peter_j2 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 <p>To prolong the life of Profoto's <strong>Pb</strong> (12.0V, 5.0Ah, Non-spillable lead/acid) or <strong>LiFe</strong> (13.2V, 5.0Ah, LiFePo4) batteries, is it advisable to trickle charge indefinitely using either the proprietary Profoto Charger 1A or Profoto Charger 2A?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen t Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 <p>You may want to consider a Battery Tender, or equivalent, NOT a run of the mill trickle charger, AKA "battery killer." A 4 stage smart charger would be my choice, and yes, a smart charger always online when the battery is not being used. A 500ma would be sufficient, nothing larger, in my opinion.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_j2 Posted February 17, 2015 Author Share Posted February 17, 2015 <p>Stephen: Are the Profoto chargers mentioned above not designed to <strong>tend</strong> to the battery rather than to <strong>kill</strong> the battery? </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen t Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 <p>Peter, yes they are. I quit using regular chargers a few years ago because I got tired of buying new batteries because they had been boiled dry, undercharged, overcharged, and just killed. I resisted getting smart chargers because of the almost double or triple the price, but now have at least a half dozen of them and haven't had to buy a new battery for a while. <br> With a 5AH battery, you really don't want to put more than a 500ma charger on it.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studio460 Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 <p>SLA vs. Li-ion charging guidelines:</p> <p>While I can't answer your specific questions, here are some general guidelines: SLAs (sealed-lead acid) batteries can be continually hooked up to a maintenance charger which is able to supply a non-damaging "float charge." So-called "smart chargers" have sophisticated, multi-stage, microprocessor-controlled charging cycles, and can maintain SLA and Ni-MH batteries for years (e.g., Anton Bauer chargers designed for video camera batteries). SLAs don't like to be stored in a discharged state, and should be charged to 100% immediately after each use.</p> <p>Contrastingly, Li-ion batteries <em>do not</em> like to be constantly charged. Ideally, Li-ions should be stored at a 50% state-of-charge as often as possible. Keeping Li-ion batteries constantly charged at 100% will significantly shorten their life. Generally speaking, SLAs are far more "tolerant" of varying charge states than Li-ions. I have piles of expensive Li-ion batteries that died prematurely due to poor maintenance. All of my SLAs stay healthy for several years with far less battery-charging management.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochen_S Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 <p>I tend to agree with Stephen. - I don't know the Profoto charger but simply assume that it was built for a different purpose than yours.<br> Any professional power tool is usually maxed out towards quickest imaginable recharge time. - Example: an electric drill that goes empty is a cool thing when you can refill it during just a lunch break or work full time draining one recharging another battery. But I have never seen any of these chargers offering a gentle & intelligent overnight charge too. - That feature would make the tool more expensive.<br> If we are talking about a real trickle charge while your batteries are resting in the shelf a 1/5th of capacity charger is more than overkill. To recharge a car starter battery 1/60th of capacity was enough. Trickle charging would be even way lower continous current wise. I'd guess in the 1/1200th of capacity range. (Math: battery: 36 Ah, charger 600mA recharge time 4 days. Self discharge time for starter batteries seems in the 2 - 3 month range...- assuming 3 months trickle charging current would be 26.67 mA - this means 50mA (back in the days used to recharge NiCd AAs overnight) would be plenty to keep a car's starter battery ready. - Splurge on a smart & gentle charger for the kind of battery you are using and if you have multiple batteries wire them parallel.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_j2 Posted February 18, 2015 Author Share Posted February 18, 2015 <p>Thank you gentlemen for the information. B & H mentions in their Overview the Profoto 1A charger draws 0.25 amps to recharge the aforementioned AcuteB batteries which I would interpret as safe as for use as a continuous trickle charger for the Pb battery. A monthly inspection of the LiFe battery to determine the charge level would be sufficient to re-engage the charger until the battery is topped up. Am I correct?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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