How long to charge a new battery?

[Gillgrabber]

I bought a new battery for my flasher at Farm & Fleet.  It's a 7 amp "Zeus" brand which I never heard of it before, but it was all they had left in stock.  Any idea how long I need to charge it before first use? 

[Kevin23]

Well I'd say buy a smart charger but you probably know about them already.

I would put it on for 2 hours, take it off and let it cool down. then put it back on for an hour.

Smart charger or a battery gauge will really help you.

[eriksat1]

I bought a new Zeus 12v 7 aH battery a few weeks ago from the bait shop for $29 how much was it at F&F? I hooked it up to my marcum charger and it said the new battery was already at 90% so I just took it out and used it. After that I guess it depends what type of charger you have. The old charger that I have from a old Aqua-vu was a 12.5 volt dc output .500 mA and they say charge it twice as long as you use it. So if I use it for 4 hours charge it for 8. I think the only way to check the charge is with a volt meter, fully charged it should have about 13 volts after you let it sit a while after the charge.

[Gillgrabber]

It was on sale at F & F for $19.  I charged it overnight and used it for 9 hours, then charged it for about 3, and used it for another 9 hours this weekend.  It held it's power the entire time.

[eriksat1]

It depends what type of charger you have? A smart charger like what comes with a Marcum LX-5 or a cheap one that just puts out a constant voltage.