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| Battery Experts needed | |
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| Topic Started: Aug 24 2015, 03:12 AM (1,819 Views) | |
| campy | Jun 23 2016, 08:45 AM Post #46 |
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Handyman Extraordinaire
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This portable unit I have is neat. It even has a 12V plug in case you want to plug in a small compressor or whatever including being able to use a dead cell phone by plugging it in. There was a guy in a parking lot with his hood open. He told me he was waiting for someone to come by to give him a boost. I said I can do that. So when I came over with this unit, he questions me and says "Is that little thing going to start my truck?". I said of course. So when he starts his truck, he asks me where I got it because he's going to buy one right now. Edited by campy, Jun 23 2016, 08:48 AM.
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| Trotsky | Nov 20 2016, 02:19 AM Post #47 |
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Big City Boy
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NiCads or NiMH's? How much extra life did you get out of them? Edited by Trotsky, Nov 20 2016, 03:27 AM.
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| Delphi51 | Nov 20 2016, 06:05 AM Post #48 |
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Member title
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What brand/model is your portable booster? It sounds way better than the ones I had. After failures to start and failure of the inverter on my last one, I figured I was better off just keeping an old car battery handy. My last two events with a stalled vehicle (caused by a corroded battery cable) were solved by waiting a few minutes holding a set of booster cables and looking sad. |
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| campy | Nov 20 2016, 01:54 PM Post #49 |
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Handyman Extraordinaire
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It's an old model that I bought at Canadian Tire on sale for $25.00. It's in the trunk of the car now so I can't remember the model. Probably no longer on sale. At one time I never travelled in the winter without a extra charged up car battery. I made a case for it so it was easy to carry. When I checked into a motel I would bring it inside and leave it in the bathroom. I never had a problem starting my car even at -40 F with both batteries hooked up. I figure a car battery in the car should last 5 years at least and one just used for charging should last about ten years if you charge it up again after you use it. That' was the instructions that came with my portable one as well. Keeping a battery charged up seems to extend the life of a battery. All kinds of batteries. Even the AA and AAA rechargeable ones you use at home. Edited by campy, Nov 20 2016, 01:55 PM.
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| Trotsky | Nov 21 2016, 02:12 AM Post #50 |
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Big City Boy
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I never went anywhere without a fully charged emergency 12 volt battery in the trunk. |
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| Delphi51 | Nov 21 2016, 07:54 AM Post #51 |
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"Keeping a battery charged up seems to extend the life of a battery" I am learning quite a bit about batteries from an RV forum. When a lead-acid battery is not fully charged, sulphate deposits form on the plates, increasing the internal resistance and decreasing the charge capacity. Sadly, auto engines have poor charging systems. They have no means of measuring the state of charge and do not apply the 14.5 volt bulk charging voltage long enough to fully charge the battery. This is particularly hard on vehicles making short trips. Battery maintainers should be used when cars are not used every day to make up for the parasytic current drawn by the computer, clock, etc. When batteries are undercharged, a higher current trickle charger should be used to top them up. A chronically undercharged and sulphated battery can be improved with a pulsating 15 volt charger over a 24 hour period. I have a charger that does this and I think it has saved several batteries for me and others. I have several $5 automatic maintainers and use an old 2 amp, 15 volt max, AC to DC adapter to top up the van that usually gets less than 1 km between starts. On the RV, the built in charger only supplies 13.5 volts, which would take a very long time to fully charge the house batteries. But the solar charge controller seems to do it right. I have a battery monitor that constantly measures the battery charge flow in amp-hours and displays the per cent of full charge. This is a wonderful little $25 device; there is no other practical way of measuring the state of charge. A fully charged battery is indicated by 12.7 volts, 8 hours after all charging has stopped - which is often too late to be useful. |
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| Dialtone | Nov 21 2016, 08:13 AM Post #52 |
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Gold Star Member
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Any 12V battery that has been discharged completely is just about useless. Keep a battery charged up, it will gradually discharge even without a load. A fully charged battery will not freeze unless it's about -65C 100% Charged 12.65 V 75% Charged 12.40v Approximate Electrolyte Freeze Point State-of-Charge Depth-of-Discharge (SoC) (DoD) 100% 0% -77°F (-67°C) 75% 25% -35°F (-37°C) 50% 50% -10°F (-23°C) 25% 75% 5°F (-15°C) 0% 100% 20°F (DISCHARGED) (DISCHARGED) (-6.7°C) |
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| campy | Nov 21 2016, 09:13 PM Post #53 |
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Handyman Extraordinaire
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I left my headlights on and the battery was completely discharged. Nothing. Completely dead. The booster wouldn't work. When I hooked up the charger to it, I though the charger was broken. The analog needle on it kept jumping backwards and forwards. I left it on because I figured the charger couldn't determine any kind of charge in the battery, like it was shorted out or something. Then it settled down and started operating as it normally would and then I got a full charge and the battery has been working fine ever since. i don't think you can do that too often without screwing up the battery. The car doesn't have an automatic shut off for the lights like the newer models and the alarm isn't loud enough for me to hear. This is where a multi meter comes in handy. I had plugged the charger in and tested it with the multi meter and it showed that it was outputting 12 volts therefore it was obviously working as it should. Edited by campy, Nov 21 2016, 09:17 PM.
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| Trotsky | Nov 22 2016, 02:10 AM Post #54 |
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Big City Boy
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I think what was going on was that the charger was not able to determine which plates were positive and which negative. Often a battery that is THAT discharged cannot be recharged. You were lucky. I think if left to its own devices the battery can sometimes muster enough voltage over hours or days to be recognized as positive and negative, but don't count on it. Sometimes they are completely kaput. Notice how you laptop goes NUTS if you allow it to get down near 10%. Car batteries should shut down at the same point or at least prevent the alternator from working less than 100%. I never trusted voltage measurements...they suck for determining battery charge...on ANY battery. For my cars I always used a hydrometer for measuring the specific gravity of the electrolyte...and then they sealed the batteries: "THOSE, BASTARDS!" Edited by Trotsky, Nov 22 2016, 02:11 AM.
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| campy | Nov 22 2016, 02:21 AM Post #55 |
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Handyman Extraordinaire
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I hadn't had the battery very long and I would have just taken it back and claimed it wouldn't hold a charge. And I wouldn't be lying and had a guilty conscience, because that would be the truth. |
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| wildie | Nov 25 2016, 11:29 AM Post #56 |
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Veteran Member
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That sounds to me like a thermo over-load protector was cycling and once the overload ended, the protector cycling ended! |
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| campy | Nov 26 2016, 04:13 AM Post #57 |
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Handyman Extraordinaire
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Where would the overload be coming from? Certainly not from a dead battery. I took it apart and had a look at it. Basically all it is, is a big transformer with an automatic switch to shut the charger down when the battery is fully charged. At my peril, I am going to challenge an experienced electrician. banana77 |
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| wildie | Nov 26 2016, 06:20 AM Post #58 |
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Veteran Member
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A dead battery would be a maximim draw! I must say that I have never experienced a charger cycling in the same way that you describe. I have seen this in electric motors and electric dryers. Its conceivable that the automatic shut-down feature could have built in over-load protection as well. |
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| campy | Nov 26 2016, 10:09 AM Post #59 |
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Handyman Extraordinaire
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In the interest of science. I will take that old charger apart again and send a picture. I'm always interested in what the components are for and what they do. It used to have a green light on it when it was plugged in and charging. That is not working anymore. Maybe I can get a tip on how to fix it. |
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| wildie | Nov 27 2016, 08:00 AM Post #60 |
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Veteran Member
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Those old chargers had incandescent lamps as LEDS had yet to be invented. If you have voltage feeding the lamp, odds are that the bulb is just burned out! |
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