What is a Battery Charger?
A Battery charger is a simple electronic device that is used to force energy into a secondary cell or battery by pushing an electrical current through it. They are relatively inexpensive & easy to build at home. So, in this article, we are going to go over a step-by-step instructions on How to Make A 12V Battery Charger. So let’s get into it.
They are many variations of battery chargers available in today’s market such as Pulse chargers, Trickle Chargers & fast chargers, etc. But generally, all chargers follow the same schematic scheme. A Step-down transformer along with an X-rated Capacitor connected in series to lower the high input AC to a usable level & a bridge rectifier to convert the AC signal into a rippling DC. You can also use a smoothing capacitor to the output of the rectifier to get rid of any noise.
![](https://www.circuits-diy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Battery-12V-Lead-Acid-battery-720x720.jpg)
Hardware Components
The following components are required to make 12V Battery Charger Circuit
S.No | Component | Value | Qty |
---|---|---|---|
1) | Step-Down Transformer | 220V/14V/1.43A/50Hz | 1 |
2) | Lead Acid Battery | 12V/7Ah | 1 |
3) | Diode | 1N4007 | 4 |
4) | AVO Meter w/ probes | – | 1 |
5) | Film Capacitor | 1uF/105j/440V | 1 |
6) | Alligator clips | – | 1 |
7) | Soldering Iron | 45W – 60W | 1 |
8) | Soldering wire & flux | – | 1 |
9) | DC Power Jack | – | 1 |
10) | AC Power Plug | 2-Pin | 1 |
12V Battery Charger Circuit
Useful Steps
Follow the steps on how to make a 12V Battery charger
1) Make a Bridge rectifier by connecting 4 1N4007 Diodes in the following configuration.
![](https://circuits-diy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/1-10.jpg)
2) Solder the +ve & -ve Terminals of the bridge rectifier to the secondary winding of the Non-C.T Transformer
![](https://circuits-diy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2-9.jpg)
3) Trim excess leads of the bridge rectifier.
![](https://circuits-diy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/3-8.jpg)
4) Solder one end of the X-rated capacitor to the +ve terminal of the AC supply & other to the primary of the transformer. Solder the -ve terminal of the supply to the primary of the transformer.
![](https://circuits-diy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/4-10.jpg)
5) Solder alligator clips to the terminals of the bridge rectifier.
![](https://circuits-diy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/5-7.jpg)
6) Connect the output terminals of the charger to the terminals of the DC power jack & test the circuit.
Battery Charging (Fuse Engaged)
![](https://circuits-diy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/6-6.jpg)
Battery Not Charging (Fuse Disengaged)
![](https://circuits-diy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/7-3.jpg)
Working Explanation
The working of this circuit is pretty simple. A 220V AC signal acts as the input for the charger circuit. this AC signal goes through a 1uF X-rated capacitor directly connected to the live AC line in order to drop the AC Voltage. The Output signal goes through a non-C.T stepdown transformer.
The output AC signal is then fed to a bridge rectifier circuit made by using four 1N4007 diodes. The DC output from the bridge rectifier is then used to charge any 12V lead-acid battery using battery clips.
Applications
- It is commonly used to charge 12V Lead Acid Batteries for emergency backup power.
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