Portable Generator For Sale

Generator gas/electric start?

I just purchased a Powerlift 3000 gas/electric start generator. I also bought a battery charger to charge the 12V battery. What I want to know is what do I set the charger at 12V/2 amp or 12V/6amp to charge the battery because I do not know how many amps the battery has. Also, how long do I have to charge the battery? What can I say, I am a woman and know nothing about generators or 12V batteries. the generator and battery are new. I ordered it on-line. If I set the charger at 12V/2amp and this is a trickle charge. Will the battery be charged enough at this setting?

Public Comments

1. You can set the charger at 12V 2 amps and leave it overnight. The lower setting is a 'trickle charge' and will not risk heating the battery like an extended charge on a higher setting might.
2. If you don't have a book, I would suggest that you look under gasoline engines in your phone book and call a local sales and service dealer in your area...they are usually happy to help you....you don't say if this is new or used...if it is used..then you need to have it checked to make sure things are working...if you bought it new?..they should have walked you through the proper use of this equipment...Nothing goes out of my shop without my customer knowing how to use their new equipment, and knowing about the warranty....
3. If you have the time, just set the charger on the lowest 2amp setting and use that all the time. That will prolong the life of the battery. The recharging time depends on your battery. On the battery, it should say something like 12V 17AH (=12 volts, 17 Amp-hours). If you set the charger to 12V/2amp, it will take 17/2 = 8.5 hours to fully charge your completely discharged battery. Similarly, if you set the charger to 12V/6amp, it will take 17/6 = 2.8 hours to fully charge your completely discharged battery. If the battery is only half discharged, the amount of time to charge the battery is also halved. If your generator starts relatively quickly, each start will use only a small amount of battery capacity. In this case, you will not need to use your charger very often. If you do, you will not need to charge the battery very much before it is fully charged.
4. This most likely a small battery, so charge it on the 2 amp setting. That will prolong the life of the battery. If you need to charge it faster from time to time, use the 6 amp setting. Neither will harm the battery or fail to do the job with modern chargers.
5. Because of the infrequent use (hopefully) of the generator, you should leave it on the low 2 amp setting. But as far as "trickle" charge, if it is a cheap charger (sounds like) it won't have the extremely accurate voltage setting which is mandatory for battery life. Check to see if it has and if it hasn't get a good one. Keep the old one in case you need a fast charge once in a while (not particularly needed).