24 volt battery maintainer?

[Polycop]

I keep my 003a down by the barn where there is no power. Today I went to fire it up for my monthly / every other month run and it cranked for a bit and then the batteries went dead before it would start. So I had to pull the batteries and take them up to the house where I'm charging them (one at a time). Needless to say this isn't a good situation as if the power was out at the house I'd wheel up the 003a to run the house (and not be able to charge them).

So is there a 24 volt solar battery charger / maintainer that I can hook up and call it good?

Should I keep the batteries on a charge up at the house on a charger until I need them (that would suck)?

Is there a way to jump start a 003 a with a 12 volt truck? I was thinking of using cables on one battery and a jump pack on the other?

Would unhooking the batteries between runs help?

 

[bratpackdad]

24volt solar battery charger is NSN is 6130-01-392-8347 Solargizer

 

[Stalwart]

I've tried the Solargizer and I find the solar panel too darn small to keep a battery maintained here in the Seattle area.

 

[Speddmon]

It's not exactly what you asked, but you have some kind of draw on your batteries that drained them. The voltage regulator or the capacitor in the charging circuit is more than likely the culprit. Get rid of the draw and you'll have charged batteries when you need them. Also, when you run it every month or so, let it run for at least an hour or more so it recharges the batteries, remember this is only a 6.5 amp charging system, so it takes some time to charge them up.

To find the problem you'll need to pull the back cover from the generator to expose the VR and capacitor.

 

[73m819]

It's not exactly what you asked, but you have some kind of draw on your batteries that drained them. The voltage regulator or the capacitor in the charging circuit is more than likely the culprit. Get rid of the draw and you'll have charged batteries when you need them. Also, when you run it every month or so, let it run for at least an hour or more so it recharges the batteries, remember this is only a 6.5 amp charging system, so it takes some time to charge them up.

To find the problem you'll need to pull the back cover from the generator to expose the VR and capacitor.

If there is a draw, and you cant find it, install a battery disconnect switch on the ground

 

[Speddmon]

If there is a draw, and you cant find it, install a battery disconnect switch on the ground

That's a good idea too, but these things are really easy to track down. IIRC you should be able to simply lift the ground side of the capacitor and re-check for the draw. If it's gone, then it was the capacitor. If it's still there then you should be able to remove the charging system fuse and see if it goes away. If so, then the VR is bad.

 

[bratpackdad]

I've tried the Solargizer and I find the solar panel too darn small to keep a battery maintained here in the Seattle area.

It won't work when you have "The Perfect Storm" everyday

 

[Isaac-1]

Ok, just a couple of random thoughts, I guess a lot depends on how much you have to spend, and if you want it done right.

1st off the 24 Solargizers are built in 2 sizes a small and large, they are not advertised as chargers, but more as battery maintainers / conditioners, they also tend to be expensive, I have one on my MEP-701a, but that is just because I found it at the right price on ebay. It sounds like you have a pair of 12 volt batteries wired in series and not a true 24 volt battery so you have some options:

You could probably wire up a pair of cheap 12v solar chargers, one to each battery if you keep everything else isolated, sort of like the split 12/24 volt system used on the CUCV's Alternatively you could get a pair of 5-10 watt 36 cell solar panels wire them in series to get 24 volts and use a 24 volt solar charge controller, this would be what I would call doing it right, your looking at a cost of around $75-$100 or so if you go this route with the made in china 24 volt charge controllers available on ebay for about $15 (these are simple shunt controllers so are not the most efficient type, but good enough for our purpose).

Ike

p.s. it looks like good glass fronted aluminum framed outdoor rated 36 cell solar panels are selling for about $30 with shipping for 5 watt, and about $35 for 10 watt on ebay at the momemnt. Just add some mounting brackets a few feet of hookup wire and one of the above mentioned and you should be fixed up. Being up north with short cold winter days you might be best off splurging the extra $10 and go for a pair of 10 watt panels.

Ike

 

[RJM27]

I was reading the TM and found this!!

SHUTTING DOWN UNIT.​

Place AC circuit breaker in the OFF position.
To stop the Generator Set, place the master
switch in the OFF position.
c. After operation of the Generator Set, perform
the inspection and service requirements as outlined in
preventive maintenance checks and services under
Operator Maintenance Instructions, Chapter 3.
d. Emergency Stop. To stop Generator Set in an
emergency, pull out DC control circuit breaker (see
figure 2-3).
e. If Generator Set is not going to be operated for
two weeks or more, disconnect the negative cable from
the battery. The generator set will be ready to go upon​

reconnection of the negative cable.

 

[Polycop]

Humm, I know I have some sort of draw as when the set is off and I disconnect the battery cable I get a little spark. I guess I could try and track it down as Speed mentioned or I guess (most likely) just disconnect the cable and call it good. That is assuming that my overnight charging got the batteries back up to snuff (they are about a year old). We'll see here in a couple of hours.

No one discussed jump starting one?

 

[tennmogger]

It's easy and safe to use a 12 v vehicle to recharge (not 'jump start') a 24v pack. As said, just charge one 12v battery at a time. Positive to positive and neg to neg on each battery in turn. Do not connect chassis to chassis.

10-15 minutes on each battery would probably put enough power into the 24v pack to start the gen.

That's a heck of a lot easier than removing batteries. Then use a charger to fully recharge the battery pack. If you think about the AH (amp-hrs) needed to recharge a 100 AH battery, charging at maybe 10 amps, that's 10 hours of generator time. Maybe your batteries don't get recharged each time?

A solar panel is a great option to have. Since 24v solar panels are scarcer than 12 v panels, maybe consider one of the newer generation 12v to 24 v converter boards. I found one on Ebay for $10 that goes up to 3 or 4 amps...way more than needed for a smaller solar panel. The solar panel would drive the input to the converter, the converter output would be set to about 28 v, and would trickle charge the battery pack when the sun in shining. I have my little converter in test on the bench and it works great.

Here's the type of dc-dc converter I'm referring to:

12V to 24V DC to DC Step-Up 3A Power Converter Module - eBay (item 250711931257 end time Oct-18-10 13:25:42 PDT)

BTW, I will be putting a diode in series between the converter and battery to avoid backward flow out of the battery when the sun is dark.

Bob

 

[Bobcat701]

Do you need to unhook the battery prior to recharging each one separately? Or can you keep them all hooked up and just connect the vehicle recharger positive & negative cables to the matching terminals on the battery. I am currently recharging mine with the battery unhooked from the rest of the battery train.

Thanks
Joe

 

[kloppk]

Do you need to unhook the battery prior to recharging each one separately?

No need to disconnect the battery before connecting the charger.

 

[87Nassaublue]

On thing, if you do need to remove the batteries and take them to the house to charge them, you can connect them in parallel to the charger and at least charge both at one time. I would also install a battery disconnect switch on the ground so you can be sure a current draw is not draining them.

Once you get it going, I would make sure they are charging by the alternator too.