To wrap up, it is possible to use a battery charger as a power supply but with some disadvantages. If you want to use one as another, you should first check the voltage and regulation to make sure they are compatible. Also, you may need to change the polarity depending on the device you are using it with.
A computer power supply, for example, usually supplies DC voltage in the range of 12V to 24V, while most rechargeable battery chargers provide DC current within 13.0 V to 15.0 V (some can go as high as 19.0VDC). – Regulation: A power supply has active voltage regulation; thus, the output voltage is steady despite of its input fluctuation.
This is a charging method where batteries are charged with a constant current from beginning to end. A standard switching power supply is a constant voltage power supply, so it monitors fluctuations in output voltages, inputs the results in the control circuit, and executes constant voltage controlling also known as feedback controlling.
So, you can charge your battery using free, green sources. And, because the energy from renewables is intermittent, a storage battery allows you to harness it more efficiently for consistent use. In the second instance, a storage battery can also take power from the grid. Here, the battery will charge using low-cost, off-peak energy.
Read more about our editorial standards. An uninterruptible power supply, or UPS, is basically a surge protector, battery, and power inverter—which turns the battery’s stored energy into usable power—wrapped into one unit.
A 12-volt charger is designed to charge a battery, not to provide power to a device. It doesn’t have the capacity to provide enough current to run most devices. If in case you try to use a 12-volt charger as a power supply, you’ll probably find that it doesn’t work or that it works very slowly.