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Battery? Alternator? Other?


Kimjon

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***Update:

 

Swapped out battery, with a known good one from a mates tractor. Took it for a drive, pretty much same as last time...all good for 10 minutes, then no charge going on.

So Swapped out alternator...problem gone.

so it was the alternator that caused all my issues, just as I suspected.

Cheers Mike - fucking legend for giving me an alternator for free!!

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I find battery tech quite interesting for a multitude of reasons. We all have this physical item made out of basic and identifiable materials which is expensive to purchase and costly (to the planet) to recycle- yet repair is largely out of the question. It shouldn't be because a lead acid battery is incredibly basic!

@Kimjons battery bugs me. I can charge it to over 14v (Using bluetooth battery monitor to log voltages is amazing) but then the instant you apply any load it drops to below 12v.  The float/indicator is red even at full charge which could simply mean that one or more cells is low on electrolyte- but the battery has a firmly glued down cover which does a pretty good job of preventing any level checks or top ups (without making it look like its been butchered)

TLDR: battery companies go out of their way to ensure these things aren't serviceable. Bastards.

With that said, have had a few good wins with the desulphater (Validated by load testing down to 12.2v and measuring capacity). 

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8 hours ago, flyingbrick said:

I find battery tech quite interesting for a multitude of reasons. We all have this physical item made out of basic and identifiable materials which is expensive to purchase and costly (to the planet) to recycle- yet repair is largely out of the question. It shouldn't be because a lead acid battery is incredibly basic!

@Kimjons battery bugs me. I can charge it to over 14v (Using bluetooth battery monitor to log voltages is amazing) but then the instant you apply any load it drops to below 12v.  The float/indicator is red even at full charge which could simply mean that one or more cells is low on electrolyte- but the battery has a firmly glued down cover which does a pretty good job of preventing any level checks or top ups (without making it look like its been butchered)

TLDR: battery companies go out of their way to ensure these things aren't serviceable. Bastards.

With that said, have had a few good wins with the desulphater (Validated by load testing down to 12.2v and measuring capacity). 

the level indicator can often be wound open to top up electrolyte on stuffed batteries

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@NickJ that is a brilliant idea! Do the cells all join at the top? EG if I fill up one will it top up the rest?

Also, worth shaking it up first and checking the specific gravity of the electrolyte? (I think thats a thing?)

IF you know more about this than you are letting on, you should definitely share :-D 

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2 hours ago, GuyWithAviators said:

Pretty sure I read a yarn on here where someone just cut holes in the top of each cell bank, topped them up and glued the plastic back on. @Ghostchipsor @SOHCmaybe

It was me, hot glue works well but you need to use a hot knife to get it flat and tonbond better 

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Dropping them flat on the ground to rattle some the sulphur? off the plates just as hard as you can without busting the plastic case and spilling battery acid everywhere (who would guess that could happen) then putting them on a battery charger with pulse/maintenance mode/one of those^ things sometimes works

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10 hours ago, Testament said:

Dropping them flat on the ground to rattle some the sulphur? off the plates just as hard as you can without busting the plastic case and spilling battery acid everywhere (who would guess that could happen) then putting them on a battery charger with pulse/maintenance mode/one of those^ things sometimes works

Wouldn't fairly severe vibration work too? Or more ultrasonic spec. 

 

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On 30/07/2021 at 11:04, flyingbrick said:

@NickJ that is a brilliant idea! Do the cells all join at the top? EG if I fill up one will it top up the rest?

Also, worth shaking it up first and checking the specific gravity of the electrolyte? (I think thats a thing?)

IF you know more about this than you are letting on, you should definitely share :-D 

So as it was told to me, the cells share a common air path at the top but not electrolyte, having a few dead batteries in the shed I gave it a go, can confirm the battery I pulled the level plug from does not have a common air space, only poured a few ml of acid out, scratch that idea :(
 

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On 29/07/2021 at 18:03, NickJ said:

the level indicator can often be wound open to top up electrolyte on stuffed batteries

When I actually looked- turned out kims one just unscrewed too! I topped it up with distilled water- but yeah didnt really seem like it was filling the other cells at the same time. I think I'll try harder to get the cover off.

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