I have a 14 KW propane powered home generator that normally works great,but lately I’ve been having a problem. It has a 992cc internal combustion engine with a normal 12 volt car battery with a built in trickle charger attached.
When the generator isn’t running, the battery should just be supplying power to the LCD display, but perhaps it is doing more than that. Anyway, it appears the generator’s built in trickle charger is no longer working since the battery only lasts a few days before completely dying. I tried replacing the new battery I had just bought, but the second one did the exact same thing. I have removed the dead batteries and used a portable battery charger to try to bring them back to life, but with no luck.
I can’t figure out why these batteries can’t be revived. Either the portable battery charger I have is no longer working, or the battery is so drained that it can’t be revived. These are otherwise brand new 12 volt batteries that I tested to make sure they would successfully start the generator, which they both did.
So if you drain a car battery completely is it then unable to be recharged, or do I need a different kind of batter charger to revive it?
Completely discharging a car battery isn’t good for it, but shouldn’t kill it in one incident. Those portable start-box battery chargers are really more designed for a slightly depleted battery than a completely stone-dead one, so you might need to try a plug in charger.
It could also be that the trickle charger is overcharging the batteries and frying them. Your best bet would probably be to take the battery in somewhere to get it tested and charged. Most auto parts stores will do this. If the batteries are fried, you probably need to change the regulator in the trickle charger (if you can without replacing the whole charger assembly).
I am far from an auto mechanic, but it occurs to me that the charger might be draining the battery instead of charging it. Easy to test – make sure the battery is charged but don’t connect it to the trickle charger or generator for week. If the battery is bad, it will self-discharge; if the problem is in the trickle charger and/or circuit, it won’t.
Unfortunately there is no easy way to disconnect the generator’s trickle charger without having to take the whole thing apart. I’ve asked the electrical contractor who installed it 5 years ago to stop by and take a look before I try and order a replacement trickle charger just to make sure there isn’t something else draining the battery faster than it is presumably being charged…
I’m using a plug in charger but it doesn’t seem to do anything at this point. I will take it into my local auto parts store today and see what they say…
Sure there is, unless you can’t remove the battery. Like this:[ol][]Place fully charged battery on bench[]Don’t connect it to anything[*]Check charge after a week.[/ol]If it is dead, the problem isn’t in the trickle charger.
Usually when a battery drains in 3 or 4 days you mjight find a relay somewhere is staying engaged. Once you install the batteries come back in about an hour and feel all your relays if one is hot it is engaged for some reason.
How does your trickle charger work, is it plugged into 110 all the time when the generator is not running? The trickle charger has to be geting power from somewhere?
Sure there is, unless you can’t remove the battery. Like this:[ol][li]Place fully charged battery on bench[]Don’t connect it to anything[]Check charge after a week.[/ol]If it is dead, the problem isn’t in the trickle charger.[/li][/QUOTE]
Right. I get that. But the battery is totally dead at this point (< 1 volt) so I have to get it charged up in order to test it. I took it to the local auto store and they are going to try and revive it, although they said recharging rarely works when they are that low.
The generator’s trickle charger is hardwired into the controls so it wouldn’t be easy to disconnect it without taking everything apart. I could simply cut some wires, but I would rather not do that…
Or its not designed to do this job…
What can happen is that the battery is so low resistance that the battery charger detects a short circuit and stops as soon as it starts.
It takes real herbs to charge a really flat battery …
One trick is to use another battery to charge it.
Eg use your own car !
Do you have a volt meter? If so when you get the battery charged up. Test the voltage. connect it to the generator. Test the voltage. It should increase, if it does not then the charger is not working.
