CLASS RACER FORUM - View Single Post - will a 16v TurboStart charger work with a Lithium 16v?

Dan Bennett · 07-04-2024, 12:23 PM

I'm thinking it would not be a good idea. Lithium needs different things than lead acid. A lithium charger will read the voltage and cell resistance and adjust (slowly ramp up) the charging rate. They need a different charging rate at each voltage level they're at. At the end of the charge, it tapers off and does a "top off" process. Both of these are needed to avoid shortening the life or damaging the battery.

Unless I'm totally wrong, a lead acid battery just gets blasted with charger output from start to finish. It's the quickest and most effective way since the plates don't really care. Yes, they know to shut off when the desired voltage is reached but I'm not aware that they vary the charge level during the cycle.

So, you might kill that new battery pretty quickly. Worst case, damage the cells into thermal runaway.

07-04-2024, 12:23 PM	#3
Dan Bennett Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 437 Likes: 840 Liked 591 Times in 134 Posts	Re: will a 16v TurboStart charger work with a Lithium 16v? I'm thinking it would not be a good idea. Lithium needs different things than lead acid. A lithium charger will read the voltage and cell resistance and adjust (slowly ramp up) the charging rate. They need a different charging rate at each voltage level they're at. At the end of the charge, it tapers off and does a "top off" process. Both of these are needed to avoid shortening the life or damaging the battery. Unless I'm totally wrong, a lead acid battery just gets blasted with charger output from start to finish. It's the quickest and most effective way since the plates don't really care. Yes, they know to shut off when the desired voltage is reached but I'm not aware that they vary the charge level during the cycle. So, you might kill that new battery pretty quickly. Worst case, damage the cells into thermal runaway.