the 20-hour rate divided by 8. For a 220 AH battery, this would equal 26 Amps. Gelled cells should be charged at no more than the C/20 rate, or 5% of their amp-hour capacity. The Concorde AGM batteries are a special case - the can be charged at up the the Cx4 rate, or 400% of the capacity for the bulk charge cycle. However, since very few battery cables can take that much current, we don't recommend you try this at home. To avoid cable overheating, you should stick to C/4 or less.

A typical car battery might have an amp-hour rating of 59 and cold cranking amps of 740. So, you could discharge it at 740 amps but charging would be no more than about 7.5 amps.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_02850025000P

thanks harold - has been a great help!