Battery charging questions

BB_TX · Dec 12, 2003

Wal - It almost surely has diodes. That is the most common way an AC voltage is converted to a DC voltage. And diodes have been around much longer than 20 years. If you left it connected and turned off, there would most likely be some very small amount of leakage current thru the circuits that could drain your battery if left for an extended period. I am talking many days for a fully charged tractor battery. Most all electronic circuits have some small amount of leakage current. But if you operated it daily for short periods, you should have no problem with it.

Wal · Dec 12, 2003

Bill,

Sounds good to me /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Like I said previously, my knowledge of electricity is a bit weak /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

gerard · Dec 12, 2003

thanx Bird - you're talking about what I suspected, I know they aren't cheap which is why I haven't "bit the bullet" on one yet. Course I'm running out of tools to buy so one of those may be in my future!! Maybe santa will be good this year.......... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

frank_f15 · Dec 12, 2003

same here, no grass cutting, no snow. althogh this past sunday it was cold enough for the ground to be frozen, so it allowed me to move some wood, and use the tractor. if ur battery is good 3 or 4 weeks without starting is no problem, but i usually after 3 weeks start it up and let it run at least 20 min, and also drive it for a few mi. gets everything moving and lubricated.

Soundguy · Dec 13, 2003

You do realize that 20 years ago was only 1983..( Very close to when the shuttle blew up....) We aren't talking high technology here... 'solid state' circuitry was around in the 60's wide spread... heck, non-silicon diodes ( selineum based rectifiers were around in the 30's or 40's.. silicon became popular in late 50's ).

It has been some time since I worked with tubes.. probably 14 or 15 years...but as I remember, even if it is a TUBE rectifier powered charger....I'm betting the output is isolated...

Very easy to check, by just looking inside...

If in doubt, insert your multimeter inline with the charger and observe the 1amp charge.. then turn off / unplug.. look for a reverse current flow...

Soundguy

jinman · Dec 13, 2003

( even if it is a TUBE rectifier powered charger )

Wow! That got me to thinking (dangerous) about what I've seen in the past. I worked on shipboard radar system in the 60s up through the 80s, and was witness to the "solid state revolution" as all tube circuits became solid state. Thinking back, I've worked on many tube type power supplies, but I can't ever remember seeing a tube type battery charger. Wouldn't that be a unique collector's item to own? /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif Surely someone made one. Anybody ever see one?

RichNJKubota · Dec 13, 2003

I've been using a "Battery Minder" from VDC.
http://www.vdcelectronics.com/
Works great.
Rich

Jeff396 · Dec 13, 2003

I use a Battery Tender on my T-Bird, Triumph motorcycle and Kubota with great success. They come with the usual charger jaws and one you can attach to the nuts on the cables which has a female plug on the end. For Christmas I found an outdoor safe Battery Tender made by Deltron for my brother. He recently became a snowbird and leaves a vehicle in Florida in the summer and New York in the winter. Since he has no garage I thought this was a great gift idea. Here's a link.....

http://www.batterymart.com/battery.mv?p=DEL-022-0150-DL&source=newsletter2

Jeff

BIGUN · Dec 13, 2003

I bought a clamp meter at the Harbor Freight Store a couple of months ago for around $15 on sale. It had the clamp and leads also. I don’t find it on their website though, only a more expensive one. I haven’t used it yet so I can’t comment on how well it works.

PineRidge · Dec 13, 2003

Compare this float charger for $7.49 at Harbor Freight. This is the model that I own. Battery charger click here

Turfman · Dec 15, 2003

Battery Stuff Link

Bird, the link blew up. I just tried it and it wouldn't display a page, just that it was not available. Do you think we (TBN) overloaded it? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif I'll try it in the morning and see, maybe it's down for maintenance.

Bird · Dec 15, 2003

Re: Battery Stuff Link

That link doesn't work for me either this morning, but I tested it and it worked fine when I posted it. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Turfman · Dec 15, 2003

Re: Battery Stuff Link

It's back up now. Must have been down for maintenance, or maybe it is an 8:00 to 5:00 website /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

BIGUN · Dec 15, 2003

( Compare this float charger for $7.49 at Harbor Freight. This is the model that I own. Battery charger click here )

I picked up one of these Sunday and got it hooked up to my Bota battery.

The clamp on multimeter/amp meter I mentioned in my previous post is on sale at Harbor Freight Stores for under $10 till 12/24/03. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Soundguy · Dec 16, 2003

I get to work with tube power supplies alot, in the sound industry... All the vintage and modern 'vintage' stuff is tube.

I've also seen some big tube power supplies in industrial electronic equipment and test equipment. I've got an old sig-gen ( huge... heavy...) has an oil pot in the top to heatsink the big nice and purple power tubes... ).

Like you.. I havn't seen a tube powered battery charger.. but have worked on an old battery charger using selenium rectifiers.

My electronics instructor was an old navy guy, and radar tech. He told us a story of burning a hole thru his finger and fingerneail while working on an older radar rig one time.

His finger and nail grew back in .. buthe the nail has a permanent uh.. design, or abnormality in it now.

Soundguy

RalphVa · Dec 26, 2003

I'd start it up and move it around a little bit to get oil on upper parts of the lip seal surfaces, etc. Maybe 5 minutes or so. Then kill it and put a trickle charger on (with battery attached, etc.) the terminals for a few hours. Best is one of those chargers that show the amperage being put in. When the meter goes down and stays down low, take it off. Change the engine oil about every 6 months no matter how much your run it.

I've a stand-alone, electric start generator that I start once/month and let it run at least 15 minutes or so, enough to get the gas run out of the carburetor, warm it up and recharge the battery.

Ralph

Trev · Dec 26, 2003

( I get to work with tube power supplies alot, in the sound industry... All the vintage and modern 'vintage' stuff is tube.)

At the risk of going a bit (a bit!?) off topic for a second, what are your thoughts on the modern amps which emulate the sound of the old tube amps? I'm thinking of things like the Roland BluesCube, etc.

Okay, back on topic /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I picked up a Battery Tender, which I plan to install tomorrow. It has both the clamps and the "permanent" connections. I can probably just run the wire from the permanent connectors (which bolt to the battery terminals) to someplace where it dangles harmlessly like the block and hydraulic heater cables. Then just plug it in and let it do its thing. It has 4 modes.. the first is a test mode to make sure it's hooked up correctly. If it doesn't sense at least 3 volts, it won't do anything (I guess then it's jump-start time.)

Then it goes into either a full charge mode of 1.25 amps until the battery reaches 80% charge. Then it goes into some other mode (sorry if I'm being too technical here /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif) until the battery is fully charged, and finally it goes into a float mode to just keep the battery topped off. It says it won't spark even if you touch the two leads together.. because it isn't seeing the 3 volts it needs to tell it to activate.

Hopefully this will do the trick for lengthy cold spells, in addition to starting 'er up and moving around a little to keep things lubed.

What are people's thoughts on "electrolytic grease?" I've had a lot of people tell me to use this, both on batteries and on the bulbs in cars, etc. Is this good stuff, or is it a modern form of snake oil? (BTW, where did the term "snake oil" come from anyway??)

Just full of question tonight, aren't I? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Hope everyone had a nice holiday (it's politically incorrect now, I guess, to say Christmas.) oosey, I said it! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

RalphVa · Dec 27, 2003

I don't like either grease or corrosion on my battery terminals. You can buy those little round felt things that go over the terminal below the cable connection. They work. Most come in red for + and green for - terminals.

Toyotas, in particular, are bad about corroding their terminals. The felt gaskets stopped it.

Never had it happen on a Benz nor on my Gravely. The Gravely battery comes with felts on the terminals though. The replacement I just got has them.

Ralph

Jethro · Dec 29, 2003

I don't know how much effort you want to put into reading about the origins of the term "snake oil", but here ya go: Snake oil readin'

Egon · Dec 29, 2003

the federal Pure Food and Drug Act became law on January 1, 1907 (Munsey 1970; Holbrook 1959, 3-4).

And quess what well know profession this led too?

Egon