About a year or two ago folks were posting how good the Vector Battery
chargers were. Any current comments with model #'s???

I have a few AGM boat batteries that are sulfated up and in need of a
charge. They are off the boat and in the gararge but my current charger
won't charge them.

"Rick" wrote in message
...
About a year or two ago folks were posting how good the Vector Battery
chargers were. Any current comments with model #'s???

I have a few AGM boat batteries that are sulfated up and in need of a
charge. They are off the boat and in the gararge but my current charger
won't charge them.




Does your current charger have a pulse desulate mode?
If not, one that does will likely get it charging again.

I've had Vectors, but the one I use now is made by Schumacher which I like
better. Both Vectors that I had quit working after a few uses. At the
beginning of the 3 stage charge cycle the Schumacher senses the amount of
current flow and if not correct automatically switches to a desulfate mode.

Occasionally in the desulfate mode it will run for a while and then shut
down with an error indication because it was not sensing any (or enough)
current flow. I discovered that if I unplugged the charger and started over
it would eventually get through the desulfate mode, cleaning the plates and
into the bulk charge cycle.

Eisboch

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"Rick" wrote in message
...
About a year or two ago folks were posting how good the Vector Battery
chargers were. Any current comments with model #'s???




I forget the Vector model number I used to use, but here's the Schumacher I
am currently using and it seems to work well so far.

I have lots of batteries that need to be charged, particularly in the spring
and this one brought them all back to full charge plus desulfated them. I
have never tried it on an AGM battery, however there *is* an AGM setting on
the charger under battery type.

http://store.schumachermart.com/sc-1200a.html

Eisboch

"Rick" wrote in
:

I have a few AGM boat batteries that are sulfated up and in need of a
charge. They are off the boat and in the gararge but my current charger
won't charge them.


WRONG....You have a few AGM boat batteries that are sulfated up and in need
of REPLACEMENT, not charging. Charging isn't going to fix them....

Larry
--
Halloween candy left over.....
Is there a downside?

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Rick" wrote in
:

I have a few AGM boat batteries that are sulfated up and in need of a
charge. They are off the boat and in the gararge but my current charger
won't charge them.


WRONG....You have a few AGM boat batteries that are sulfated up and in
need
of REPLACEMENT, not charging. Charging isn't going to fix them....


According to several sites that I just read .... AGM batteries can indeed be
desulfated if they are not too far gone. Worth a try anyway.

Eisboch

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"Larry" wrote in message
...

WRONG....You have a few AGM boat batteries that are sulfated up and in
need
of REPLACEMENT, not charging. Charging isn't going to fix them....


According to several sites that I just read .... AGM batteries can indeed
be desulfated if they are not too far gone. Worth a try anyway.

Eisboch


Follow up to this: AGM batteries require the high freq pulse method of
desulfation.

Eisboch

"Eisboch" wrote in
:

Follow up to this: AGM batteries require the high freq pulse method of
desulfation.



No amount of "pulsing" on the planet is going to change crystalline lead
sulfate back into sulfuric acid and lead to restore a properly sulfated
battery...no matter what the sales hype to sell the overpriced nonsense.
The pulsing chargers are only good to knock off some of the impurity
surface sulfation in the way of the acid-that's-left from touching the
lead. Crystalline lead sulfate is a very stable 'ol salt, even in diluted
acid soaked in gauze.

AGM doesn't change chemistry.....well, except in boat shops.

Larry
--
Halloween candy left over.....
Is there a downside?

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Eisboch" wrote in
:

Follow up to this: AGM batteries require the high freq pulse method of
desulfation.



No amount of "pulsing" on the planet is going to change crystalline lead
sulfate back into sulfuric acid and lead to restore a properly sulfated
battery...no matter what the sales hype to sell the overpriced nonsense.
The pulsing chargers are only good to knock off some of the impurity
surface sulfation in the way of the acid-that's-left from touching the
lead. Crystalline lead sulfate is a very stable 'ol salt, even in diluted
acid soaked in gauze.

AGM doesn't change chemistry.....well, except in boat shops.


I am not a chemist. I use what proves to work.

Eisboch

"Eisboch" wrote in
:

According to several sites that I just read .... AGM batteries can
indeed be desulfated if they are not too far gone. Worth a try
anyway.


Notice the part where the current charger "won't charge them"? The
electronic chargers, like my 40A/100A Vector, won't start the charging on
a dead battery because the computer can't seem to tell what to set the
voltage to unless there is a residual voltage to measure, unloaded. My
neighbor had a dead car battery and, bigshot me, took the big Vector (now
called Black and Decker as they bought the company) over to his house.
It refused to start on the dead battery. I came back and got my trusty,
old Schumaker SCR charger and left it pumping his dead battery for an
hour to get the voltage to come up. Swapping chargers to the
Vectorbeast, again, it started charging normally. Once charged, we left
it on refurb overnight to desulfate the plates with its pulses. The
battery wasn't left uncharged over a few hours. His kids left the
interior lights on all night and noone noticed. It was really dead!

So, I suspect his discharged cells are why it wouldn't start charging.
The computer didn't understand. From that info, he needs a new
battery....BEFORE the damned thing strands him in the middle of nowhere
with no starting power to get home.....ok? If he has any brains, he'll
buy a wetcell we can TEST!

Larry
--
Halloween candy left over.....
Is there a downside?

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Eisboch" wrote in
:

According to several sites that I just read .... AGM batteries can
indeed be desulfated if they are not too far gone. Worth a try
anyway.


Notice the part where the current charger "won't charge them"? The
electronic chargers, like my 40A/100A Vector, won't start the charging on
a dead battery because the computer can't seem to tell what to set the
voltage to unless there is a residual voltage to measure, unloaded. My
neighbor had a dead car battery and, bigshot me, took the big Vector (now
called Black and Decker as they bought the company) over to his house.
It refused to start on the dead battery. I came back and got my trusty,
old Schumaker SCR charger and left it pumping his dead battery for an
hour to get the voltage to come up. Swapping chargers to the
Vectorbeast, again, it started charging normally. Once charged, we left
it on refurb overnight to desulfate the plates with its pulses. The
battery wasn't left uncharged over a few hours. His kids left the
interior lights on all night and noone noticed. It was really dead!

So, I suspect his discharged cells are why it wouldn't start charging.
The computer didn't understand. From that info, he needs a new
battery....BEFORE the damned thing strands him in the middle of nowhere
with no starting power to get home.....ok? If he has any brains, he'll
buy a wetcell we can TEST!


I agree and have had the same experience. It was not clear however if the OP
was using a conventional charger or a smart charger. I've had "dead"
batteries that would not charge from a conventional charger either, simply
because of sulfated plates and the resultant high internal impedance.

Also, I've had more than one experience with the Vector or smart Schumacher
on dead batteries.
You are correct ... they will try for a while, then default to an Error.
However, I discovered that if you just unplugged them and start it again,
eventually they will raise the battery voltage enough to continue through
the normal, 3 stage process.

Eisboch