Vector Battery Charger
 

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Last year I bought a Vector battery charger, the blue "marine" model that
has 2/10/20/35 amp charge rates, and I've used it a couple of times to
charge my tractor battery, car battery and boat batteries. It works well
as a charger at the 2/10/20 rates. Never tried the 35 amp rate.

But the charger also "reconditions" batteries, or so the advertising and
manual say, using a 24-hour cycle to desulfate battery plates. I've never
used this feature, but I loaned the charger to a buddy and he reports that
it actually revived two batteries he was about to toss. I don't have any
other details.

My one gripe about the charger is that its LED readouts are virtually
impossible to read outdoors, even in indirect light.

I got one of the small ones and liked it so much I got the bigger one with
up to 40 amps charge rate and a 100 amp "start engine" setting. Like you, I
revived a couple of motorcycle batteries that sat all winter and would not
take a charge with a regular charger.

Unfortunately, after using it maybe 6 times the bigger one died. Plugged it
in one day and it went "pop" and a small trail of smoke rose out of it.
The little one still works but you have to slap it around to get the fan
running. They are great chargers but I am not so sure about the quality.

Eisboch

www.eisboch.com

Vector Battery Charger
 

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Last year I bought a Vector battery charger, the blue "marine" model that
has 2/10/20/35 amp charge rates, and I've used it a couple of times to
charge my tractor battery, car battery and boat batteries. It works well
as a charger at the 2/10/20 rates. Never tried the 35 amp rate.

But the charger also "reconditions" batteries, or so the advertising and
manual say, using a 24-hour cycle to desulfate battery plates. I've never
used this feature, but I loaned the charger to a buddy and he reports
that it actually revived two batteries he was about to toss. I don't have
any other details.

My one gripe about the charger is that its LED readouts are virtually
impossible to read outdoors, even in indirect light.

I got one of the small ones and liked it so much I got the bigger one with
up to 40 amps charge rate and a 100 amp "start engine" setting. Like you,
I revived a couple of motorcycle batteries that sat all winter and would
not take a charge with a regular charger.

Unfortunately, after using it maybe 6 times the bigger one died. Plugged
it in one day and it went "pop" and a small trail of smoke rose out of it.
The little one still works but you have to slap it around to get the fan
running. They are great chargers but I am not so sure about the quality.

Eisboch

www.eisboch.com


Why not just buy a new battery? I personally don't want to take any
chances. If a battery goes dead, why risk your peace of mind and safety for
maybe another 10% to 20% of its normal life?

Vector Battery Charger
 

"William Bruce" wrote in message
. ..

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Last year I bought a Vector battery charger, the blue "marine" model
that has 2/10/20/35 amp charge rates, and I've used it a couple of times
to charge my tractor battery, car battery and boat batteries. It works
well as a charger at the 2/10/20 rates. Never tried the 35 amp rate.

But the charger also "reconditions" batteries, or so the advertising and
manual say, using a 24-hour cycle to desulfate battery plates. I've
never used this feature, but I loaned the charger to a buddy and he
reports that it actually revived two batteries he was about to toss. I
don't have any other details.

My one gripe about the charger is that its LED readouts are virtually
impossible to read outdoors, even in indirect light.

I got one of the small ones and liked it so much I got the bigger one
with up to 40 amps charge rate and a 100 amp "start engine" setting. Like
you, I revived a couple of motorcycle batteries that sat all winter and
would not take a charge with a regular charger.

Unfortunately, after using it maybe 6 times the bigger one died. Plugged
it in one day and it went "pop" and a small trail of smoke rose out of
it. The little one still works but you have to slap it around to get the
fan running. They are great chargers but I am not so sure about the
quality.

Eisboch

www.eisboch.com


Why not just buy a new battery? I personally don't want to take any
chances. If a battery goes dead, why risk your peace of mind and safety
for maybe another 10% to 20% of its normal life?


I agree with you if the battery is a few years old however sometimes a
battery in perfectly good condition can sulfate over during a period of none
use, as is my example of the motorcycle batteries. When the plates sulfate
and you try to charge the battery, it will quickly come up to the charger's
output voltage and the current drops off as if it is fully charged. The
problem is that the battery is far from fully charged, it is just displaying
a surface charge, acting like it's a very small battery. When you put a
real load on the battery, the charge quickly dissipates and there's no
juice.

The "reconditioning" feature on these chargers output a much higher
voltage - typically in excess of 15 volts that overcomes the insulating
properties of the sulfated plates and "burns" it off. A battery that was
not allowing any current from the charger before reconditioning will now
take a normal charge. I've done this several times in the past with the
motorcycle batteries and once regaining a charge, the battery is fine for
another season of riding.

I remember years ago there was a battery additive marketed that chemically
did the same thing and was supposed to bring dead batteries "back to life".

Eisboch

www.eisboch.com

Vector Battery Charger
 

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"William Bruce" wrote in message
. ..

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Last year I bought a Vector battery charger, the blue "marine" model
that has 2/10/20/35 amp charge rates, and I've used it a couple of
times to charge my tractor battery, car battery and boat batteries. It
works well as a charger at the 2/10/20 rates. Never tried the 35 amp
rate.

But the charger also "reconditions" batteries, or so the advertising
and manual say, using a 24-hour cycle to desulfate battery plates. I've
never used this feature, but I loaned the charger to a buddy and he
reports that it actually revived two batteries he was about to toss. I
don't have any other details.

My one gripe about the charger is that its LED readouts are virtually
impossible to read outdoors, even in indirect light.

I got one of the small ones and liked it so much I got the bigger one
with up to 40 amps charge rate and a 100 amp "start engine" setting.
Like you, I revived a couple of motorcycle batteries that sat all winter
and would not take a charge with a regular charger.

Unfortunately, after using it maybe 6 times the bigger one died. Plugged
it in one day and it went "pop" and a small trail of smoke rose out of
it. The little one still works but you have to slap it around to get the
fan running. They are great chargers but I am not so sure about the
quality.

Eisboch

www.eisboch.com


Why not just buy a new battery? I personally don't want to take any
chances. If a battery goes dead, why risk your peace of mind and safety
for maybe another 10% to 20% of its normal life?


I agree with you if the battery is a few years old however sometimes a
battery in perfectly good condition can sulfate over during a period of
none use, as is my example of the motorcycle batteries. When the plates
sulfate and you try to charge the battery, it will quickly come up to the
charger's output voltage and the current drops off as if it is fully
charged. The problem is that the battery is far from fully charged, it is
just displaying a surface charge, acting like it's a very small battery.
When you put a real load on the battery, the charge quickly dissipates and
there's no juice.

The "reconditioning" feature on these chargers output a much higher
voltage - typically in excess of 15 volts that overcomes the insulating
properties of the sulfated plates and "burns" it off. A battery that was
not allowing any current from the charger before reconditioning will now
take a normal charge. I've done this several times in the past with the
motorcycle batteries and once regaining a charge, the battery is fine for
another season of riding.

I remember years ago there was a battery additive marketed that chemically
did the same thing and was supposed to bring dead batteries "back to
life".

Eisboch

www.eisboch.com

Interesting. Thanks for the explanation.

Vector Battery Charger
 

"William Bruce" wrote in message
.. .


Interesting. Thanks for the explanation.


BTW ... the "reconditioning" mode on these chargers do not supply a steady
voltage. It pulses on and off at a programmed frequency to help burn off
the insulating layer on the plates. There's another term for doing this
that is commonly used other than "reconditioning" but I'll be dipped if I
can remember what it is at the moment.

Eisboch

www.eisboch.com

Vector Battery Charger
 

"Eisboch" wrote:


"William Bruce" wrote in message
. ..


Interesting. Thanks for the explanation.


BTW ... the "reconditioning" mode on these chargers do not supply a steady
voltage. It pulses on and off at a programmed frequency to help burn off
the insulating layer on the plates. There's another term for doing this
that is commonly used other than "reconditioning" but I'll be dipped if I
can remember what it is at the moment.

Eisboch

www.eisboch.com

Equalization?
--
Jim Rusling
More or Less Retired
Mustang, OK
http://www.rusling.org

Vector Battery Charger
 

"Jim Rusling" wrote in message
g...
"Eisboch" wrote:


"William Bruce" wrote in message
...


Interesting. Thanks for the explanation.


BTW ... the "reconditioning" mode on these chargers do not supply a steady
voltage. It pulses on and off at a programmed frequency to help burn off
the insulating layer on the plates. There's another term for doing this
that is commonly used other than "reconditioning" but I'll be dipped if I
can remember what it is at the moment.

Eisboch

www.eisboch.com

Equalization?
--
Jim Rusling
More or Less Retired
Mustang, OK
http://www.rusling.org

There you go! I assume (don't know for sure though) that it relates to
getting all the plates cleaned up and of equal capacity. Another term used
is "desulfate".

Eisboch

www.eisboch.com

Vector Battery Charger
 

"Jim Rusling" wrote in message
g...

Equalization?
--
Jim Rusling
More or Less Retired
Mustang, OK
http://www.rusling.org



Great looking dogs, BTW.

Eisboch

www.eisboch.com

Vector Battery Charger
 

"Eisboch" wrote:


"Jim Rusling" wrote in message
g...

Equalization?
--
Jim Rusling
More or Less Retired
Mustang, OK
http://www.rusling.org



Great looking dogs, BTW.

Eisboch

www.eisboch.com

Thanks, The older one had to be put down in January. He was older and
we had a grass fire here. He was almost blind and when the wife
evacuated the house with the dogs he got really stressed out and just
gave up. One of these days I will get the web page updated. Sometimes
it still seems like he is around.
--
Jim Rusling
More or Less Retired
Mustang, OK
http://www.rusling.org

Don't throw that dead battery away yet (was Vector Battery Charger)
 

A follow-up on the discussion on smart battery chargers.

I decided to get the bike going yesterday and discovered that (again) I had
forgotten to disconnect the battery when I put it away last fall. This bike
has a radio with presets and draws a small amount of current and, as a
result, the battery was dead dead.

For kicks, I hooked up an old "dumb" charger and saw that it would not take
a charge, even after a couple of hours.
My "smart" Vector charger had blown up, so I couldn't try that one. So, I
headed for the store planning to get a new battery.

Instead, I discovered that Schumacher now sells a smart charger with an
automatic desulfate mode. It can be set for three battery types, including
AGM, and has a 2 amp slow charge, 12 amp and 25 amp charge settings. It
automatically detects if the battery needs to be desulfated and turns on
that mode during the bulk charge cycle. I decided to get it since I wanted
another smart charger. I think it was under 80 bucks.

I hooked it up to the dead motorcycle battery. There are selectable
displays to indicate percent of charge and battery voltage. My battery read
"6" and 2.9 volts. Not expecting much, I put the 2 amp slow charge cycle
on and noticed that the "desulfate" mode was automatically initiated after a
couple of minuites. I left it on overnight.

This morning, the charger was in the "charge complete float mode" and the
battery was at 13.8 volts and indicated 100 percent charged. Disconnected
the charger, hit the bike's start button and the bike fired right up.
Turned it off and restarted several times to confirm that the battery was
indeed fully charged and it started every time. By 5 pm, the battery was
still holding a full charge.

These things work. I'll bet there's a lot of batteries tossed out that
still have plenty of service life left in them.

Eisboch

www.eisboch.com

Don't throw that dead battery away yet (was Vector Battery Charger)
 

RCE wrote:
A follow-up on the discussion on smart battery chargers.

I decided to get the bike going yesterday and discovered that (again) I had
forgotten to disconnect the battery when I put it away last fall. This bike
has a radio with presets and draws a small amount of current and, as a
result, the battery was dead dead.

For kicks, I hooked up an old "dumb" charger and saw that it would not take
a charge, even after a couple of hours.
My "smart" Vector charger had blown up, so I couldn't try that one. So, I
headed for the store planning to get a new battery.

Instead, I discovered that Schumacher now sells a smart charger with an
automatic desulfate mode. It can be set for three battery types, including
AGM, and has a 2 amp slow charge, 12 amp and 25 amp charge settings. It
automatically detects if the battery needs to be desulfated and turns on
that mode during the bulk charge cycle. I decided to get it since I wanted
another smart charger. I think it was under 80 bucks.

I hooked it up to the dead motorcycle battery. There are selectable
displays to indicate percent of charge and battery voltage. My battery read
"6" and 2.9 volts. Not expecting much, I put the 2 amp slow charge cycle
on and noticed that the "desulfate" mode was automatically initiated after a
couple of minuites. I left it on overnight.

This morning, the charger was in the "charge complete float mode" and the
battery was at 13.8 volts and indicated 100 percent charged. Disconnected
the charger, hit the bike's start button and the bike fired right up.
Turned it off and restarted several times to confirm that the battery was
indeed fully charged and it started every time. By 5 pm, the battery was
still holding a full charge.

These things work. I'll bet there's a lot of batteries tossed out that
still have plenty of service life left in them.

Eisboch

www.eisboch.com


A repost from earlier this year. You can hook one of these things on
the battery itself, rather than wait for the battery to go TU and the
worry about reviving it:


Surprising Results from Nanopulser Test


It's natural to be skeptical of gimmicks, gadgets, or chemical
concoctions reputed to work minor miracles. We met an enthused
gentleman at the 2006 Boat Show who claimed to have a device capable of
rejuvenating many batteries that had been discarded as "dead," and
would substantially extend the life of properly functioning, fully
serviceable batteries. I thought, "Well of course he does. This will
probably wind up in the bogus idea pile, right next to the cow magnets
that supposedly improve fuel economy and the 90-wt miracle oil
additives that all but promise to perform an engine overhaul." The
gentleman carried a notebook filled with test results from users around
the world; but
I'm not very impressed with tests conducted by unknown persons in
unknown conditions.
There's always a chance that the companies or organizations might not
even exist.

The gentleman's device, called a Nanopulser (tm), next appeared on my
radar when Seattle's Boat Electric began mentioning the product in
display ads in this publication. I spoke to Lori Hogan of Boat Electric
and learned that Boat Electric has been doing a local test of the
Nanopulser (tm) since the product was first presented to them in
September of 2005. "We don't want to carry anything that we
aren't certain is going to actually do what the manufacturer says it
is supposed to do," said Lori. "We had somebody ask us to carry a
similar product a while back, but they wouldn't let us have a unit to
test so we passed on that one. Pulse Genetech, the manufacturer of
Nanopulser (tm), allowed us to actually try one of their devices in a
real world situation, and now that we are convinced it works as
advertised we will be carrying them in inventory."

The chemical reactions that occur within a battery cell create
lead-sulfate during discharge. In a perfect world, and if batteries
were always allowed to fully recharge before being discharged again,
the lead-sulfate would revert back to its basic components of lead,
lead dioxide, and sulfuric acid as the battery regained voltage. In the
real and imperfect world, small traces of lead sulfate collect on the
positive and negative electrode plates. The lead sulfate is an
insulator, and reduces the surface area of he electrode plate actually
exposed to the electrolyte. As batteries age, the amount of
lead-sulfate continues to build on the plates, continuously decreasing
battery performance until one or more cells will not accept or hold a
charge. When one of more cells have failed, the normal practice is to
consider the battery "dead' and purchase a replacement. According
to Nanopulser's claims, verified by the results at Boat Electric, if
a battery is only considered "dead" because the plates have become
sulfated it is now possible to restore acceptable performance and
postpone replacement.

The operating principle behind Nanopulser (tm) is the continuing
application of sharp but low level electrical impulses that can inhibit
the formation of lead-sulfate deposits as well as dissolve existing
deposits in the cells.

One of Boat Electric's customers purchased a new 4D battery in
September of 2005, and brought in a failed 4D core. Boat Electric chose
this opportunity to try the Nanopulser (tm) in a "real world"
situation. When the test began, on September 6, the battery voltage
tested at 10.8 Volts, (definitely dead as a doornail for 12-volt
systems). CCA (cold cranking amps) were just over 950. A Nanopulser was
applied to the battery, and then the battery was placed on a low-level
"float" charge device. The battery was allowed to "desulfate"
from September 6 until October 21, 2005, and Boat Electric took the
following test readings during the process.

Voltage:

9-6: 10.8
9-13: 12.8
9-23: 13.2
9-30: 13.3
10-13: 13.4
10-21: 13.4


Cold Cranking Amps:

9-13: 960
9-16: 950
9-23: 950
9-26: 1010
9-30: 1110
10-07: 1130
10-13: 1140
10-21: 1140


The desulfating test concluded on October 21, 2005, but the toughest
test was yet to come. Would the newly restored battery remain viable
once it had been removed from the float charge? The 4D was
disconnected from the charger in October and left on the cold cement
floor of a warehouse until February 13, 2006. When tested again in mid
February, the 13.4-volt charge had fallen back to 11.75-volts, losing
no more voltage than most "brand new" batteries would have lost in
the same time period under the same conditions and still capable of
adequately powering most equipment rated at 12-volts.

Nanopulser (tm) is a self-contained system that actually draws its
power from the battery or battery bank it is being used to condition.
Power draw is 40mA. The Nanopulser is set for an automatic shutoff when
voltage drops to 11.6 V to prevent a draw down of a battery not
connected to a recharge circuit. (If a dead battery is being desulfated
it will require the introduction of energy from an external charger).
There is also a 24-volt Nanopulser (tm) that draws 30mA and has an auto
shutdown at 23.2 volts.

While the resurrection of a dead battery is an impressive feat, the
greater benefit to most boaters will likely be extending the life of
healthy batteries by preventing sulfation before it takes its toll. As
Lori Hogan explained, "We think that boaters with a Nanopulser will
be able to run their battery charging systems at lower voltages. It's
possible to knock the sulfate off a plate by introducing some high
voltages during the charge process, but there is a risk of damage to
the electrodes whenever those high voltages are being shot through the
cells. The Nanopulser (tm) keeps the plates clean without the risk."


Nanopulser (tm) retails for $90, and a single unit will condition all
of the batteries in a bank. (The 24-volt unit retails for $130.)

I may be a skeptic when it comes to gizmos, gadgets, and miracle cures,
but I know all I need to know about Boat Electric. If Lori and her crew
have tested the Nanopulser (tm) and found it effective as advertised,
that's good enough for me. I find a simple test on the concrete floor
of the Boat Electric warehouse more persuasive than 50-pages of
scientific equations assembled by some testing laboratory or a
"testimonial" letter written by Heaven Only Knowswho.

Don't throw that dead battery away yet (was Vector Battery Charger)
 

wrote in message
ups.com...



A repost from earlier this year. You can hook one of these things on
the battery itself, rather than wait for the battery to go TU and the
worry about reviving it:


Surprising Results from Nanopulser Test



I must have missed this one. Good info. This type of stuff is really
interesting to me.

Eisboch

www.eisboch.com

Vector Battery Charger
 

On Sat, 17 Jun 2006 20:26:45 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:


"William Bruce" wrote in message
. ..


Interesting. Thanks for the explanation.


BTW ... the "reconditioning" mode on these chargers do not supply a steady
voltage. It pulses on and off at a programmed frequency to help burn off
the insulating layer on the plates. There's another term for doing this
that is commonly used other than "reconditioning" but I'll be dipped if I
can remember what it is at the moment.

Eisboch

www.eisboch.com


Hi Eisboch,

Another term is "pulse charging". Equalization charging can be used
to also clean up some sulfation on wet and some AGM VRLA batteries.
For more information on sulfation, please see Section 16 in the Car
and Deep Cycle Battery FAQ on www.batteryfaq.org and for charging and
chargers, Section 9.

BTW, Vector was purchased by Black and Decker a couple of months ago.

Kindest regards,

BiLL.......

Don't throw that dead battery away yet (was Vector Battery Charger)
 

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
ups.com...



A repost from earlier this year. You can hook one of these things on
the battery itself, rather than wait for the battery to go TU and the
worry about reviving it:


Surprising Results from Nanopulser Test



I must have missed this one. Good info. This type of stuff is really
interesting to me.

Eisboch

www.eisboch.com


Was that the Schumacher SC-6000A you used?

Thanks, Dan

Don't throw that dead battery away yet (was Vector Battery Charger)
 

"Danlw" wrote in message
. ..



Was that the Schumacher SC-6000A you used?

Thanks, Dan



No, it's a Schumacher Model WM-2500A

Eisboch

Don't throw that dead battery away yet (was Vector Battery Charger)
 

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"Danlw" wrote in message
. ..



Was that the Schumacher SC-6000A you used?

Thanks, Dan



No, it's a Schumacher Model WM-2500A

Eisboch


Thanks. Was looking as some, will look at that model too. Dan