RE: (ET) Battery Charger

["Elie, Larry (L.D.)" <lelie ford com>]

Ditto.  Fix is cheaper than new.  I gave LONG thought to re-design 
or replace.  If you really need some other FUNCTIONALITY (such as 
AC inverter function) you can get a new charger with AC output for 
a non-unreasonable sum.  You can charger somewhat (but probably 
not overwhelmingly) faster, and you can (probably will) get longer 
battery life.  But all these things come with a price tag; there 
isn't any free lunch.  The ET charger isn't great, but it is 
usually fixable.

P.S., 36 to 42 V 'cheap' chargers will becoming more common in the 
next 5 years as autos move to 42V nominal electrical systems.  They 
won't be great but they will be cheap.

Larry Elie


-----Original Message-----
From: John Charles Fedor [mailto:John Fedor net]
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2001 11:26 AM
To: HRANDALLPARKER cs com; Electrak List
Subject: Re: (ET) Battery Charger


Advice:

The battery charger that comes with the ET works adequately. I realize that
it
is 30 year old technology, and that advances have been made. However, I
BELIEVE
that new chargers do not have enough to offer when a repair to the et
charger is
rather inexpensive and very easy.

>From my personal experience, poor ET Charger performance results from one 
>of
two
things (or maybe both):
Bad heat Sink
Bad Capacitor

Testing these parts is not easy without specialized tools, so start by
replacing
the HEAT SINK (which shouldn't cost more than 15 bucks).

Be sure the charger is off and that the power disconnect is off before
attempting this.

After making this repair, I found that my old ET Charger produced a higher
voltage, charged faster and gave the batteries a true FULL CHARGE, so that 
I
could operate it longer.

The only fault that I find in the design of the old ET Chargers (compared 
to
new
chargers) is that the old chargers permit the overcharging of batteries,
which
can boil off water from the cells. If you check the level in the cells
regularly
(once a month) you can be sure to add distilled water before any damage to
the
batteries occurs. A bit of experience will tell you how long to set the
timer
for. Using the gauge on the timer listing the age of the batteries in years
often overcharges the batteries - especially if you did not run the
batteries to
a low charge state.

And do be sure that the timer on the charger is functioning properly.... A
broken timer can let the batteries charge indefinitely and fry them.

I always leave the seat and hood up when charging, just like the owner's
manual
suggests, to let any fumes dissipate with ease.

John

HRANDALLPARKER cs com wrote:

> It would very helpful to sort out the various thoughts on battery 
> chargers
> and come up with recommendations.  Personally, here's what I would like 
> to
> know:
> 1. What can be done to the existing GE charger to improve it's battery
> charging performance?
> 2.  What about the E-Z-GO auto shut-off circuit board idea?
> 3.  There have been several other homemade charger projects talked about,
but
> no final answers.
> 4. What is the best replacement charger?  Is it the Lestronic with a 5 
> amp
> "finish" current?  Are there other makes that are as good or better than
the
> Lester?
>
> The battery problem is one of the biggest ones facing Elec-Trak owners.
Lack
> of proper battery care and maintenance can render the tractors useless.
>
> If everyone put down their favorite thought(s) on the subject, one of us
> could put together a master sheet that all the members could have to 
> refer
> to.  We could hopefully make some better decisions.