[Elecraft] [OT] Lead-acid battery question

[Lynn W. Taylor, WB6UUT]

A small charger will work if the battery is still good.

Before I assumed that, I'd charge the battery with a good charger, then 
do a load test to see if it actually stores power.

I've had "sealed" batteries that were damaged in shipping.  Looked fine, 
but outgassed and dried out.  Took a couple of years.

Usually, the periodic "run" is to bring the oil to temperature and 
distribute it around the engine, not primarily for battery charging.

-- Lynn

On 4/8/2013 9:51 AM, Jim Wiley wrote:
> Sounds like your setup is not providing enough run time to fully
> recharge the battery.  Rather than fiddling with the existing engine
> settings, I would suggest getting a small 1-ampere or so "trickle
> charger" from a place like Wal-Mart or Sears.  You will not need
> anything larger, and the low-rate should be safe for the battery
> long-term.  Running the engine once a week seems excessive if all you
> want to do is test it tomake sure it starts. Once a month is all I used
> when I had a 15-KW diesel set, and it never failed to start in 20+
> years.  The trickle charger of course runs from the standard commercial
> power outlet. You do not need to disconnect the existing charging
> system, just hook up the new charger in parallel.
>
>
> - Jim, KL7CC
>
>
> On 4/8/2013 8:15 AM, Vic K2VCO wrote:
>> I know there are those on this list who can help me.
>>
>> I have a 5 kW generator at my house. It runs automatically once a week
>> for a half hour to charge the (sealed) battery. The first battery
>> lasted for about 10 years! The present battery is about 2 years old.
>>
>> Some months ago, I noticed that it wasn't running. I found the battery
>> dead. I took the battery back to Batteries Plus where I got it; they
>> charged it overnight and tested it under load. They said the battery
>> was OK. When I started the generator and checked the charging voltage,
>> it was 13.8V which I thought was marginal, so I replaced it.
>>
>> Yesterday the generator would not start. The battery voltage with no
>> load was 11.5V. I left it on the charger all day. Then this morning I
>> checked the voltage and it was 13.5V. The generator started up and the
>> charging voltage was 14.5V.
>>
>> Do I have a bad battery?
>>
>
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