How long to charge batteries

[howardsells2000]

If I have two batteries, an engine battery and cabin battery how long will it take to charge the cabin battery using only the alternator with the engine running? I dont have the money for a solar powered charger and may not have access to electric.

 

[Les H]

The standard answer is -" it depends"
On - how low you ran down the house battery
How large ( in amp-hours) is the house battery
How old is system.
How many amps does your altenater put out
And so on. I have two dual purpose deep cycles in my bus, one starting and one house. They are both charged by the stock 90 amp altenater when driving or idling. To give an example with an actual number to you, it takes a little over an hour to FULLY charge my house battery from about 11.5 to 13.6volts. I
I have a little 1.5w solar trickle charger in my windshield that constantly charges my starting battery. I got it on sale at home depot for $10, but have seen it elsewhere for $17.99-24.99. It helps. My $179 harbor freight does a decent job of keeping my house battery charged, but I drive fairly often, and don't use a lot of power when stopped.,andI am not a full timer either, but that should give you some idea.

 

[howardsells2000]

Les h, thanks for the reply. That doesnt sound like a long time to me. I was afraid I might have to run the engine a lot longer than that. I understand that mine may take longer being its so old. What is the harbor freght set up that you spoke of?

 

[Les H]

It is an entry level solar set that includes panels, wiring, charge controller and so on.http://www.harborfreight.com/45-watt-solar-panel-kit-68751.html
I bought it for a shed that I did not plan to run power to, but wound up with it on the roof of my bus. Some people " poo- poo " them , but it works fine for my small power demands.

 

[wheelsoffreedom1776]

I started out with the harbor freight kit and ran it for over two years before adding more panels and a better charge controller. <br><br>

 

[blars]

For a typical lead-acid battery, you can charge it from 50% to&nbsp; 80%&nbsp; in 3-4 hours at about 15 volts,<br>and it takes about 10 hours to go from 80% to 100% at 13.5 volts.&nbsp; This is with a three-stage charger.&nbsp; An alternator usually is fixed at 13.5 volts and takes longer to charge the battery, especially if you have anything other than short thick wire.&nbsp; Charging faster than this will shorten&nbsp;&nbsp; the life of your battery, and the better three-stage chargers have a temperature sensor on the battery.&nbsp; Some battery manufactuers have data sheets available with recomended maximum charge rate.<br><br><br>