OT: Any motorheads here? Battery question............(Starch)

Josh M.

I like Motorhead, does that count?

John Starcher_4

My Mother.....

.....has an electric golf cart. It's actually a "neighboorhood electric vehicle," and it's street legal. It doesn't want to charge correctly, though, and I'm thinking that one or more of the six batteries is bad.

What is the proper way to test an automotive battery? These are the type with caps to check the water level, and add to it if needed. All the batteries have what I believe to be the proper amount of water in them. I'm also not sure if the car's charger may be the culprit. I was thinking of removing the batteries, and connecting them individually to a standard battery charger, then seeing if they hold their charge.

Any suggestions?????

Starch

Jim Erhardt_3

You should have the batteries tested. The machine used places a load on the battery and measures voltage drop. If the drop is excessive, the battery is FUBAR.

Unknown

Yep, load testing

takes out the guesswork. Most garages or dealerships will have one.

Dave

Steamhead (in transit)

Nope

no umlaut.

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Maine Doug (sometimes)

You can do some quick checks

They are probably 6 volt batteries. If the water level is correct, check specific gravity with a tester available from the auto store. Check voltage on each battery.

Check charging voltage. You may have series/parallel connections so you will need to take into consideration what the voltage should be. They may be wired in pairs of 6 volts for 12 volt motors.

You can use a headlight to put a load on each bat separately and watch voltage drop. A separate charger, preferably a smart charger with different rates and voltage control for bulk, float and equalize to verify that they can be properly fully charged. Sometimes several cycles of discharge, charge and equalize can recover more use out of the batteries.

Larry C_13

Wet cell batteries.

John,

Any make up water should be DISTILLED WATER, not tap water. The proper level is usually to the bottom of the fill port. The fluid has to be above all of the plates.

Safety equipment: Safety glasses, no smoking, adequate ventilation, don't short out battery terminals.

Be careful if measuring the specific gravity of the battery electrolyte. It is concetrated Sulphuric acid and it will eat thru flesh and clothes if it gets the chance. The specific gravity is temperature corrected, and should be measured att least 20 minutes after the battery is taken off of the charger.

The most common battery related problems are

1) loose connections

2) over / under charging

3) sitting discharged


Fixes

1) Individually remove, clean, and retighten each battery connection.

2) Each "cell" of the battery generates about 2.0 VDC under minimal or no load. When being float charged, each cell should have about 2.3 VDC across it. Therefore a 6 volt battery under charge should be 6.9 VDC and the 12 volt battery should have about 13.8 VDC. When a battery string is under a "equalizing" charge,the per cell voltage is about 2.5 VDC, and the weakest battery will have the highest voltage across it. The equalizing charge allows all batteries in a string to fully charge.

3) If the battery was discharged and not charged for several days, the internal plates can build up a "stalagmite" that will short out a cell. As far as I know, that requires a battery replacement.

Larry

hvacfreak

that reminds me...

...it's a year I get to vote for Lemmy Kilmister...I've wrote him in ever since I've been voting.

Sorry , I got to..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqtNGkSzh1o

Josh M.

Motorhead- no doubt the loudest band ever. I went to one of their shows in a stadium with aluminum bleachers. My ears were ringin for days!!