Topic: Battery Charger/Maintainer & Battery (Overload) Question

[nopivnick]

I just purchased a Shumacher Battery Companion Model 1562A battery charger/maintainer.

When I connect my one year old Energizer battery I initially get an 'amber' charging LED light but after about a minute the 'red' overload LED starts to glow, faintly at first then gradually brighter.

I've had to have this battery charged on 3 occasions, once from a depleted state (no headlight/taillight to speak of) and twice from a low charge (say in the 10 to 11 volt range). EACH time I broke it down for the dude that it had to be trickle charged but since I didn't see the actual setup I can't be certain they did what I told them to do. I do know that on one occasion, the guy said his charger didn't go any lower than 2amps.

It does take a charge (voltage increased about .4 volts in the 45 minutes or so I left it connected before noticing the 'overload' LED was on. Is this battery garbage or is there some way to salvage it? Is a 1.5 amp trickle too high? Can't imagine it is. Can I run some kind of load test with a multimeter that'll give me more information than the idiot light on the charger or is it not even worth it?

If it is garbage, is there a clear choice as far as battery manufacturers? The local AutoZone carries a line called MAGNA POWER selling for $33. The local Straus sells a CHAMPION product for $38.

[Raul CB750K1]

Excuse me for asking this; you were disconnecting the battery from the bike, weren't you?

The overload doesn't have to be bad. It means a higher current than a predefined setup. If the charger is designed for batteries of lower capacity it will tend to think that the current is high, but if the battery is bigger maybe that doesn't mean an excessive current.

What seems strange is that normally the higher current happens at the beginning, and little by little the charging current decreases. I don't know your particular charger, sorry for not being able to give more advice.

Raul

[TwoTired]

I think your charger is to big for the CB550 battery to be used as a maintainer or tender.  The trickle/maintain state should be about 50 ma.  Max charge rate should be about 1.2 A.

Check the voltage on the battery terminals.  Readings higher than 14.5 volts should turn your charger to trickle mode, but that rate on yours is way more than the full charge rate it should receive. Hopefully you charger is smart enough that when it signals overload, it stops charging completely. Otherwise, your MC battery will cook and be permanently damaged.

Your charger will probably work okay on a much larger Auto battery whose capacity is far greater.

Size matters.

[Bob Wessner]

I just purchased a Shumacher Battery Companion Model 1562A battery charger/maintainer.

I have been using the same charger/maintainer for more than a year. I'm very pleased with it. The red light getting brighter is a puzzler, could be a batt. problem, not sure.

It's maintained mine all winter without a problem and I've found it to be very sensitive. I recently turned on the ignition and tested my turn signals, two blinks each side to make sure they worked after some work, and it detected that and recharged. I doubt that I have tried to recharge the batt. after more than about 10% depletion, but it handled that fine. It's max amperage should be fine for a bike batt.

[nopivnick]

Excuse me for asking this; you were disconnecting the battery from the bike, weren't you?

yes.

[nopivnick]

I think your charger is to big for the CB550 battery to be used as a maintainer or tender.  The trickle/maintain state should be about 50 ma.  Max charge rate should be about 1.2 A.

Literature says:

"Amber indicater should stay illuminated until the battery voltage has reached approximately 14.4 volts and the charge current has decreased to 0.5 amps. At this point, the amber indicator turns off and the green indicator turns on. Also occuring at this time, the internl voltage reference of the charger will change in order to maintain the battery voltage at 13.2 volts. At this lower voltage charge, current is typically a few milliamperes (.001 ampere)."

Check the voltage on the battery terminals.  Readings higher than 14.5 volts should turn your charger to trickle mode, but that rate on yours is way more than the full charge rate it should receive. Hopefully you charger is smart enough that when it signals overload, it stops charging completely. Otherwise, your MC battery will cook and be permanently damaged.

Literature says:

"The Red LED indicates an overload condition... once the charger goes into the overload state it will not automatically reset the normal charge state, one of the battery clamps must be disconnected from the battery for at least 5 seconds."

[TwoTired]

Okay, I couldn't find those specs on the charger.  Sounds like your charger does the right thing.

I still don't understand what the overload signifies.  It this a charger load protection (sensed current/voltage too high or outside of some preset limits?) or an internal over temp condition?

But, if the battery was left on a 2 Amp minimum charger for an extended period of time, (more than 6-10 hours) the battery is probably permanently damaged.

What voltage do you measure at the battery terminals, before and after your charger goes to overload?

[78_SaltLick]

I just purchased a Shumacher Battery Companion Model 1562A battery charger/maintainer.

I have been using the same charger/maintainer for more than a year. I'm very pleased with it. The red light getting brighter is a puzzler, could be a batt. problem, not sure.

It's maintained mine all winter without a problem and I've found it to be very sensitive. I recently turned on the ignition and tested my turn signals, two blinks each side to make sure they worked after some work, and it detected that and recharged. I doubt that I have tried to recharge the batt. after more than about 10% depletion, but it handled that fine. It's max amperage should be fine for a bike batt.

well dangit bob, tell us what your using so i can go out and buy one. Sounds like you got a good deal.

[nopivnick]

What voltage do you measure at the battery terminals, before and after your charger goes to overload?

Battery charge at start: 11.88 volts

Immediately after connecting to the charger (the charger having been at rest) the reading at the battery terminals climbs to about 12.15 volts as the 'overload' LED begins to glow.

When amber 'charging' LED drops out and the red 'overload' LED is glowing bright, reading at terminals drops to about 12.03 volts.

Disconnected the charger and the final voltage reading is 11.94 volts.





Doesn't bode well, I gather.

[TwoTired]

Sounds like dead cell.  Get a new battery.

[heffay]

wait!  you have 12 volts?  why are you charging?  no amperage? 

[bryanj]

Whoa there hefay A 12 volt battery should sit at 13.2 volts fully charged as it has 6 cells each of 2.2 volts which for some chemical reason i cant remember is the standard voltage from a "wet" cell. Sound like the battery has been "cooked" to me BUT modern batteries have less antimony in them so that they dont "Gas" so much when charging and require less maintainance--unfortunately also means that they hate going below 11 on the voltage. SOME can be recovered by leaving on trickle charge for a week, others will respond to a 24 v "Kick" for a short time (You MUST be there to watch current flow and make sure it dont go over 2.5 A)

[nopivnick]

SOME can be recovered by leaving on trickle charge for a week, others will respond to a 24 v "Kick" for a short time (You MUST be there to watch current flow and make sure it dont go over 2.5 A)

hmmm. how do I determine which technique to try first? unfortunately my trickle charger cuts out (safety measures, what a pain in the ass) as a result of the overload signal so I guess I'd have to find someone with a 'dumb' model.

Re: the 'Kick" method, can you spit ball 'for a short time?'