Overvolting Lead Acid Batteries

[ratdock]

Is it possile to over charge a 12 volt battery to 24 volts, without causing alot of damage to the battery. Normally over charging a battery would cause it to overheat and lose water, but if I were to charge the battery, slowly, at a very low amperage should prevent the battery from overheating. The battery specifications can be found @ http://www.digikey.com/product-searc...=0&pageSize=25

[DeltaP]

No don't do it! You'll be lucky if you don't blow yer face off!

[Black Lotus]

The basic chemistry of a lead acid battery limits it to about 2 volts per cell. Some older maintenance -free GM batteries had calcium added in the chemistry so that it wanted to be charged at 16 volts, but I don't think anybody does that anymore. Most 12 V chargers and alternators max out at about 14-15 V.
Higher charge voltages will just cause your battery to outgas and heat up.

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/a...dary_batteries

[shorod]

I think the case has been made above for not overcharging to attempt to get 24V out of the battery. May I ask why you want do do that versus using either a 28V battery or 2 series 12V batteries? Is there a particular application you are trying to use the battery with?

-Rod