Author Topic: batteryminder chargers?? (Read 12959 times)

F.O.Bean · « **on:** May 22, 2004, 12:26:47 PM »

so i just picked up the 12v 1 amp version and was wondering whats up w/ the de-sulphation button??? i am getting an older GP-90 eco-charge battery, should i do the de-sulphate thing as soon as i get it???

how do i know its de-sulphating??? how often does one do it??

i believe nickspicks had/has these, can ya hook a brotha up nick??

thanks guyz, i looked everywhere for even a manual and cannot find anything......

bean

AT853rxwh · « **Reply #1 on:** May 22, 2004, 12:57:27 PM »

Normally you would only do that if the battery won't charge. I have been able to bring a few batteries back to life by leaving em desulphating for a few weeks. The normal charge cycle for the battery minder will take care of desulphating when it goes into pulse mode at the end...

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #2 on:** May 22, 2004, 01:01:32 PM »

Quote from: mikesus on May 22, 2004, 12:57:27 PM

Normally you would only do that if the battery won't charge. I have been able to bring a few batteries back to life by leaving em desulphating for a few weeks. The normal charge cycle for the battery minder will take care of desulphating when it goes into pulse mode at the end...

+T mike, thanks for the quick response

so what youre saying is, i dont need to de-sulphate since it does it in its normal mode anyway??? soundz fine to me

so if a battery is DEAD< just hit that button while plugged in and it will cycle it back to life?? very cool concept, hopefully i never have a battery that bad off

AT853rxwh · « **Reply #3 on:** May 22, 2004, 01:20:13 PM »

Yeah that is the idea, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't... I have bout $600 in golf cart batteries that I was able to extend the life of so the cost of the charger was nothing compared to the cost of the batts...

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #4 on:** May 22, 2004, 01:24:17 PM »

nice, thanks for your quickness mike, now all i need is my batt to get here ;)and some 4-pins

AT853rxwh · « **Reply #5 on:** May 23, 2004, 07:16:27 AM »

Quote from: bean on May 22, 2004, 01:24:17 PM

nice, thanks for your quickness mike, now all i need is my batt to get here ;)and some 4-pins

+T for buying an awesome charger!

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #6 on:** May 23, 2004, 09:33:54 AM »

+T backatcha

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #7 on:** June 05, 2004, 07:07:50 AM »

alright guyz, got my 4-pins yesterday sometime, put it on the batteryminder charger and its been blinking for about 20 hrs....its hooked up to a 12v 7.2 amp ecocharge!!

how long does a charge take and what does the battery charger do when its done, just stop blinking??

totally clueless on this thing, so any help would be appreciated!!

thanks,
bean

Nick's Picks · « **Reply #8 on:** June 05, 2004, 08:50:57 AM »

yo Bean....

all of my batteryminders were always 6v, though i'm sure there isn't much difference in performance and behavior.
if its blinking, its in "float mode", and means that your battery is fully charged and ready to rock and roll.
if it on solid, it is charging.

hope that helps

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #9 on:** June 05, 2004, 09:00:17 AM »

really??? nice!!

my battery was never "solid" w/ the light, always "blinking", so i guess i got a full battery, thanks for that one dave!!

oh, and +T nick, i pheel better now

AT853rxwh · « **Reply #10 on:** June 05, 2004, 10:40:16 AM »

Quote from: bean on June 05, 2004, 09:00:17 AM

really??? nice!!

my battery was never "solid" w/ the light, always "blinking", so i guess i got a full battery, thanks for that one dave!!

oh, and +T nick, i pheel better now

Ok, this is the only NON intuitive thing about the battery minder

Steps to charge

1 UNPLUG the charger
2 hook up the battery
3 look for battery condition (light should be green)
4 plug it in the wall

Should go solid right away

might wanna post something in the archive...

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #11 on:** June 05, 2004, 10:43:33 AM »

really, darnit, i already started my batt life tests w/ the jb3 recording, i will test twice tho

so unplug the charger from the wall or the ends from the charger(that has the 4-pins)

AT853rxwh · « **Reply #12 on:** June 05, 2004, 10:45:31 AM »

Quote from: bean on June 05, 2004, 10:43:33 AM

really, darnit, i already started my batt life tests w/ the jb3 recording, i will test twice tho

so unplug the charger from the wall or the ends from the charger(that has the 4-pins)

First step, disconnect EVERYTHING

then plug the battery into the charger

THEN plug into wall

Otherwise it will be in pulse charge mode...

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #13 on:** June 05, 2004, 10:47:58 AM »

why doesnt batteryminer have a damn manulka thats actually easy to find

?

thanks for your help bro, im gonna test it now!!

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #14 on:** June 05, 2004, 10:52:31 AM »

thanks bro, glad i mentioned that on here!!

oh yeah, HUGE +T, youre so right, i did what you said and BOOM, solid light

AT853rxwh · « **Reply #15 on:** June 05, 2004, 10:57:44 AM »

Already +T'd ya! I know about that cuz of the wife doing that on our scooter batts... She forgets and it never charges...

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #16 on:** June 05, 2004, 11:13:11 AM »

Quote from: AT853rxwh on June 05, 2004, 10:57:44 AM

Already +T'd ya! I know about that cuz of the wife doing that on our scooter batts... She forgets and it never charges...

haha, i can hear it now, "honey, please dont forget to UNPLUG it from the wall, THEN hook it up"

"ok"

*forgets to unplug it from the wall first*

AT853rxwh · « **Reply #17 on:** June 05, 2004, 11:25:42 AM »

Quote from: bean on June 05, 2004, 11:13:11 AM

Quote from: AT853rxwh on June 05, 2004, 10:57:44 AM
Already +T'd ya! I know about that cuz of the wife doing that on our scooter batts... She forgets and it never charges...

haha, i can hear it now, "honey, please dont forget to UNPLUG it from the wall, THEN hook it up"

"ok"

*forgets to unplug it from the wall first*

Damn! You must have a camera hid in my house!

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #18 on:** June 05, 2004, 11:27:53 AM »

haha, im not that crafty!!

i could just hear it in my head, im pretty good at perspectives

and i kinda know women, a wee lil bit, not much tho, but a wee lil bit

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #19 on:** June 05, 2004, 11:35:20 AM »

damn, guess my batt was pretty fully charged, plus the batteryminder 12v charger is 1 amp instead of 800mah!!

its already blinking on the light!!

should i let it "float" for a minute like the eco stuff so itys actually brought up to its fifth charge cycle???

or is that done??

AT853rxwh · « **Reply #20 on:** June 07, 2004, 11:37:48 PM »

Quote from: bean on June 05, 2004, 11:35:20 AM

damn, guess my batt was pretty fully charged, plus the batteryminder 12v charger is 1 amp instead of 800mah!!

its already blinking on the light!!

should i let it "float" for a minute like the eco stuff so itys actually brought up to its fifth charge cycle???

or is that done??

Batts usually don't see full capacity til run down and charged a few times, thing that is what they are saying?

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #21 on:** June 07, 2004, 11:45:42 PM »

i mustve had a flashback to school, talking about capos and shit, capacitors have a 5-cycle charge up time, and also discharge rates, so i dunno what i was talking about

also, its not good to run the SLA stuff down right? thats what ive been told and have been doing for years, altho, i have occassionally deep discharged the eco stuff, if it even deep discharges, which i dont think it does!!

got the charger thing figured out, ran jb3 tests for a couple days, and it was dead when i finally got home(12v that is)

so im charging the 12v 7.2a now, its been going for about 14-16 hrs charging, i think thats a long time huh???

oh and about the fifth cycle, i was just meaning, if the light starts blinking on the batteryminder, does that mean its at 100% charge, or is it like the eco stuff when it goes "green" on the light or "float", eco says to let it go an extra hr or 2 to "top" the battery off and get it at 100% charge!! or at least as close as it can get t0 100%!!

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #22 on:** June 08, 2004, 02:05:51 PM »

ummm, i have been charging a dead 12v 7.2amp eco for about 26 hrs now and it still hasnt gone into "float" mode, no blinking lights or anything, just a steady light?

?

should i desulphate???

how do i do that??

AT853rxwh · « **Reply #23 on:** June 08, 2004, 02:18:41 PM »

Quote from: bean on June 08, 2004, 02:05:51 PM

ummm, i have been charging a dead 12v 7.2amp eco for about 26 hrs now and it still hasnt gone into "float" mode, no blinking lights or anything, just a steady light??

should i desulphate???

how do i do that??

should be a button on the charger, when it is flashing it is desuphating... Remember tho, you have to leave it desulphating for a LONG time for it to help... (sometimes weeks!)

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #24 on:** June 08, 2004, 02:34:27 PM »

ummm, i thought when the left light started flashing, it was in "float" mode??

either way, its been plugged in for a LONG time and no signs of showing a full charge.....

AT853rxwh · « **Reply #25 on:** June 08, 2004, 02:52:54 PM »

Quote from: bean on June 08, 2004, 02:34:27 PM

ummm, i thought when the left light started flashing, it was in "float" mode??

either way, its been plugged in for a LONG time and no signs of showing a full charge.....

If it is solid now it is still trying to get it to charge, and if it has been on that long it prolly won't. Hit the button and get it flashing leave it for a week or so then try charging again...

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #26 on:** June 08, 2004, 03:26:26 PM »

its been solid since about 9am yesterday(monday)

ive taken it off the charger, done this, done that, and nothing, when i got the battery i hoooked it up to my charger and BAM, started blinking almost immediately, and then i ran my jb3 tests, let the battery die all the way and now it wont take full charge it seems, this sux, im leaving in about 2 weeks for phish too...

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #27 on:** June 08, 2004, 03:29:06 PM »

also, when i take the charger off of the ac wallwart thing i have, the 'battery condition' light is still on while the battery is still connected!! kinda weird, does that mean its 'desulphating'

this is worrying me now, 28 hrs should have charged it ya know??

AT853rxwh · « **Reply #28 on:** June 08, 2004, 06:03:48 PM »

that is normal...

Try doing a rundown and recharge...

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #29 on:** June 08, 2004, 06:30:01 PM »

thats whats weird, i ran it COMPLETELY down testing the jb3, and its been charging about 30 hrs or more now, i just busted out the multimeter just now, and i noticed that the 12v sla is only at 5.5-6volts charge, before the tests, i believe it wasa at about 12.6volts or something, so maybe its the charger??

AT853rxwh · « **Reply #30 on:** June 08, 2004, 06:45:28 PM »

Quote from: bean on June 08, 2004, 06:30:01 PM

thats whats weird, i ran it COMPLETELY down testing the jb3, and its been charging about 30 hrs or more now, i just busted out the multimeter just now, and i noticed that the 12v sla is only at 5.5-6volts charge, before the tests, i believe it wasa at about 12.6volts or something, so maybe its the charger??

Can't measure the voltage offa batteryminder, without load it doesn't put out at all... What is the batt voltage?

recordista · « **Reply #31 on:** June 08, 2004, 06:45:57 PM »

Quote from: bean on June 08, 2004, 03:29:06 PM

also, when i take the charger off of the ac wallwart thing i have, the 'battery condition' light is still on while the battery is still connected!! kinda weird, does that mean its 'desulphating'

The light is on because the battery voltage is above the light's setpoint.

Desulphation only occurs when the battery voltage is above another (higher) setpoint (~13V IIRC) so it will only happen while the unit is plugged in. I have standalone desulphators for big batteries which I leave connected all the time (once they're adjusted properly.)

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #32 on:** June 08, 2004, 07:02:57 PM »

Quote from: AT853rxwh on June 08, 2004, 06:45:28 PM

Quote from: bean on June 08, 2004, 06:30:01 PM
thats whats weird, i ran it COMPLETELY down testing the jb3, and its been charging about 30 hrs or more now, i just busted out the multimeter just now, and i noticed that the 12v sla is only at 5.5-6volts charge, before the tests, i believe it wasa at about 12.6volts or something, so maybe its the charger??

Can't measure the voltage offa batteryminder, without load it doesn't put out at all... What is the batt voltage?

batt voltage is a 12v sla ecocharge, it is only pulling 5.5-6 volts when i measured!!

recordidta, so youre saying that desulphation ISNT going on?? just charging?? should i leave it in longer, and just hope it reaches "float"??

float starts when the battery condition light starts blinking, correct??

AT853rxwh · « **Reply #33 on:** June 08, 2004, 07:29:48 PM »

Quote from: bean on June 08, 2004, 07:02:57 PM

Quote from: AT853rxwh on June 08, 2004, 06:45:28 PM
Quote from: bean on June 08, 2004, 06:30:01 PM
thats whats weird, i ran it COMPLETELY down testing the jb3, and its been charging about 30 hrs or more now, i just busted out the multimeter just now, and i noticed that the 12v sla is only at 5.5-6volts charge, before the tests, i believe it wasa at about 12.6volts or something, so maybe its the charger??

Can't measure the voltage offa batteryminder, without load it doesn't put out at all... What is the batt voltage?

batt voltage is a 12v sla ecocharge, it is only pulling 5.5-6 volts when i measured!!

recordidta, so youre saying that desulphation ISNT going on?? just charging?? should i leave it in longer, and just hope it reaches "float"??

float starts when the battery condition light starts blinking, correct??

Hmmm, even a deeply discharged 12v sla should show at least 10v wonder if you killed it?

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #34 on:** June 09, 2004, 02:51:12 AM »

heres what i did, when i got the battery minder charger, it had the wire w/ a blue hole and a red hole, to easily put onto a bqattery, so i snipped the red wire, put that to the "hot" wire, snipped the blue wire, put the "cold" to that one!!!
now wtf, bothe seem to be dead?

did i reverse polarity??? i thought the batteryminder ws ready for shit like that??

any help is appreciated!! especially since im leaving for phish shortly!!

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #35 on:** June 09, 2004, 02:58:55 AM »

and i just checked the battery again, steady a +5.50 volts and -5.50 volts, WTF??

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #36 on:** June 09, 2004, 03:49:53 AM »

alright, just found this lil piece of info, WTF is this junk, screw batteryminder, my "resting" voltage is 5.5 volts, so the charger is basically useless

http://halotimes.free.fr/showthread.php3?threadid=34

VERY misleading company.......

so my next question is, how did my 12v sla get down to 5.5 volts??

i am clueless about this crap

AT853rxwh · « **Reply #37 on:** June 09, 2004, 09:06:18 PM »

Quote from: bean on June 09, 2004, 03:49:53 AM

alright, just found this lil piece of info, WTF is this junk, screw batteryminder, my "resting" voltage is 5.5 volts, so the charger is basically useless

http://halotimes.free.fr/showthread.php3?threadid=34

VERY misleading company.......

so my next question is, how did my 12v sla get down to 5.5 volts??

i am clueless about this crap

Umm if you managed to get an 12v sla down to 5.5v you did something bad to it, and it wasn't with the charger... You might be able to get it to pulse enough to get the voltage up but that might be doubtful. If you can get someone to bulk charge it to get to 10v you might be able to salvage the battery, but again deep discharging an sla down to 5.5v is a very ungood thing...

As to batteryminder being misleading, eh, dunno about that, they do say it is microprocessor controlled and that no voltage is apparent unless there is a good batt attached. That is the whole idea behind the battery testing (when you hook up the battery to the charger unplugged it tests the battery)

As to charging for 30 hrs, they even say in the owners manual allow up to 72hrs...

http://www.vdcelectronics.com/images/12vInstr-4%2016%2002.pdf

The recommended max level of discharge for a sla battery is 85% or 10.2v Anything more than that can cause PERMANENT damage to the battery.

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #38 on:** June 10, 2004, 07:30:03 AM »

first off, plus t for your patience and everything else bro!!

i have been looking for that batteryminder manual EVERYWHERE!!

that expoalins alot, hmmm, im wondering how the hell i got my 12v sla down to 5.5 v resting voltage??? no clue there, just did my jb3 testing and BAM, seems dead!!

so im gonna follow those instructions and see what happens!!!

leave it on for 3 days, if nothing, let sit for at least 8 hrs, then try desulphating for a couple weeks, then try again!!!

just trying to figure out how the hell i killed that battery???

ive run down my eco's MANY times before, granted they were 6 v, but still, and they have ALWAYS come back to life so far!!

AT853rxwh · « **Reply #39 on:** June 18, 2004, 10:00:41 PM »

Quote from: bean on June 10, 2004, 07:30:03 AM

first off, plus t for your patience and everything else bro!!

i have been looking for that batteryminder manual EVERYWHERE!!

that expoalins alot, hmmm, im wondering how the hell i got my 12v sla down to 5.5 v resting voltage??? no clue there, just did my jb3 testing and BAM, seems dead!!

so im gonna follow those instructions and see what happens!!!

leave it on for 3 days, if nothing, let sit for at least 8 hrs, then try desulphating for a couple weeks, then try again!!!

just trying to figure out how the hell i killed that battery???

ive run down my eco's MANY times before, granted they were 6 v, but still, and they have ALWAYS come back to life so far!!

What you can do, and I had to do this with one of the batts that came with my mp-2 is charge it up enough for the batteryminder to be able to try to recover it.

You have a couple of options

1. charge it with a bulk charger to get it up to a high enough voltage for the batteryminder to work
2. Start it charging parallel with a good 12v battery and once it comes up enough just leave the one that was at 5.5v on by itself...

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #40 on:** June 19, 2004, 08:07:58 AM »

Quote from: AT853rxwh on June 18, 2004, 10:00:41 PM

Quote from: bean on June 10, 2004, 07:30:03 AM
first off, plus t for your patience and everything else bro!!

i have been looking for that batteryminder manual EVERYWHERE!!

that expoalins alot, hmmm, im wondering how the hell i got my 12v sla down to 5.5 v resting voltage??? no clue there, just did my jb3 testing and BAM, seems dead!!

so im gonna follow those instructions and see what happens!!!

leave it on for 3 days, if nothing, let sit for at least 8 hrs, then try desulphating for a couple weeks, then try again!!!

just trying to figure out how the hell i killed that battery???

ive run down my eco's MANY times before, granted they were 6 v, but still, and they have ALWAYS come back to life so far!!

What you can do, and I had to do this with one of the batts that came with my mp-2 is charge it up enough for the batteryminder to be able to try to recover it.

You have a couple of options

1. charge it with a bulk charger to get it up to a high enough voltage for the batteryminder to work
2. Start it charging parallel with a good 12v battery and once it comes up enough just leave the one that was at 5.5v on by itself...

thanks bro, whats a bulk charger tho???

tried desulphating the battery for about a week, voltage is still at about 4.43 volts

so put a bulk charger on it, then use the batteryminder???

do you think an xenotronix charger will werk???

AT853rxwh · « **Reply #41 on:** June 19, 2004, 08:44:40 AM »

Bulk = regular charger no smarts...

I had one do exactly the same, the light came on (dimly tho) and told me it was charging... (simple check with the volt meter said otherwise)

Any charger that won't look for voltage first should be able to get it to a higher voltage so you can use the batteryminder...

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #42 on:** June 19, 2004, 08:51:05 AM »

so gte a charger that isnt "smart"??

i guess i could do that at wlamart huh?

AT853rxwh · « **Reply #43 on:** June 19, 2004, 09:43:28 AM »

Quote from: bean on June 19, 2004, 08:51:05 AM

so gte a charger that isnt "smart"??

i guess i could do that at wlamart huh?

Or borrow one... Do you have more than one 12v battery?

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #44 on:** June 19, 2004, 09:49:59 AM »

Quote from: AT853rxwh on June 19, 2004, 09:43:28 AM

Quote from: bean on June 19, 2004, 08:51:05 AM
so gte a charger that isnt "smart"??

i guess i could do that at wlamart huh?

Or borrow one... Do you have more than one 12v battery?

just one 12v 7.2 amp

would an xenotronix werk ya think??

even tho its smart, thats the unbranded eco-charge, and it may werk w/ my eco gp-90!!

the one thats dead!!

AT853rxwh · « **Reply #45 on:** June 19, 2004, 10:27:42 AM »

Quote from: bean on June 19, 2004, 09:49:59 AM

Quote from: AT853rxwh on June 19, 2004, 09:43:28 AM
Quote from: bean on June 19, 2004, 08:51:05 AM
so gte a charger that isnt "smart"??

i guess i could do that at wlamart huh?

Or borrow one... Do you have more than one 12v battery?

just one 12v 7.2 amp

would an xenotronix werk ya think??

even tho its smart, thats the unbranded eco-charge, and it may werk w/ my eco gp-90!!

the one thats dead!!

Give it a shot, try to charge for like 15 min, and then check the batt with a meter. If it is around 9-10 then you should be able to use the batteryminder...