Whats it mean when my charger is warm and one battery is boiling?
Model PD9160A
Thanks,MM
One of your batteries is bad, probably shorted. The shorted one is causing the charger to see a low voltage and it is over charging the others. Best to find out which one is bad and pull it out soon. Good time to replace all of them unless they're fairly new.
One battery is internally shorted. If you clamp a DC ammeter onto the cable you'll see that the 9100 is running flat out. If you measure the voltage, the voltage will be folded back to limit the current.
I have 2 8D wets. I'd have to check and see which one is the newer one. So the bad battery is not boiling and the good one is?
Thanks,MM
The bad battery is the one which is boiling because it's using up current like a milk house heater. The shorted plates are acting as though they are nichrome wire in the heater.
Thanks. Thats the oldest one.
I'll get the match for the new ish Rural king battery.
Looks like there is a smart charger module option . I don't have yet.
When were the 9100 first installed?
Amazon first started selling them in 2009. In 2009 I bought a gas Bounder rv that had one installed by the previous owner. I replaced it with a larger 9200 with the charge wizard.
Thanks Jack,
I got really lucky with my old GV . I find almost a complete hardware refit dated 2010 .
Unless the "new ish" one is quite new, in the long run, you're probably better-off replacing both of them with batteries of same/similar age, same brand and capacity. Old batteries tend to bring the new ones down to their level.
Greg
Progressive Dynamics still sells the Charge Wizard for the 9100 series and you can find them on eBay and Amazon.
The difference between the 9100 and 9100 Charge Wizards is this: For the 9100 series the electronics for the 3-stage charging are built into the Charge Wizard and without the Charge Wizard plugged in, the default is 13.6 V for a slow battery boil. For the 9200 series, the 9200 will cycle through the 3-stage process automatically, but with the Charge Wizard pendent plugged into the 9200 you can force any of the three charge rates to begin. Handy when you want to take advantage of generator run time.
FWIW a lead acid battery is shorted when plate material builds up in the bottom of the battery case and reaches the bottoms of the plates. Shorting them together. If you are boiling one battery of a pair at 13.6V, and I know this hurts, but release the moths from your billfold and purchase a pair of batteries. To replace only one will be a waste of money.
Thanks. The new battery is a Rural king 1000 amp tractor start battery. They are about 150$ It is a bout 1 year old . It is charging now and I'll read the resting voltage this afternoon.
When these 2 are done, I will probably get 4 of the 6 volt batteries at 825amp each . In my weakened condition nowI I can't get the big batteries in or out .
I have not worked my shop for 5 months due to cancer treatment , and have enough energy for about 2 hrs of soft work each day . I do not have an abundance of cash at this point for luxuries, like the bus.
I am going to have to hire some help to stuff the steering box up in there, as it is. If I live another 5 years, maybe I can cash out this property and retire with new batteries in the bus and a little solar. Doc says I will , yeah .
Lucky for me , my customers are lining up again to get their race cars prepped fort next year. And I'm not dead yet .. :)
Update ; The newer battery failed the overnight 35 wattt draw test . My 9 cube resi fridge draws about 38watts average . The single 8d should run it over night through the nice PSW inverter . It measured 11.8 this morning, and the inverter had shut down for low input.
Drove over to Rural King, unhooked the batteries and readied them to be pulled out. My sorry 126# butt can't pull them out. I found an older Rural King studd that yanked them out easy. Nice guy . Went in and tugged 2 8D to the cashier. She scanned the return battery and gave me 100% credit. Cool.
Tipped the studd 20$ to help me install them. I swapped in new ends, cleaned the cables, etc.
Now Ihave 2 new 8D 1000 amp batteries. Should run the fridge about 30 hrs , as before.
The smart module added to the charger should help these live for a few years.
Thanks for the guidance .
Cardiologist walked into the room, took one look at me and said "I'll schedule you for a treadmill run." I demurred and said I'd wait until this January next.
And no truer words have ever been spoken than "I'm not dead yet." The motto of the true Plugger.
Glad you got your battery situation under control.