In message .com, Andy
Evans writes
That's really wacky! thanks for the link. RE. the charger, I phoned the
Cyclon 2v battery suppliers and they recommended a smooth power supply
of 2.35v, 2 amps, 1% ripple. Single stage - the Cyclons are valve
regulated and go onto trickle charge automatically according to them.
Makes it more of a DIY job. Andy


Lead-acid chargers are really simple, although if you want the
float-charge voltage temperature compensated it's rather more tricky.
For a simple but accurate charger just make a regulator that has an
output voltage of 2.3V for every cell in the battery (so 13.8V for a 12V
battery) and current limit the output to C/10. (So if the battery is
10A-hrs, then charge it at 1A)

With this you can leave the battery on charge as long as you want and it
won't overcharge.

(Pity Ni-MH aren't so easy to charge though)
--
Chris Morriss