battery charging and death

[Ed Kellock]

I'm very impressed with the Vector chargers.  I believe I'll get one. 
I checked for retailers in my area, but had no luck.  However, there's
a Radio Shack not far from home, so I'll check it out.

Actually there was a .05 amp drain on the battery, which is about
right for the clock and other things.  I was please that I did not
find a larger drain than that.

Ed

On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 13:19:24 -0500, SJ <syljay at optonline.net> wrote:
> 
> > 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
> 
>