Hey, guys:
A few weeks ago, I posted that I was having a problem with one of my "Battery
Tenders" on my Alpine. I got some great, very helpful responses that I'm sure
would have solved my problem...if it weren't for the stupid, goofy thing that
ended up being the actual culprit.
To make a long story short, the next night I ended up with one phase of my
two-phase electrical service not working in my shop. Weird stuff was going
on, such as one bank of overhead lights wouldn't work unless I turned on the
a/c unit, etc, etc. I was just sure that the Spirit of Lucas had jumped out
of the Alpine and the Tiger and into the shop wiring!!! So, I got out my
trusty multimeter and checked the voltage of the incoming service. One of the
lines was pumping out 124 volts, which is great, but the other line was only
running about 60 volts. I had a drainage pipe installed several months ago
and it ran right across where the underground service was buried to the shop.
As it turns out, they evidently nicked one of the service wires while
installing that pipe and it began corroding, eventually culminating the death
of one phase of service. It just so happens that the battery charger in
question was plugged into a circuit that was running off of that phase. I've
since run new power lines to the shop (in PVC this time...) and, lo and
behold, the battery charger (and everything else) works like a charm!
I just thought I'd pass along that little story just to give everyone a
chuckle tonight. Thanks again for all the help on my "problem!!"
Take care,
Andy Walker
Edmond, OK
B382001600LRXFE (TAC #740)
B9006857LRX
From: THEO SMIT
To: awtiger
Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2009 9:59 PM
Subject: Re: [Tigers] Battery chargers
If you have a voltmeter, then check the battery voltage, both with and
without the charger going. Even with the charger going it shouldn't be over
about 14 volts, since it's supposed to be a trickle charger and it should
definitely be over 13 volts. If it's much less then you have a dead or shorted
cell in the battery and the charger is killing itself trying to move an
immovable object. If the voltage is much higher then something is wrong with
the charger.
With the charger disconnected the battery voltage should be between 12 and
about 12.8 volts. If it's 10 volts or thereabouts then you have a dead cell.
Hope this helps,
Theo
----- Original Message -----
From: awtiger <awtiger@cox.net>
Date: Wednesday, September 2, 2009 8:03 pm
Subject: [Tigers] Battery chargers
To: tigers@autox.team.net, alpines <alpines@autox.team.net>
> Hey, fellas:
>
> Got a question for those of you who use battery chargers.
> I've got a couple
> of "Battery Tender Plus" units for my Tiger and my Alpine.
> I hooked them up
> last night after having them off the cars for the last month and
> the one on
> the Tiger did exactly what it was supposed to do. The one
> on the Alpine,
> however, still shows a steady red light (which, according to the
> instructions,means the battery is not charged yet) and the unit
> is very hot to the touch.
>
> I know for a fact that the battery was not that low on the
> Alpine. I keep the
> quick-connect charging pigtails on both cars at all times and
> nothing has
> changed on either car since the last time they were on the
> chargers. The
> thing that worries me about it is the fact that the Alpine's
> charger is very
> hot. Is this normal? I sure don't want to burn down
> my shop and the two
> cars!!!!!
>
> Thanks,
> Andy Walker
> Edmond, OK
> B382001600LRXFE (TAC #740)
> B9006857LRX
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