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Re: (ET) charger problem

paul mitchell2007 comcast net wrote:

Jim,
I guess you didn't see my other email. Battery B2 was actually in backwards. All 6 batteries read 6 volts, but it's not clear to me how to determine the charge of the entire battery pack as a whole. If I put the negative probe on B5 and then progressively read the voltage at the positive poles, I get B6 (12.66v), B4 (18.99v), B3 (25.34v), B2 (38.01v), and B1 (31.67v). So if I'm interpretting this correctly, the battery pack is currently at full charge (even after mowing this afternoon).
If you really had a battery in backwards, then it would definately have trouble "charging". Oddly enough discharging the rest of the pack would "charge" the other battery and charging would "discharge" it.
Make sure that battery gets itself charged (or watered if you ran down the pack). The lower voltages would also cause the current draws to be quite off. 

Chris
It's hard for me to believe there are any bad or corrosive connections. I had this thing entirely apart and cleaned all the connections before reassembling. I did replace two of the solenoids which I got from a local dealer. They didn't come as a pair with the pin that goes in between them. Could that make a difference?
If I had a bad main disconnect, would the tractor sometimes run and sometimes not? How can I check if it's faulty? 


Paul


----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Coate" <jbc_lists_NO_REPLY coate org>
To: "Elec-Trak" <elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu>
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 5:27:32 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Re: (ET) charger problem

Did you get a chance to check the individual battery voltages?

Either there was a typo in your previous list, or something is very
wrong with battery B2:
 > B5 to B6: 12.66v
 > B5 to B4: 18.98v
 > B5 to B3: 25.32v
 > B5 to B2: 31.66v
 > B5 to B1: 31.66v

The other numbers are about what I'd expect for 2, 3, 4 and 5 batteries.
But B5 to B2 should be all six batteries, for 36 volts (nominal) total.
Should see around 38 volts across all 6 given what the other 5 show.

If you have a bad battery, that could be making everything else work
harder and get hotter than usual. And taken to an extreme can make the
bad battery spew steaming acid. Yuck.

If the 6th battery is OK, then some really bad/corroded connections
somewhere? Or a bad main disconnect switch? Where were you measuring the
32 volts?

Once get the voltage up to where it belongs, then can worry about the
power use gauge being in the red... it may be fixed by getting the
proper system voltage, or may be the shut connections are bad, or maybe
the meter is off. But batteries/voltage first.


paul mitchell2007 comcast net wrote:
 > So I chargerd up my E12 and mowed my lawn this afternoon (less than 1/2
 > acre).  The batteries are brand new and after charging all night on the
 > 1-2 year setting, the charge of the power pack read 32 volts.  Any
 > thoughts why it would be so low?  While charging, it was reading upwards
 > of 38v.
 >
 > After mowing, the solenoids are very hot, so I'm going to let it all
 > cool down before recharging.  Is it normal for these to get hot?
 >
 > Also, I followed the instructions in the manual and tried mowing in D1
 > and in D2 with the throttle all the way forward.  It didn't seem to
 > matter where I placed the throttle...the power use guage was in the red
 > the entire time the PTO was on.
 >
 > Thoughts?
 >
 > Paul
 >
 >

--
Jim Coate
*The Electric Tractor Store*
http://www.ElectricTractorStore.com

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