Discussing batteries and chargers, what does trickle charge mean exactly?
Apparently, some manufacturers (e.g. Quantum) mean a charger function for
maintaining the batteries charged after the normal charging cycle is
complete. That means that if you need the batteries you can use them after
the recharge cycle, while if you have to store the batteries for a long
time, they are kept at full charge by the charger, which does some small
charge from time to time, just to compensate for auto-discharge. In this
case, you get 100% battery power after normal recharge and before trickle
charge, and then again 100% power at any time after trickle charge.
The batteries are supposed to stay in the charger idefinitely.
Other manufacturers call trickle charge the last part of the standard
recharge cycle, a slower final charge where the batteries are filled up as
much as possible. In this case, you get say 80-90% battery power after quick
charge (with no trickle charge), while you only get 100% power if you let
the charger perform the complete cycle, including the quick charge and the
trickle charge.
The batteries are supposed to stay in the charger only for their recharge
cycle (with or without trickle charge depending on the urgence of using
them).
Please enlighten me. Thanks.
Dario
