The second policy will cover my two trips of less than 5 miles each between my apartment and the inspector.
Couldn't you have had it flatbedded there?
Quote:
Originally Posted by aisbell
I wish this charger had an ammeter so that I could monitor the charging process instead of merely assuming that after 24 hours of charging that the process had completed.
A completely full battery will measure more than 165 volts (about 168V). Just test the voltage after you finish (wait 20 minutes for it to cool and settle).
Sure, but the Swedish Transport Board won't grant permission for my Insight to be taken to the Swedish Auto Inspector for import inspection until I have "temporary insurance for registration".
All of this is rather painful, expensive, and time-consuming, but Swedish roads are among the safest in the world despite slippery driving conditions for much of the year. Part of this is due to the excellent condition of the roads (much better than much of the U.S.) and the extensive signage, but part of this is due to the condition of the vehicles on the road which also appears to be considerably better than in the U.S.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hybrid-Battery-Repair
A completely full battery will measure more than 165 volts (about 168V). Just test the voltage after you finish (wait 20 minutes for it to cool and settle).
I know that the diodes in the charger leads don't pass much current from the battery to the charging socket, but would they allow the battery voltage to be measured at the socket pins? If not, I don't know where I would be able to measure the battery voltage.
Thanks for the feedback and being a guinea pig. I have considered a digital 0-500ma ammeter but that adds another $10.00 to the price, I might buy a couple for the next couple of chargers I do to see if people like them.
It won't be a retrofit option for your version of the charger though sadly as there is no room in that case for one.
You could possibly have another little black box with an analog meter in it between the charger and the car. I'll think about that.
I note you had problems with the positive connector, unfortunately you have to connect at that point unless you are going to remove the battery to make the connections. I'll add a note to my instructions about the way you managed it as an alternative approach.
Ron you can't measure the battery voltage at the socket as it is not present due to the diodes in the leads at the battery terminals. (Safety) The socket only allows power in not out.
Art I hope the charger works OK for you when you get your car on the road. Just leave it plugged in for the 24hrs and it should be fine. The current will tail off naturally as the battery voltage rises.
I have considered a digital 0-500ma ammeter but that adds another $10.00 to the price, I might buy a couple for the next couple of chargers I do to see if people like them.
It won't be a retrofit option for your version of the charger though sadly as there is no room in that case for one.
You could possibly have another little black box with an analog meter in it between the charger and the car. I'll think about that.
Or a surface-mount meter would be fine with me. I'll try to figure out where I might be able to buy an ammeter here in Sweden.
Quote:
Originally Posted by retepsnikrep
I note you had problems with the positive connector, unfortunately you have to connect at that point unless you are going to remove the battery to make the connections.
You have done a great job of designing the charger leads to be as simple to install as possible. I was able to overcome the difficulties that I had as I think most relatively handy people could.
Quote:
Originally Posted by retepsnikrep
Art I hope the charger works OK for you when you get your car on the road. Just leave it plugged in for the 24hrs and it should be fine. The current will tail off naturally as the battery voltage rises.
I want to minimize the possibility of damaging the battery (e.g., too much overcharging or overheating). I don't plan to charge my battery very often, so any damage from overcharging will probably be minimal. I suspect that in this relatively cool climate, overheating won't be a problem.
Quote:
Originally Posted by retepsnikrep
Would people prefer a digital meter?
Quote:
Originally Posted by retepsnikrep
or an analog meter?
If a battery is very discharged, would the initial charging current exceed the full range of the ammeter? If so, I would want an ammeter that could tolerate being above full range without being damaged. Are the LED's in the LED meter likely to fail before the analog meter, with its moving parts, fails? I would prioritize reliability above cost if the cost difference isn't too great.
A moving coil meter is more likely to fail, being subjected to harsh movement in the car is not going to do the needle pivots any good, I'd go for the digital version
A moving coil meter is more likely to fail, being subjected to harsh movement in the car is not going to do the needle pivots any good, I'd go for the digital version
The charger will only be used whilst vehicle is parked though. Meter will be in charger. Charger is a portable unit not carried around with you.
I have ordered a digital meter to have a fiddle about anyway.
Ron you can't measure the battery voltage at the socket as it is not present due to the diodes in the leads at the battery terminals. (Safety) The socket only allows power in not out.
I know that. I figured that for this one time he would tap directly in to see what the voltage is.
Actually, I'd prefer a green LED light that lights up to indicate "full" and a red one that says "on". Or even better, a red/green bicolor LED that lights red while charging and green when done.
I know that. I figured that for this one time he would tap directly in to see what the voltage is.
I've put the cover back on the IMA battery compartment, so know of no way to tap directly in the measure the battery's voltage.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hybrid-Battery-Repair
Actually, I'd prefer a green LED light that lights up to indicate "full" and a red one that says "on". Or even better, a red/green bicolor LED that lights red while charging and green when done.
That would work for me.
I have made an appointment for my Swedish import inspection tomorrow, so I attached my charger for the first time to hopefully rebalance the cells in my IMA battery prior to driving to the inspection. I connected the charger outlet to the connector on the battery compartment wall. The next time I open the battery compartment (hmm, will there be a "next time"?), I will rotate the connector so that the charger outlet leads face 9 o'clock when looking at the connector from outside the battery compartment rather than 12 o'clock as they do now. That would make connecting the charger slightly easier to do.
Then I plugged the charger power cord to the engine block heater power outlet in my carport. This outlet is downstream of a 24-hour timer which I thought would be nice for limiting the charging time to 24 hours. I cranked the timer to 24 hours and was underwhelmed by the lack of indication of anything happening since the charger has no power light, ammeter, etc. I did not see or smell any magic smoke, so that was a positive.
A couple of hours later, I returned to check on the charger. When I touched it, it was not even warm which didn't seem right. I remembered that I had recently bought a power meter that measures the voltage, current, watts, kilowatt-hours, power factor, etc., at the A/C outlet into which it is plugged. I unplugged the charger, plugged in the power meter, and plugged the charger into the power meter. 0 volts, 0 amps! No wonder the charger wasn't warm.
Had the charger had anything that indicated that is was on or that current was flowing, I would have known a couple of hours earlier that the power outlet wasn't on. It wasn't on because it is on only when the timer has less than 4 hours remaining. This makes sense for its purpose as an engine block heater timer because there's no good reason in this climate for an engine block heater to be on for more than 4 hours. This also means that I am unable to run my charger for more than 4 hours without resetting the timer to 4 hours. I won't be getting up every 4 hours during the night to reset the timer, so the charger won't have run for 24 hours by the time I drive tomorrow.
It would be really nice for the charger to provide some indication when the battery has been charged "enough". As it is, I can't be certain that the battery has charged enough unless I accumulate about 24 hours of charging time over parts of 2 or 3 days during which I must repeatedly reset the timer which isn't ideal.
I forgot to mention that when I inserted my power meter into the charger circuit at the start of my rebalancing session, the input current measured 0.81 amps. After charging for about 4 hours, the input current had dropped to 0.49 amps. Can those measurements be used to estimate the output current? If so, maybe this would be a way that I could monitor the state of the battery rebalancing.
When I parked my car a couple of weeks ago, the IMA battery's charge level was about 85%, so it probably remains at a pretty high charge level. This was after a positive recal had occurred after the 12 v. battery had been reconnected when my car was liberated from the shipping container. So maybe the time necessary to rebalance the battery cells would be considerably less than 24 hours.
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