Charging 12v lead acid battery

[FENNDANGO]

How do I know when this is charged? And will it overheat blowup anything like that if I left it plugged in?

TIA

[taxi1]

How do I know when this is charged? And will it overheat blowup anything like that if I left it plugged in?

TIA

No charge indicating lights on the charger? If not you'll have to to have a battery tester.

[Muggsy]

Consider upgrading your charger to something with indicator lights, such as a "Battery Tender Jr." Trickle charger that you could leave on all the time but I unplug and unhook once it shows charged.

[DR.SPECKLER]

I dont trust the chargers with no indication lights.the battery tender jr is great but i started using the noco genius chargers and they are top notch and a step above the battery tender brand.

[Rebelss]

 

[desmobob]

The charger in your photo puts out 50mah.  Your battery is 7ah, so if it was completely dead, it would take your charger 14 hours to charge it.  But for normal charging, leaving it on the charger overnight would almost surely bring it up to full charge without harming it.

Sealed lead-acid batteries have an extremely low self-discharge rate.  I charged my Marcum's new battery last winter when I put it away and when I got it out this season, it was only on the charger for about two minutes before it read fully charged.  You wouldn't need to or want to leave your battery on the charger all the time... just put it on the night before you plan to fish and it will be charged and ready in the morning.

[Chawk190]

Your pic shows a Universal class 2 power supply, not a battery charger. I’m not an expert but pretty sure there’s a difference.

[desmobob]

Your pic shows a Universal class 2 power supply, not a battery charger. I’m not an expert but pretty sure there’s a difference.

Good eye!  I think you're right... I think a proper wall wart charger would have that same 50mah output, but at 13.5V or 14V instead of 12V.

[Kevin23]

Good eye!  I think you're right... I think a proper wall wart charger would have that same 50mah output, but at 13.5V or 14V instead of 12V.

Its an old school charger, thats how we all charged SLA batteries 10 years ago. They are just power supplies that output ~13V constant.

Its also 500mah (0.5A), not 50mah.

A noco genius 1 charger would be a worthwhile purchase, can charge 6v, 12v SLA, 12V AGM, and 12V Lithium and costs about $30. It will be the only charger you need for any battery you buy in the future. Plus it is a smart charger, so you can just plug it in and set the mode you want and leave it hooked to battery 24/7 if you would like.

[taxi1]

I dont trust the chargers with no indication lights.the battery tender jr is great but i started using the noco genius chargers and they are top notch and a step above the battery tender brand.

I had a Minn Kota charger where the green light stopped coming on. I ended up getting a better digital charger that actually slows the charge half way through and I can keep it plugged in on the battery on maintenance mode.