When a discharged gel cell is connected, the charger goes into a fast charge mode at a fixed rate of 400 ma. After the chip detects the voltage leveling off or when 4 1/2 hours has elapsed. (which ever happens first.) the fast charge will stop. After the fast charge has ended, the IC goes into a trickle charge rate of about 50 ma. This trickle charge continues until 13.8 volts is reached which will stop all charging current since the cell is now fully charged. If the cell voltage should drop for any reason, either a fast charge or trickle charge (IC will detect what is needed) will start again. 12 Volt Gel Cell Charger Circuit Diagram When constructing this circuit, be sure to attach a small heat sink to Q1. Apply a DC (partially filtered) voltage of at least 15.3 volts. The voltage must never go below this level even under load conditions. Many of the DC wall transformers available will work just fine as long as they meet the minimum voltage requirement. The input voltage can be as hi...