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 SLA Battery Charging

By Bobby George

SLA batteries are used in many different devices and for many different applications, even though a lot of people never realize they use them. SLA batteries are often found in devices such as electric wheelchairs, lawn trimmers, portable vacuum cleaners, electric fence generators, and security systems, just to name a few. The reason people rarely encounter one of these batteries is because they are almost completely maintenance free and remain tucked away quietly powering devices until they die or something else goes wrong.

When it comes to SLA battery charging, some folks may get a little confused because they have never had to charge their SLA battery. This is often the case with security systems, electric fences, etc. where the battery is mainly used as a backup to another electrical system. In these cases, the main electrical source is used to automatically charge and maintain the battery until the electricity is cut and the battery is needed.

Many other people will need to charge their SLA batteries at one point, if not regularly. Therefore, a basic knowledge of proper SLA battery charging is a good thing to have. Proper SLA battery charging and maintenance can be the difference between years of use and months of use.

It is important to remember that SLA batteries are very similar to the battery in your car. Therefore, general maintenance practices performed on your vehicle can usually be applied to SLA batteries as well. For example, most people have discovered that leaving a car in storage for a long period of time without starting it or charging the battery is a recipe for a dead battery in a matter of months. These batteries were designed to have a constant chare without being allowed to run down and stay down for long periods of time. So if someone with an electric wheelchair that uses SLA batteries is no going to be using the chair for an extended time period, it should be placed on a charge occasionally to reduce this effect on the batteries.

It is also important to avoid deeply discharging the batteries very often. This will cause the batteries to wear out much quicker than they should. If you application results in SLA batteries being drained almost completely on a regular basis, it may be time for an upgrade. With SLA batteries, one can upgrade the amperage (runtime) to almost any available configuration without having any effect on the use or the device. The only things to remember are that the voltage must stay the same and the batteries will get bigger, heavier, and more costly as the amperage increases. Still, if your batteries are continually drained to a very low level, an upgrade may save you money in the long run.

For more tips on SLA battery maintenance, see our article Proper Care for Sealed Lead Acid Batteries. And be sure to check out our selection of SLA batteries and chargers at always low prices.