Posted by Robert Morein on May 13, 2006, 5:51 pm
Bought a new Yuasa YIX30L AGM battery for my DEK enclosed 5kw unit. Swapped
out the old, typical, flooded battery. Put in the new battery, gave it a
crank, engine turned OK. Put a 2A Vector trickle charger on it for trickle.
Noticed it was never getting to float. After a couple days, removed the
charger to avoid overcharging. A couple more days, measure battery voltage:
3.45V, IOW, dead, ruined!
Put suspect trickle charger on original flooded battery, appears to work
normally.
Put 80 amp Vector supersmart on the dead Yusasa, still in the genny.
Amperage 2.7, declined to zero in 5 minutes. Therefore, no hard short in the
genny, or the Vector supersmart would have refused to charge.
When I received the genny, from California, after a transit timke of a week,
it started on the original battery. The genny is functionally normal, except
for the possibility of a leakage path. But the smart charger would have
indicated an error condition.
Possibilities?
1. Defective Vector charger? But it seems to be functional, as it is now
charging the original battery correctly.
2. Defective Yuasa? But it was sufficiently charged when I got it to crank.
3. Hung up starter solenoid, just kissing enough to provide a leakage path?
Any suggestions as to correct diagnosis?
Posted by George Ghio on May 13, 2006, 8:03 pm
1. Charger is working
2. Defective battery - Could be.
3. Amp meter or clamp will tell you.
Robert Morein wrote:
> Bought a new Yuasa YIX30L AGM battery for my DEK enclosed 5kw unit. Swapped
> out the old, typical, flooded battery. Put in the new battery, gave it a
> crank, engine turned OK. Put a 2A Vector trickle charger on it for trickle.
> Noticed it was never getting to float. After a couple days, removed the
> charger to avoid overcharging. A couple more days, measure battery voltage:
> 3.45V, IOW, dead, ruined!
>
> Put suspect trickle charger on original flooded battery, appears to work
> normally.
>
> Put 80 amp Vector supersmart on the dead Yusasa, still in the genny.
> Amperage 2.7, declined to zero in 5 minutes. Therefore, no hard short in the
> genny, or the Vector supersmart would have refused to charge.
>
> When I received the genny, from California, after a transit timke of a week,
> it started on the original battery. The genny is functionally normal, except
> for the possibility of a leakage path. But the smart charger would have
> indicated an error condition.
>
> Possibilities?
> 1. Defective Vector charger? But it seems to be functional, as it is now
> charging the original battery correctly.
> 2. Defective Yuasa? But it was sufficiently charged when I got it to crank.
> 3. Hung up starter solenoid, just kissing enough to provide a leakage path?
>
> Any suggestions as to correct diagnosis?
>
>
Posted by John Gilmer on May 19, 2006, 10:50 pm
A generator has an "excitor" which provides the current for the rotating
electromagnet that makes the rotation produce electricity.
In an integrated generator set with electric start the excitor circuit might
also charge the battery and the battery might well be "on line" in the
excitor.
A battery that's charged can start the engine and also provide power for the
field winding even if the generator excitor circuit isn't working.
You can check this out by putting in a well charged battery in place, start
the unit, and then check the battery voltage. A battery that's being
charged usually has a voltage on the order of 13 volts. A battery under a
slight load would have a voltage of about 12.5 volts or less.
SO:
1) determine whether the running unit is charging the start battery.
2) determine whether the generator maintains voltage under load with the
battery in place and with the battery connected while the generator is
running.
3) with the generator switched off look for signs of a battery drain.
You can use the amp function of your meter to determine this (I would not do
this with the generator running.)
If it turns out that you have a significant battery drain until you can
"fix" it you should disconnect the battery when you don't need it.
If the excitor isn't getting juice from the generator (as shown by poor
voltage regulation when the battery is disconnected while the unit is
running) you can "fix" it by just plugging in a charger into the generator
output and connecting it to the battery.
Obviously, you can attempt to do a proper repair also.
> Bought a new Yuasa YIX30L AGM battery for my DEK enclosed 5kw unit.
Swapped
> out the old, typical, flooded battery. Put in the new battery, gave it a
> crank, engine turned OK. Put a 2A Vector trickle charger on it for
trickle.
> Noticed it was never getting to float. After a couple days, removed the
> charger to avoid overcharging. A couple more days, measure battery
voltage:
> 3.45V, IOW, dead, ruined!
> Put suspect trickle charger on original flooded battery, appears to work
> normally.
> Put 80 amp Vector supersmart on the dead Yusasa, still in the genny.
> Amperage 2.7, declined to zero in 5 minutes. Therefore, no hard short in
the
> genny, or the Vector supersmart would have refused to charge.
> When I received the genny, from California, after a transit timke of a
week,
> it started on the original battery. The genny is functionally normal,
except
> for the possibility of a leakage path. But the smart charger would have
> indicated an error condition.
> Possibilities?
> 1. Defective Vector charger? But it seems to be functional, as it is now
> charging the original battery correctly.
> 2. Defective Yuasa? But it was sufficiently charged when I got it to
crank.
> 3. Hung up starter solenoid, just kissing enough to provide a leakage
path?
> Any suggestions as to correct diagnosis?
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> out the old, typical, flooded battery. Put in the new battery, gave it a
> crank, engine turned OK. Put a 2A Vector trickle charger on it for trickle.
> Noticed it was never getting to float. After a couple days, removed the
> charger to avoid overcharging. A couple more days, measure battery voltage:
> 3.45V, IOW, dead, ruined!
>
> Put suspect trickle charger on original flooded battery, appears to work
> normally.
>
> Put 80 amp Vector supersmart on the dead Yusasa, still in the genny.
> Amperage 2.7, declined to zero in 5 minutes. Therefore, no hard short in the
> genny, or the Vector supersmart would have refused to charge.
>
> When I received the genny, from California, after a transit timke of a week,
> it started on the original battery. The genny is functionally normal, except
> for the possibility of a leakage path. But the smart charger would have
> indicated an error condition.
>
> Possibilities?
> 1. Defective Vector charger? But it seems to be functional, as it is now
> charging the original battery correctly.
> 2. Defective Yuasa? But it was sufficiently charged when I got it to crank.
> 3. Hung up starter solenoid, just kissing enough to provide a leakage path?
>
> Any suggestions as to correct diagnosis?
>
>