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If the suggestions about
household wiring don't point to a problem, you may have a problem with
your charger. I've seen a defective charger behave exactly as you
describe. Fortunately these chargers are very simple and really have
only three components likely to need replacing: the capacitor or one or
both of the diodes. The diodes are easy to check in isolation with a multimeter. The capacitor is a little trickier, but it can be tested in place in the charger. Given the number of capacitor failures I've seen (I think I'm at 100% of four chargers, one of which went quite explosively), my suggestion would be to go ahead and replace the cap whether it's failed (yet) or not. The Home Owner's Service Manual has a good set of procedures for checking out all the parts of the charger, starting at the bottom of page 1-18. (Charger Troubleshooting). Just be very careful with the tests where you're applying live voltage and note the cautions in the test procedures. As an aside, if you are using one of the original timer motors to run the charger, check that out carefully too. You don't want one that fails to shut off properly - over-boiled batteries are not good. - Tom Coate, Purcellville, VA RJ Kanary said the following on 10/13/2008 12:04 PM: How long is the run from the entrance panel to the outlet you are using? What gauge wire is used in this run? Under the right set of circumstances, a #14 AWG 15A circuit would be on the edge of capacity at the start of the charge cycle.This is where a Kill-A-Watt® power usage device can be a real trouble shooting plus. :) |