Battery Charger - Dead, Alive or Just in Deep Sleep

[LowGear]

Just thought I'd pull out the charger to see how many amps a 36 volt solenoid takes to keep the contact closed.  I guess the fellow that sold the car(t) to me kind of fibbed about it working "Just Fine".

What do you say?  Plug her in and watch for smoke or start shopping right now. 

So where the wire is broken on the rear panel.  What is that buss plate looking thing?

The wire that finds 120 up on the timer probably needs to be reattached to the primary windings as well.

Casey

[Thob]

That bus bar in the back looks like the rectifier diodes.  Or, at least, it WAS rectifier diodes. 

Is there a third wire from the secondary on the transformer?  If so, you probably have a center-tapped secondary with two diodes forming a full wave rectifier.  The bus bar is insulated from the case by the fiber washers and fiber spacer underneath it.  The bus bar and case form the heat sink for the diodes.  The wire coming from the diodes probably goes to the battery, the center tap of the secondary would be the other side of the battery.  Between the two of them, I'd expect them to go thru the ammeter and the fuse (unless the fuse is in the primary).

The charger can probably produce 1/2 the amperage with just one diode.

If the transformer is OK, I'd start looking for a couple of stud mounted replacement diodes and an aluminum heat sink to mount them on.  Then use nylon spacers between the heat sink and the case.

Is the timer motor driver or wind-up spring driven?

[Thob]

Looky here what Google found:

www.lesterelectrical.com/service/knowledgebase/troubleshootingguide.pdf

And here:

http://www.lesterelectrical.com/service/knowledgebase/01238_C.pdf

Looks like an upgraded diode assembly is/was available from Lester.

[BruceM]

Impressive, Thob.  And you were right on the spot with your photos based diagnosis as well. 

[LowGear]

Wow,

This is a click or two above impressive.  I'm a pretty heavy Google user but checking for a manual on an item that is almost as old as I am didn't cross my mind.  Pictures do help when Thob is posting just a bit over my head.

Timer is motor driven - good or bad?  I have a timer plug strip if it doesn't work.

Some wiring repair and a smoke test this weekend.

Thanks

Casey

[Thob]

You guys are easily impressed - one wild guess and a lucky google search; suddenly I'm a genius.  Better stop before my head gets any bigger. 

The best timer is the one that works - motor driven has a (possible) advantage that if the power goes off for a while, it stops; then resumes when the power comes on.

The other thing I noticed is that the diagram indicates 480V (if I'm reading it right) on the capacitor; you'll want to keep your fingers away from that!

This charger is of the "simple" type; which should indicate that it is robust.  What it won't do is compensate for temperature or any of the other things that "smart" chargers will do.  I don't think it's a "three stage" charger either.  So you'll need to watch what the batteries are doing in terms of charge level, water level, etc.  The smart chargers, on the other hand, have little microprocessor boxes in them which can be very expensive (or impossible to find) when then things go wrong.

[LowGear]

Ok, I bite.

Got any 36 volt "Smart" chargers in mind?  I am a little concerned about charge rate as this charger was "designed" to work with six big 6 volt batteries and it'll now be working with three group 27 marine batteries.

Casey

[Horsepoor]

Last year I paid $400 for a 36V Club Cart with a working Lester charger. Well the 15 year old+ charged died the following month. I screwed around with trying to trouble shoot it for a week or so then gave up. For $265, including shipping, I got a new solid state multi phase replacement unit. The below link is the model I selected, you can find them for $265 and perhaps less.

http://www.amazon.com/Volt-Battery-Charger-Crowfoot-Connector/dp/B002OCPV42 

[Thob]

If it was me, I would probably get three 12v chargers and hook one to each battery.  Very carefully, as you need to be sure that the chargers aren't referenced to ground.  In other words, no big sparks and surprises when you hook up the second one.  (If the charger has a 2 pin AC plug, then it's probably OK).

[LowGear]

Lester sure has come a long way since 196something.

http://www.amazon.com/Volt-Lester-Battery-Charger-Crowfoot/dp/B006O0D5WA/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=ZHY86U7H50FW&coliid=IYFK8Y3R74CNS

Onward and Upward;  The

That bus bar in the back looks like the rectifier diodes.  Or, at least, it WAS rectifier diodes.

isn't very happy about having it's wire reattached.  According to the Amazon ad Lester is still alive so I'll see if they have a replacement part.  Monday's first call.

Thanks for the great support.  I guess most of us understand that a battery bank is a battery bank whether you're powering a house or a toy.  But again, Thanks,

Casey