Erin Bosch, Insurance

Cranky about Cranking Batteries

BushWacker
Location: Johannesburg
Has thanked: 236 times
Been thanked: 81 times
Posts: 1838
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2018 6:27 pm

#46

Post by BushWacker »

... yes ... hydrometers ...
... Long Live the Boomer Instruments !

... failing which connect Millenial Meter ,
take reading then
Turn headlights and fan, wipers etc on

and read again ...
... Famous Fiver VoorLoper ...
... Veni Vidi Vici ...

User avatar
grips
Location: kathu
Has thanked: 39 times
Been thanked: 132 times
Posts: 1168
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2018 5:08 am

#47

Post by grips »

Wooky wrote:
Thu Jan 23, 2020 7:15 am
I don't really trust the "capacity" readings on any of the electronic battery monitors / chargers for a few reasons.
They give an approximation but should never be taken as the whole truth.

Reasons:
1/ They are based on a resting voltage test which is done after only a very short "rest" or while under load
2/ I don't think they are temperature corrected in any way ( although this might be done by some)

A better way of checking the state of charge (and the condition of each individual cell) is to use a battery hydrometer. It measures the specific gravity of the acid which changes with the state of charge. Very easy to use if you can access the cell caps and you have a flooded lead acid battery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcFrUJHNo2M
Tend to agree. I usually do load tests. If no load tester available I disconnect ignition or the start solenoid on a diesel and crank the engine without starting it. Measure the volts over the battery. If the voltage drops below 8v the battery is stuffed. Note test to be done with charged battery.
You will never find me without Stroh or a 4x4 :D

User avatar
Wooky
Location: JHB
Been thanked: 7 times
Posts: 335
Joined: Mon May 28, 2018 9:46 am

#48

Post by Wooky »

Load test in some form is the ultimate test at the end of the day, for sure

HenriSteyn
Location: Johannesburg
Has thanked: 191 times
Been thanked: 52 times
Posts: 951
Joined: Thu May 31, 2018 2:52 pm

#49

Post by HenriSteyn »

We are all going to be very busy this weekend playing battery battery.
And connecting the battery/ies to chargers every night hahaha.
I often relate batteries to women. One never knows what they are up to next!

User avatar
Wooky
Location: JHB
Been thanked: 7 times
Posts: 335
Joined: Mon May 28, 2018 9:46 am

#50

Post by Wooky »

HenriSteyn wrote:
Thu Jan 23, 2020 12:31 pm
I often relate batteries to women. One never knows what they are up to next!
Now that has to be the best statement of the entire thread..... :lol:

HenriSteyn
Location: Johannesburg
Has thanked: 191 times
Been thanked: 52 times
Posts: 951
Joined: Thu May 31, 2018 2:52 pm

#51

Post by HenriSteyn »

So I played battery battery this weekend

On Friday I hooked up my 4 A smart charger onto the Paj 102 amp high cycle battery. I did not disconnect as with that comes al sorts of resetting.

Within 30 minutes 13.8 Volts and it stayed there. Obviously the charger thinking its next move.

Left it overnight and checked the next morning. It was at 14.4 V. The charger was still warm so obviously still sending current through.

Sunday morning I had to use the Paj and noticed 13.8V before I disconnected. The fully charged light had not come on yet. Maybe something to do with the Paj electronics still drawing some current.

I am now playing with the aux battery which quickly got up to 13.8 V.

Will check it tonight.

Cheers

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk


User avatar
Wave
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 8 times
Posts: 622
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2018 4:23 am

#52

Post by Wave »

I too played battery battery, on Friday morning I put my NL intelligent charger onto the cranking battery, it took nearly 12 hours to get to full.
I then put the charger onto the deep cycle, as this battery was only a few days old it was full in about 6 hours.
I then put the charger onto the wife's Polo and it took about 8 hours to show full, so there definitely seems to be some merit into charging your batteries every so often.

Picture 1, battery monitor before charging.
Picture 2, battery monitor during 1st 10 mins of charge.
Picture 3 of the charger 10 mins into charge cycle


ImageImage


Image
Geoff Craig
'24 Mitsu Triton
'08 Toyota Blade Master G
'10 Conqueror Comfort

BushWacker
Location: Johannesburg
Has thanked: 236 times
Been thanked: 81 times
Posts: 1838
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2018 6:27 pm

#53

Post by BushWacker »

I disconnected my negative battery lead and then re-smart-charged my battery and it showed fine after about 2 to 3 hours ... though of course it had been charged connected a few days before !

I think the ‘smart’ part of these chargers
initially assesses your battery before opting
on a charging program sequence eg my prev smart charger would auto-detect an AGM from a
plain-vanilla Pb-Acid before embarking on a
specifically appropriate charging program.
My thinking is , if the battery is connected to the car while in-situ, the background circuit
(alarm , ecu, clock, radio etc etc) whilst an insignificant load it does alter what the smart-charger sees on initial sensitive assessment.

As for C-Tek ... I dont believe theyre worth the cost ... would like to own the business though.
That Midas PSD 0008 is best val for money in my opinion but it doesnt like Eskom Power surges
of 400V etc ...
:shock: :roll: :shock: :roll:
Last edited by BushWacker on Mon Jan 27, 2020 1:58 pm, edited 2 times in total.
... Famous Fiver VoorLoper ...
... Veni Vidi Vici ...

HenriSteyn
Location: Johannesburg
Has thanked: 191 times
Been thanked: 52 times
Posts: 951
Joined: Thu May 31, 2018 2:52 pm

#54

Post by HenriSteyn »

"As for C-Tec ... I dont believe theyre worth the cost ... would like to own the business though"

I agree fully. Never owned one as I believed them to be ridiculously priced. Plus I was running high cycle batteries so never needed a higher charge.

I have had a Victron for about 8 months in the van. Too soon to tell. Does not have the solar function built in but I run a Victron MPPT charger for that

HenriSteyn
Location: Johannesburg
Has thanked: 191 times
Been thanked: 52 times
Posts: 951
Joined: Thu May 31, 2018 2:52 pm

#55

Post by HenriSteyn »

Left my Aux battery on charge for 24 hours with the puny 4 A smart charger.

Fully charged this afternoon. 12.9 VImageImage

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk


User avatar
Wooky
Location: JHB
Been thanked: 7 times
Posts: 335
Joined: Mon May 28, 2018 9:46 am

#56

Post by Wooky »

Regarding chargers....

Chargers should be rated to the type and capacity of battery that they are charging.
A charger designed to charge small capacity batteries will limit the max charging current to a lower level while still providing 14+V during the "Bulk Charge "phase. A charger designed for larger capacity batteries will supply a high charging current.

So a charger for small capacity batteries will charge the larger capacity batt but will take a lot longer to do it..... a lot longer
Think in terms of filling a bucket with a hose pipe. A thin hose will take longer to fill the bucket than a larger diameter hose at the same water pressure.

Some of the smart chargers test the batt to get an idea of capacity and then supply the correct charging current to optimise the charging of the battery, but if your charger is to small the max charging current will still be to low.

As an example... I use a Benton charger (BX2) which is rated to charge from 14AH to 230AH (12V) batteries with a max charge current of 7A.
If it took the smaller Benton (BX1) it is only rated to charge from 1.2AH to 120AH (12V) but with a max charge current of 3.8A
Both will charge a 100AH batt but the BX1 will be running maxed out on current while the BX2 is happily charging at what the batt can handle.

Post Reply