Testing a battery charger | GTAMotorcycle.com

Testing a battery charger

T

timtune

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Serendipitously I was given a 6V charger maintainer but no history if it worked.
Can I check it with a voltmeter/multimeter? Plugged in bu attached to nothing.

It tested 18.8vdc in "12v mode" and in "6v" it started at 18.8vdc and slowly ticked down to settle at 12.4. It has a Float Mode would that effect readings

Then I checked my 6/12 charger w/ 10 amp engine boost (6v has only 10amp option. no 6v trickle)
"6v eng boost" was 6.2vdc "12v trickle" 9.1vdc and "12v boost" was 10.8vdc.

A borrowed 6/12 charger maintainer in "6v" was 6.4vdc. "12v" mode was 0.30. Again does maintainer = wonky readings?

All three seemed off. Is that just proof a multimeter isn't sufficient to test them?
 
Something something unloaded voltage regulators, will come back when I recapture some brain cells
 
Needs to be hooked up to the battery so that the internal charger electronics can measure the battery voltage and then initiate charging until it hits the optimal voltage level.

Put the 6v charger on your battery and measure the battery voltage as you plug it in and for the initialization period. If all okay, leave it on for 5 minutes and check again.

EDIT: Make sure the charger is 1.0amp or less.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The smarter the charger, the less the unloaded measurements tell you anything. You could measure amperage with multimeter with the maintainer connected to a battery. Should be something like 1A. Dont leave it connected like that for a long time or your multimeter will be angry (less than 10 seconds). For measuring voltage, robbo has a good method.
 
It's a 1.5 amp charger maintainer. You think that's too much for a 6v battery?
 
Be surprised if the little 6v battery weighed more than 2 pounds.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom