Charging 12 Volt Deep Cycle Battery help please

Buddym7

Recruit
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
2
Hi there. Just bought a 12V Deep cycle marine battery and charger for a trolling motor. It's an automatic charger that shuts off when done charging. I have it on 2amp charge and it's been charging the battery 500CrankAmps 140Reserve 80Amp hours for 64 hours now. I heard a new battery should only take 48 hours. Is there something wrong with the charger or battery? I just noticed a sticker on the battery said recharge by May 2019 when I bought it July 25, 2019. Is the battery garbage or? I don't want to leave it charging anymore as I think it's gonna wreck my new charger too or have the battery leak or explode charging this long?. Thank you for your help :)
 

Grub54891

Admiral
Joined
Jun 17, 2012
Messages
6,282
2 amps on a deep cycle will take forever. Up the amps. You can take any battery to an auto parts store and have it tested.
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
28,399
not sure what the "Recharge by" sticker means, but remember, your charger will charge a maximum of 2 Amps. As the battery is being charged, that amperage will drop off, until the battery is fully charged and the charge amperage is near zero.

If you do not need the battery to recharge fast, then charging it for days is just fine.
 

Buddym7

Recruit
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
2
Thank you :) How long should I wait though at 2amps until it's too many hours? Don't want to switch it to a higher amp now in the middle of charging or is that okay to do? Also was told 2 amp trickle was the best to use for deep cycle?
 

alldodge

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
43,237
It's an automatic charger that shuts off when done charging

Being auto it should step down as it gets closer to full

If the bat was in a boat it could be seeing more then 30 amps being changed back up, so doing it at 2 amps will take a while. If its to far down even a deep cycle bat can be damaged
 

Silvertip

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 22, 2003
Messages
28,771
It's an automatic charger. It knows what it has to do and when to call it quits. It can be plugged in 24-7 indefinitely without damage to the charger or the battery.
 

H20Rat

Vice Admiral
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
5,204
not sure what the "Recharge by" sticker means,

Lead acid self-discharge at 5% per month, so I'm guessing the MFG just puts that sticker on based on the build-date of the battery and the safe level a lead acid shouldn't ever go below.
 
Top