Little help here?

Hey folks. Can you tell me anything about charging this battery?

This old charger was given to us many years ago in a box and I have never used it. I now have have a tractor battery that needs to be charged.

I plugged the charger in and you could hear it running immediately. But I do not follow the read out. I know the battery is almost dead because it would no longer turn the tractor over at all.

I have taken pics of the charger when it is plugged in and hooked up to the battery.

How do I read it? How do I know when the charger has brought the battery to capacity? I don't want to leave it plugged in overnight. Right? I believe you could overcharge the battery?

Why when I hooked it up is the needle showing to the far left, green, and says full?

 

Pics!

 

I need to make sure this is a 12v battery.

azz-u-me.

 

Benny Hill reminded me not to do that when I was young and watching his show. LOFL

 

Advanced Auto web page specs say it is a 12v battery. Phewww. I do have it on the 12v side with the switch. The charger will do both 6v and 12v. So how do I read this bugger correctly and how do I know when the battery has been charged to it's full capacity?

 

there may be an open circuit in the battery and is causing the charger to read full or the charger is defective.
Hook the battery up check voltage (assuming it's 12V) should read 12+ when you crank the starter if it drops severely to less than 8V the battery is pooched
Pot the caps on the battery and check for fluid level - add distilled water if low and recharge if necessary

 

could be just a bad gauge on the charger as well, they are a simple induction coil would need to check the resistance on the coil for continuity

 

Basod. You are talking to Gasifier. Completely inept at all electrical "stuff". I do not know how to check the resistance and have know way of doing so. Any way I could know if the battery is charging or not? The battery has a sticker on it that reads 2/13. I think it is a fairly new battery. Of course, if it was never charging when we were running the tractor, it has been killed on several occasions.

 

How long would you think would be a good time to charge it and then take it off the battery.

 

Pop the cell caps
Check fluid levels.

Overnight (8-10 hours) won't hurt a battery
Needle on charger should move if you have a good connection

3/13 date, don't think it froze ( yet )

Suspect charger
You need a new automatic charger anyway
I like the 3 charge rate type , with slow charge, 10 amp & start , selector switch

 

As mentioned an auto parts store will have a load tester to check the battery. On bad batteries if you put a meter on them it may look like it has a full charge. However when you put a load on them (50 amps or more), the needle will drop down to the red area of the gauge in less than 5 seconds. Right now Harbor Freight has a hundred amp load tester on sale for $20. Handy for testing alternators also.

 

If a charger goes to full almost immediately it is usually a bad a battery or needs to be topped off with acid. The other thing it could be is an incorrect gauge on the charger.

 

I'll take the battery to have it checked tonight, hopefully. If I get time. Then we will go from there.

 

+1
Got to have a "Known" starting point .

 

Wasn't aware of the skill set - but man we all had to learn sometime and that's what this community should be all about. A cheap electrical meter is good for all kinds of odd ball projects around the house tinkering etc.

 

I here ya basod. And I did learn some of the basics when young, but just don't like doing mechanics stuff if I don't have to. I want to get on the equipment and get work done. Not work on the equipment. I did enough of that from 15-40 y.o.a. And I am now 45. I quit working on my own equipment about 5 years ago or so and said I'm going to pay someone to do it from now on. And that is what I do, most of the time! LOFL.

Anywho,

 

Battery test showed battery good. Charging needed. So now we know my old charger belongs in the electrical recycle bin!

This little baby is on the job.

On sale! Conveniently!

 

$109

 

I read a little of the manual to get the charging underway and now am reading more.