battery charging and death

[SJ]

> From: "Ed Kellock" <ekellock at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: battery charging and death
>

> In my afternoon battery surf-fest, I found
> http://www.battery-rechargeable-charger.com which has some very
> straight forward seeming information.
**** Thats what I ended up buying. The Vector 2/6/10 Smart battery charger.
I found mine at the local Radio Shack. Works nice.
The battery clamps are a bit too big to easily clamp on the jumper post. It
has a digital readout that shows you the battery voltage. When its charging,
the readout shows you the actual current output. And it shuts itself off
when the battery reaches full charge.
Vector was the only product that explained how it worked. It has the theory
of operation printed on the box. And the theory agreed with the theory that
was explained on the battery web pages.

Other products didnt tell you anything. Even their web sites did not explain
how they worked. How stupid is that from a sales point of view? Then again,
maybe they dont want you to know that its only just a simple trickle
charger.

> Put in the new battery this evening and checked for a drain.  Not.
**** You should get a small drain, at least from the radio. I'm not sure if
the computer uses any current when the ignition key is out.
I get a 16 ma (.016 amps) drain in my 88 5kq.

You need to be careful when checking for drain. The inside lamps always
light up when you disconnect/connect the battery, and that draws about 3
amps. The lamp goes out after 20 seconds or so, and then you can read the
drain current.
I use an auto ranging fluke meter that can take a 10 amp current.
If you use an analog meter that needs to be switched to another range, the
range switch contacts may  "open before they close" instead of "close before
they open" - in which case the lights will go on again while you are in the
low current meter range. Poof! goes the meter or a meter fuse if you have
one.

SJ
85 Dodge PU, D-250, 318, auto
85 Audi 4k - - sold but still on the road
88 Audi 5kq
90 Audi 100q