I have a small battery charger/starter.

2, 10, 55 amps.

It is almost new.

When I first hook up a battery on the 10 amp setting and plug it in, the gauge will come up to about maximum; then, after about five seconds, it will drop to zero and start pulsating/bouncing from zero to max.

I can hear a clicking when it does this.

I don't think this is normal behavior.

I have a battery/charging system checker/load-tester.

Can I check my charger's output with this??

What is malfunctioning in my charger to cause this intermittent charging behavior??

Thanks.

 

My new battery changer did exactly the same thing. I marched it back to the store and got a new one. The new one did the same thing too so I took it back. The sales guy and I ended up testing the othe few they had and guess what - same thing again.

I have only used it a couple of time but it has worked just fine for me.

 

Are you connecting the battery to the charger correctly? It sounds like it is being connected backwards.
The clicking is the circuit breaker for when it is drawing too much current to protect the transformer.
When there is no battery connected is the charger ok?

If the battery you are trying to charge has a dead specifically SHORTED cell then the charger will be trying to force 12 (actually more like 13.8 -14.0 volts)
into a 10 volt battery and cause the charger's circuit breaker to cycle off and on as you are describing.

First thing I would check is the battery you are charging.
If you have a voltmeter either analog or digital or a battery load tester then check the battery for volts, with NO LOAD there should be around 11.0-12.0 volts surface charge. If it has only say 8.0-10.0 volts or less without a load then you have a shorted cell.
Keep us posted on what you find.
Jim

 

It does this on all batteries.

I didn't just fall off the pumpkin truck; it is connected properly.

Given time, it will eventually charge the battery.

How do I identify the overload protector??

It does sound like an overload clicking.

Thanks.

 

if yout batt is dead or really low start charging on 2 or 10 amps. this will limit the output of the charge and keep the circuit overload breaker from tripping.
Clark

 

What brand of charger is it? It might be going thru a desulphation cycle before it actually starts to charge. Have you tried plugging the charger in first, then hooking up the clips? I ask this because if it's a Schumacher charger, it will behave differently.

 

Sorry, I did not mean to insinuate that you do not know what you are doing. I just mean it is exhibiting the characteristics of a dead short as if it was connected backwards.

When you say it will charge the battery eventually, is that on the 2 amp or the 10 amp? position? I believe the 55-amp position is only for jump-starting and only intermittently. What brand of charger is it?

The circuit breaker will be connected to usually the pos cable inside the case, and will either look like a rectangular box or it might be a glass cylinder about 1/2” dia.
This breaker could be weak and tripping at less than 10 amps.

I was given a Schumacher battery charger that had no output; there is a thermal circuit breaker inside that was burned out. This breaker looks like the type we use in our trucks and can be replaced. I replaced it with a 50-amp unit and now it works fine and cost nothing to fix.

This breaker can be destroyed in several ways:
1, If you have the charger connected to the battery in the 10-amp position and you try to crank the engine with a low battery.
2, You have it connected to the battery and it is in the 55-amp position for too long, the breaker will start cycling, if left this way it can be damaged.

Try to check the output with a small load to see if it will cycle the breaker.
A 6054 Silver Star headlamp on the high beam draws 5.10 amps @ 12 volts try to connect the battery charger to a headlamp ground to ground and pos. to the low beam, then jumper to the high beam. This should give you around 4.5 amps then approx. 9.15 amps for a load test.
See if the light stays on or if it trips the breaker. You can replace it if it is weak.
Jim

 

I just looked at the brand; it is a CHICAGO ELECTRIC.

I only use the 55 amp setting to assist-start a weak battery, and only maybe twice since I have had the charger.

I am going to take time to go into the guts of this thing in a day or so.

Thanks for all the ideas, thus far.

I guess my life could be easier; but, I am a fixer-upper-keeper kind of guy, instead of a toss-it-and-buy-a-new-one guy.

 

I have a Napa charger. If the battery is real dead this is normal operation. Just put it on 2 amp trickle charge and let it charge for an hour. Also if the battery is hooked up to a vehicle take the connections loose and clean. The newer chargers don't work like the older ones do. Probably nothing wrong with it. It will just drive you crazy.

 

The charger completely quit, no current at the cable-clips, nothing.

I removed the cover.

The ground/negative cable is connected to what looks exactly like a circuit-breaker from a big truck.

Written on this device is:

SHORT STOP
12V E44 20A

I tested this for continuity and got nothing.

I re-fastened the negative cable to the other terminal of the faulty device, thereby bypassing it.

Everything works fine with this bypassed.

Is this simply a common 12V 20A circuit-breaker, commonly available at the auto-parts??

One thing it did do, when it was doing the clicking on and off, was to charge, and seemingly fix, an old battery in an old junker car that never before would hold a charge for more than thirty minutes.

Now this old junk battery will crank the engine after a month.

Maybe this clicking was some kind of plate-cleaning vibrating action; it just finally overdone the clicking and killed the breaker.

Thanks.

 

Yes you can use any circuit breaker as long as the terminals will match up or even if they don't you can modify them.
You really shouldn't use it too much without one installed because it is also protecting the rectifier in the event it accidentally gets connected backwards.
From the looks of your findings you could use any 20-amp breaker you have on hand. It is amazing how this charger can be rated for 55 amps when the weakest link is the 20-amp breaker. Wonder why it failed? Hmmm.

SHORT STOP
12V E44 20A

As far as the bringing the old dead battery back to life, the pulsing of the voltage was probably a crude form of a de-sulphating process. I think most of the commercial units use high frequency pulses around 3 megahertz that break up the lead sulphate crystals on the plates so they can fall either to the bottom of the case or back into solution to give the battery some life.
But that is just my theory.
Anyhow I am glad you could get it working again. I do the same thing, if something does not work, I will find out why and make it work even it I am going to throw it away. Problem is I never throw it away
Jim