Battery question

Will likely power an electric bike this summer. Currently just "in reserve"

Not so. I also once thought that a "trickle" charger and a "float" charger were interchangeable, and I ruined far too many batteries proving it ain't so.

A real float charger is not cheap. I use the ones from these folks.

Vaughn

"Vaughn Simon" wrote

My charger is a Dayton. A pretty decent charger I think. It has settings for starting, 10, 6, and 2 amps. But there's a needle to show how many amps it is actually charging at. You can put it on ten, and the needle might point to only six. Then as it charges up, the needle drops to zero. Looks to me like it senses the charge, and tapers off.

Steve

This battery is FAR more important in powering my bass buggy than just spinning an old welder during testing. I'll buy another battery for the welder. And if this one is toast, I'll buy another for the bass buggy and this time try to go fishing within three years. I just need to use it for a short time to get the welder running. I mainly was asking what the thoughts were as to how much life it had left after sitting for so long, but never being used.

Of course, I COULD use the battery to get to the lake, then take it out and use it to fish, then put it back in ............ you know you're a redneck if .............

Steve ;-)

Huh?

We used a battery blanket, lower radiator heater and dipstick heater to be able to start engines at Ft. Greely. Most radiators had 85% to

95% blocked with scrap cardboard, so he engine could finally warm up. Manual transmissions and rear ends were drained, and refilled with 10W motor oil. Tires were the worst, because nylon cord tires were still in use, and they would freeze with a flat spot that took several miles of driving to thaw out. The area was known as the land of the square tire.

The -40F (Or colder) temperatures could last for months at a time. Forget to plug in the heaters and you might need a new battery, radiator and engine. Very few other places ot that cold, except Antarctica. Not something you need to worry about in the desert.

They also make a battery heating pad for the battery to sit on. I used a battery blanket with a heating element and a block heater down in the Wisconsin Banana Belt (just north of Illinois).

I thought that gasol> We used a battery blanket, lower radiator heater and dipstick heater

Piggybacks are common now for starting more remote stuff (equipment too far from the grid to plug in, that only needs to be run occaisionally). You drive in with your truck, snow-cat, or dozer and connect hoses with quick-connects like hydraulic hoses between engines and warm the cold one up with the warm one.

On my brother's old highway tractor we had a propane RV water heater and a circulating pump that would bring the engine up to operating temp in less than an hour. Was a good bunk heater too - he could shut the engine down when he stopped for the night and keep the bunk warm as well as being assured the engine would restart. We put it in when he lived up on the farm and often had to leave the truck at the end of the lane when he was home for a few days in the winter. Fire up the "boiler" an hour before it was time to pull out, and there was no problem starting, and the cab was defrosted to boot.

I grew up on Lake Superior, in the Upper Penninsula of northern Michigan.

I worked for a number of winters on the North Slope.

Im rather familiar with the subject of cold......

Which is why I now live in California

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

If I knew that answer..Id not have posted the question.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

One Ooopsi. Not plural. Fortunately

And yes..battery boxes are on my list

the only time Ive shorted a battery in any major way, was when Gloria Maxwell decided to Cowboy Up! in the passenger side rear seat of a VW bug. About the third really good bounce she made on the old joystick and the bottom of the seat shorted out across the battery terms. Had to peel her off during her Happy Moment(s) when I smelled smoke and my ass started burning.

Ripped out the backseat and nearly caused a brush fire

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

Read it wrong. Brain fart on my part. Posted a correction right after.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

Not allowed on the base. There were outlets at every parking space, each on it's own 20 amp circuit.

I may tell you bad jokes and kid you, but I've never thought you to be stupid. :)

BTW, do you use any AT (Mini tower) power supplies in the computers on tools? I have a couple dozen extra, if you need any. I even have a few good PC/XT supplies. :)

Pennywise

I could sure use some AT 200+ power supplies. Standard XT sized 200 or more watts. Need two floppy disk connectors if possible on the harness.

How much each, for say...5? Shipped to 93268

Still needing a function generator if you run across one. Been buying bench multimeters on Ebay, got a full set now.

Could use a decent variable dc powersupply too. Max volts..hmmm...24 at 2-5 amps. Lots of solenoids and whatnot need testing, plc units etc.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

Need ant 5.25" disk drives? I have about 100 in storage. I'd rather see someone use them, than strip them for the stepper motors and aluminum.

No problem. How many?

I have a Heathkit that needs repaired, but I can't get to it at the moment.

I don't think I can help with the power supply right now, but I'll keep my eyes open. I do have some linear dual power supplies that were used in industrial equipment + & - 12 volt outputs, and some have +5 as well.

I have a couple monochrome TTL monitors from Brother word processors, and about a dozen Motorola and Ball uncased monitors from computer terminals.

You mentioned needing some motherboards, as well. I will be sorting out the old stuff soon. What did you need?

With the price of aluminum these days, you might want to reconsider...

Next time you charge a battery, hook up a voltmeter and watch the volts go up as the amps go down. High voltages can damage the battery. A smart charger controls both the charging current and voltage.

-Carl

Yeah, those are nice units. I've seen them on equipment that has to have instant battery availability- like an ambulance.

-Carl