Recharging circuit and method for recharging a battery having a reference electrode

摘要

A battery recharging circuit for a valve regulated lead-acid battery having a plurality of cells, each cell including a positive electrode, a negative electrode, a DC voltage source for generating a voltage applied to the positive and negative battery electrodes, and a reference electrode includes a regenerating voltage source for selectively applying a regenerating voltage between the reference electrode and one of the battery electrodes for regenerating the reference electrode, and a reference voltage source for generating a reference voltage. The circuit further includes circuitry for measuring the voltage level between the reference electrode and a battery electrode after removal of the regenerating voltage from the reference electrode. Circuitry compares the measured voltage level to the reference voltage to generate an error correction signal. The voltage generated by the DC voltage source is adjusted based upon the error correction signal, such that the voltage of the DC voltage source applied to the battery electrodes adjusts the voltage level between the reference electrode and one of the battery electrodes to be substantially equal to the reference voltage.