Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:23:24 -0800
Reply-To: Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Just hibernating & a battery mystery
In-Reply-To: <769219B1-6514-47F6-A4DF-975E5FD313E7@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
Hi Chris,
Maybe not all DieHard battery chargers incorporate a desulfating mode.
The manual for this Diehard model # 71222 says nothing about it. It
would be nice if it had such a thing.
--
Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
Bend, Ore.
1984 Westfalia. A poor but proud people.
1971 "Ladybug"-brand utility trailer ca. 1972 from a defunct company in
San Clemente, Calif., now repurposed as The Westrailia.
Sent from my kitchen.
On 01/25/2012 06:25 PM, Chris S. wrote:
> The electronic Sears DieHard chargers have an automatic desulfation mode when they detect such conditions.
>
> Good to hear about your winter nut stash. Maybe you got lucky in more ways than one.
>
> Chris.
>
> Wysłane z iPhone'a
>
> Dnia Jan 25, 2012 o godz. 16:13 Rocket J Squirrel<camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM> napisał(a):
>
>> In case anyone is wondering where the heck I've been. Admit it, you have
>> been.
>>
>> My Westy is dozing under a Just Kampers vehicle cover (Vanagon content!)
>> for the duration of the Bend, Oregon, winter. I have many projects which
>> I was unable to get around to completing last year that I hope to get to
>> in spring. Camping got in the way. Boo hoo.
>>
>> Until camping weather returns, Mrs Squirrel and I are snugged away in
>> our little house with the nuts and firewood (four cord!) we gathered
>> last summer.
>>
>> My mainly non-Vanagon postings are at<http://socal2bend.blogspot.com/>,
>> for those interesting in Keeping Up With The Skuirrels.
>>
>> In the past 24 hours, Mt. Bachelor ski area has picked up 8'' of snow
>> for those who ski (me? no: pot-metal knee). Snow's at something like
>> 100'' of depth.
>>
>> For Westy-related fun I like to spot Vanagons in town. Yesterday I saw
>> four, one of which appeared to be a 1984 ivory Westy just like ours.
>>
>> I may have killed my expensive Trojan deep-cycle 130 A/h battery. The
>> van had been parked for a few weeks, slumbering, with a light (200mA)
>> load on it (the load is primarily the Xantech battery monitor thingy).
>>
>> But the smart charger I usually keep connected to the battery had come
>> unplugged, unbeknownst to me. So the load drained the battery.
>>
>> When I climbed into the van last week to take a bunch of boxes of
>> seasonal decorations down to our storage facility, I saw that the
>> battery was showing less than 7 volts. This should mean that the battery
>> is so deeply discharged that it is damaged beyond recovery.
>>
>> I popped over to Sears and picked up a 10A "not dumb" charger, pulled
>> the battery, and put a charge on it. In about 12 hours it showed a
>> fully-charged battery. Now, one week after the charger has been removed,
>> it still shows 12.48 volts (50 degrees F), and the float-type hydrometer
>> says "100%."
>>
>> Does this make sense? Shouldn't this battery be pretty much a lead and
>> sulfur-filled brick?
>>
>> --
>> Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
>> Bend, Ore.
>> 1984 Westfalia. A poor but proud people.
>> 1971 "Ladybug"-brand utility trailer ca. 1972 from a defunct company in
>> San Clemente, Calif., now repurposed as The Westrailia.
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