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| | | | Joined: Sep 2009 Posts: 433 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Sep 2009 Posts: 433 | Went to start my 54 W/235 6 volt and had only about 3 volts of power... Tried to jump start and smelled battery fluids... Checked the fluids and they were fine... Tried hooking it up to a battery charger and the leads got hot fast... Could this be a sign that the battery has a short ?
Thanks in advance...
1954 Chevy 3104 3 Window Hydra-Matic in my family for over 60 Years
Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right... "Scarlet Begonias" Grateful Dead 1974
| | | | | Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 6,377 Ex Hall Monitor | | Ex Hall Monitor Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 6,377 | Sounds like that to me but I'm no battery expert.
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| | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,746 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,746 | Check the condition of the electrolyte (acid) during charging. A shorted cell will not "gas", (form bubbles in the acid as the battery charger operates). If a cell is shorted, the other two cells will gas violently because they're not able to create enough resistance to control the charging current.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
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| | | | | Joined: Sep 2009 Posts: 433 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Sep 2009 Posts: 433 | Jerry, when I connected the battery charger leads they got hot real fast, so I am reluctant to connect them again... I have tried this with and with out the battery cables connected to the battery... They never got hot in the past while charging a battery...
Just found my receipt for the battery and it is a little over 3 years old... Probably why it acting up... Time for a new one I suppose...
Last edited by healingbear; 11/08/2012 6:43 PM.
1954 Chevy 3104 3 Window Hydra-Matic in my family for over 60 Years
Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right... "Scarlet Begonias" Grateful Dead 1974
| | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,746 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,746 | If you're dealing with one of the low-current chargers with a maximum output of 20-30 amps or so, a shorted battery will act like a dead short and overload it. I'm accustomed to using professional-type chargers capable of delivering 75-100 amps or so, with charging leads the size of 6 volt battery cables. They simply don't overheat, even at maximum current delivery.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
| | | | | Joined: Aug 2009 Posts: 295 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Aug 2009 Posts: 295 | At only 3 volts - I assume this was open circuit - it sounds to me like that is on tired battery. I would guess you have a cell reversed.
Put a different battery in it and see how that works.
A shorted cell would in effect be only 5 cells so charging with a "6 supply" is going to draw a heavier current.
| | | | | Joined: Sep 2009 Posts: 433 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Sep 2009 Posts: 433 | My charger is only a 10 amp. ... Charger has a 6 and a 12 volt switch... I connected the charger again and it is not getting hot like it did earlier... I was charging a 12 volt battery earlier before I connected to the 6 volt one ...
1954 Chevy 3104 3 Window Hydra-Matic in my family for over 60 Years
Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right... "Scarlet Begonias" Grateful Dead 1974
| | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,746 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,746 | OK- - - -now we're making progress. The charger will probably go to max output if one of the 3 cells is shorted, and that's a definite possibility. As cell plate material sloughs off a battery it falls into the bottom of the cell, which has a reservoir that's able to hold quite a bit of material. If lost cell group material gets deep enough to contact the bottom of the plates, it shorts the cell out. Then you have a "4 volt" battery instead of a 6 Volt, because the shorted cell is no longer in the circuit.
Ignore the comment about a reversed cell- - - -it can't happen on a single cell of an automotive battery. I've seen totally discharged batteries connected improperly and recharged backwards, but I doubt if that's what has happened to yours. A cell shorted out from debris buildup is much more likely.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
| | | | | Joined: Sep 2009 Posts: 433 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Sep 2009 Posts: 433 | My charger started at about 3 amps, goes up to 15 amps... After 4 hours of charging it is down to 2 1/2 amps... Will not be bubbling until ay least morning... Will update then... Thanks again Jerry...
1954 Chevy 3104 3 Window Hydra-Matic in my family for over 60 Years
Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right... "Scarlet Begonias" Grateful Dead 1974
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