wesnewell
100 GW
I use a 5ah 20C 4s hardcase pack to start my Portable generator. Well, when I lost power during the hail storm here, I cranked it up for power and left the battery connected thinking the 12v regulator wouldn't let it charge the pack over 15V. I usually just disconnect the battery after starting the generator. Anyway, after power came back on some 10 hours later and I removed the battery I noticed it was a little puffed up. Now this was the same pack that I depuffed some time back so I checked the pack voltage and it was at 17.98V. After verifying that was the correct voltage, I quickly put it on the rc charger and discharged it down to 16V. The swelling also went down. At least now I know why the original sla battery burned out so quick. The 12v charge circuit was really cooking that electrolyte. I guess the moral of this story is don't assume just because there's a 12v starter battery, don't assume your device won't over charge it.
