Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2011 15:59:07 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Battery Sages..Not 100% Vanagon specific, but applicable..
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my thoughts...
one, a 2 amp charger is not enough.
Need a 10 amp charger. The one I use does 2, 10, and 50 amps.
I commonly put a battery on at 10 amps ....and give it a good while.
a good battery charger has a meter on it ..
if the needle jumps up when you connect the charger ..it means the battery
is OK, and charge is low.
if the needle does not jump up ..it's either charged pretty well already ..
or the battery isn't really good. ( which sounds like what you have ) .
and you must have a small inexpensive battery hydrometer.
You just check each cell.
you get one significantly lower than the others ( battery charged, then
allowed to sit a couple of hours ) ...
One bad cell = bad battery.
Sounds like what you have to me.
A small battery hydrometer is like $ 3.95 max at a discount auto parts
store..
or plenty cheap ....it's silly not to have one, being inexpensive, small,
and light and quite useful.
A faulty new battery is not all that rare.
I just had one ...
a 48 ( for diesel vanagon ..I always get that one for gasoline vanagons too
... ...has the most Cold Cranking Amps among regular vanagon batteries )
.....
after about 5 months .........it just could not sit , even disconnected, for
2 weeks and start a vanagon.
I knew it was bad.
their intelligent testing/charging machine said it was too.
Nicely ............it was outright replacement for 2 years............not
even pro-rated.
I think you need a better charger, and a mini battery hydrometer..
and take that battery back.
Tain't no good Kemosabay, betcha.
scott
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Hanson" <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 11:18 AM
Subject: Battery Sages..Not 100% Vanagon specific, but applicable..
> I have an almost new battery that was installed then sat unused for a few
> months with a low charge. Upon trying to start the machine (this was a
> KTM
> motorcycle, but it could have been my vanagon..so there is the connection)
> the battery simply clicked weakly. I cleaned all the contacts and put it
> on
> a 2amp smart charger overnight. Next day I put my digi-meter on the batt
> and got 12.96v reading..Poke the starter and it cranks very weakly for a
> very short time. Back to the multi meter and I see 12.4 volts. I put the
> charger back on, check the multimeter..it is getting 14.4, appx. Let it
> go
> a couple of hours, remove the charger and again read: 12.8v....Push the
> starter again and RRR rrr r...click. Weak... Charge the batt again and
> leave it overnight..it holds the charge of 12.9 just fine, but when I load
> it with the starter...it dies quickly without a start. The machine will
> start right up with a kick...and it spins over well after running...for a
> couple of revolutions, only...
>
> So I am assuming the battery was a POS from the vendor, or that two
> months
> of sitting with a low charge ruined it and I need another new battery...am
> I
> assuming correctly? Batteries are strange...
>
> Don Hanson
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