Follow-up, Battery Charger....it works

[Micky]

Warm day, rain ended, tested charger.

No pen or paper, voltages are approximate.

On 2 amp setting was about 11.5 volts but after connnected to the battery for a couple minutes, and then disconnected, up to 12.6 or

13.6, I forget.

After reconnected, up to 14.2. !!!! It works.

2 amp setting charges at about 3 amps, 10 amp setting charges at about twice that, 6 amps.

Now, no reason to take apart the charger, but peeking in the slots does show what is probably a circuit board about the size of half a Nabisco graham cracker. It's covered by a sheet of metal. I assumed no slots on the other side but I should have looked. So I don't know what was in there.

This one was made in January 1997, but the same model, 87102, but with a suffix C, is still sold! No indication on the charger or in the Lowes, Home Depot, Amazon advertising or even the maker's website that is any smarter than stupid, even though it looks like it must be (but maybe not***). In fact they make a point to call it "manual".

"Easy-to-use manual controls."

***In the 10amp setting " The meter will read up to 15 amps and taper down to 6 or 7 as the battery reaches full charge. When the battery is fully charged you must shut off the charger within 2 hours or overcharging will occur." So it's semi-smart. (In the 6volt setting, it doesn't taper down) It doesn't have a warning l ike this for the 2 amp setting!

The model with the next higher number, on 10 amps, says it tapers down to 1 amp and you have to disconnecte within 24 hours. That's better yet!

It also says "Note: Do not use this battery charger to charge batteries larger than those typically found in boats, passenger cars, or light trucks" Why would that be???

About a charger that is 3 levels fancier than mine, it says "Preactivation of a Discharged Battery The instructions will bore you but here they are:

Preactivation will raise the voltage in a 12 volt battery to a level high enough to allow the charger to operate in the automatic mode. This step is required if you have been attempting to charge a low or dead battery and the battery has not been accepting any charge. Select the START position on the SELECT FUNCTION switch. Select the highest charging position on the SELECT SETTING switch. (Not the Start setting.) Charge the 12 volt battery for 5?15 minutes Select the CHARGE position on the SELECT FUNCTION switch. The battery should now accept the charge and the amperage meter should indicate 6?15 amps. If not, the battery should be professionally tested. If battery is okay, call Technical Service at [phone]"

[philo]

I already told you that open circuit readings on a battery charger are meaningless

[Ralph Mowery]

I am sure it dependson the charger as to what hapens.

I have a simple 10 amp charger. It has a transfromer that is center tapped and each side of center goes to a diode. It does have an amp meter and a thermal overload device.

Hooking a Simpson 260 (analog) and Fluke (digital) meter to the open leads only shows just under 12 volts and 11.78 volts. I did check both meters with another Fluke just to be sure everything shows where 12 volts actually is,especially on the analog meter when connected to a well filtered and regulated DC supply.

Hooking to a scope set for DC shows the familiar humps of a full wave rectifier. They go from 0 to about 16 volts.

Loading it with a light bulb that pulls around 2 amps drops the meter voltage about half a volt with not much of a change in what the scope shows. I did not look carefuly at the scope so it may have made a slight change.

I did not try a smart charger I have as like someone said it may take battery with a voltage to make it work.

[Micky]

Yes, but I don't agree with you. If this were my 1 amp charger that I got second-hand from my cousin in 1965, the open circuit voltage would not be meaningless at all.

(BTW, I used that the winter of '67-68 to keep the 6-volt battery in my '50 Olds charged, but putting it on the 6 volt setting was not enough, so I put it on 12v. and the little glass circuit breaker (the shape of a little neon light) would trip after about 20 seconds, then reset after about 10 seconds, so during the 3+ months the car was hooked up that way, it tripped about 300,000 times, but the circuit breaker still works fine.

(120x24x100 2400+480=3000 x 100=300,000 )

[Micky]

Not a good sign.

I don't get it. Would you use one charger to charge your apparently broken charger, or do you have a weak battery somewhere?

[philo]

Neat

In 1971 I had a '53 Chevy 3100 truck

Made a battery charger from using a six volt filament winding from the power transformer from my Ham Radio transmitter and a bridge rectifier.

Ran the extension cord across the sidewalk to keep the battery charged and though it got quite cold the truck usually started.

I always worried about the cord across the sidewalk but no one messed with it. Probably not too many pedestrians in those cold winters.

[Micky]

Right. In the townhouse where I am now, to run an extension cord, I have to over a public sidewalk. It's quiet but still public. I've put a small rug over the cord when it goes over the walk, but then I think, it's probably as easy to trip on the rug as on the orange electric cord.

I should add wrt the car and the chaerger, that the it started all winter, cold Chicago winter, except New Year's Eve, even colder than usual, and I called road service, and they couldn't get me started either, with their cables, even though it started with no special work during the day the next day or the day after. Maybe it was because most times I would start the car at 10 or 3 during the day, but on New Years, I didn't try to run it until 9PM.

[philo]

On 12/03/2015 10:57 AM, Micky wrote: bly not too many pedestrians in those cold winters.

Also:

If I could not get a parking space directly in front of my house...not even a block away was quite a steep hill and I'd park on top.

It was long enough that I had three chances to pop the clutch and try to start it that way.

Only once did I not get it started...but there was enough momentum for me to at least get the thing over to the curb.

I guess I must have walked to school that day. Anyway, by the time I got home it was warm enough that the truck started.

[Micky]

LOL

This wouldn't work in Chicago, where the last story was set. Too flat.

[Micky]

You're right. Thanks.

Right now, I still haven't bought a new battery, but a friend whose riding mower finally needed too many repairs lent me its battery.

10AH, and 3 times as big as the space provided in the scooter.

Based on the earlier thread, I've been estimating how much I used for cranking, and charging with the 1-amp charger just long enough to replace that. Yesterday I figured that was 40 minutes.

I also removed the tail light, so that when I'm not cranking but haven't turned off the ignition**, the battery is only powering the front running light and the ignition, but I disconnect all of that within a minute.

**I also made it easier to turn off the ignition by getting 2 more 12- inch jumper wires, so that the wires aren't in front of the scooter but long enough to drape back over the handlebars, where I alligator clip one to another. And before that, I stuffed spade connectors in the quick connector in front so that I don't have to force the alligator clips in the small slots, only to have them spring back out later.

Cold and windy today. Warmer tomorrow. Time for another tryl.

[clare]

With EFI, it doesn't take much of a slope. My ranger rolls about 3 feet down my driveway (slopes about a foot in 12) - I pop the clutch and it's running - virtually every time.

[philo]

Not too many hills in Milwaukee either but I lived on the top of a river bank.

[philo]

Not sure what EFI is but I don't think they had that in 1953.

The truck had a generator and one day I put the battery in backwards and the generator just re-polarized and worked fine...the ammeter just read negative rather than positive. The gas gauged pegged backwards but absolutely no harm was done.

The radio even worked as it ran off a vibrator.

[Micky]

That's very good to know, but it still doesn't apply to 90% of Chicago, including every place I went. ;-)

[Micky]

Electronic fuel injection. (Somehow it makes the hills hillier. grin. No, it means it starts easily and quickly.)

Wow.

emailed to friends

[clare]

Electronic Fuel Injection - definitely not available in '53.

That depended on the vibrator. If it was a "syncronous rectifier" vibrator they would not run on reverse polarity. You must have been lucky and had one with a 6x5, 6z4, or 84 rectifier tube - which did allow running them reverse polarity.

[philo]

Sure don't remember what it was but beyond any doubt it worked.

The truck is long gone...gave it to a friend who needed the 16" tires.

I did pull the radio out but think I kept the tone knob from it that said "mellow"

[philo]

On 12/3/2015 8:15 PM, Micky wrote: X

Well not too many vehicles left with manual transmissions.

[clare]

Youngest daughter has never owned anything but. Her "guy" drives automatics, so she's driven the bigHemi Ram 4x4 automatic, and the 6 liter Suburban 4X4, towing the boat and hauling the kids and dogs - but she still loves the 5 speed Civic which is her "personal" car. (her 3rd standard). My wife used to drive standard too - the Tercel, the Firenza, the Rabbit (occaisionally) but she won't drive the Ranger - says she's too old to go back to clutching again.

[Micky]

That's true too. I own automatics, but when I rent, I rent sticks because they're cheaper.