Shurflo battery

« **on:** May 15, 2006, 02:31:03 pm »

We have been using our backpack now for about 5 weeks. We bought it from the US, brand spanking new. It was charged for the recommended time, for about a day when we bought it.

We are now charging it as soon as we get home. On the earlier model I have seen the charger with a red & green indicator, telling you when it is charged/not charged. However on our charger it doesnt have this, so we have no idea when its ready.

Preperation is vital, so we checked it, kept it running for a few minutes, with the pole inserted and kept out.

Okay so we had a space of a few days with no work. It comes to the day and after driving 40 miles to our destination, we get the backpack out. We start on the 1st house and it stops........DEAD.

f this and f that......

We then repeat the following day, ..........again it conked out on us.

On the 2nd day luckily we had the Freedom Trolley with us, and got our work done.

-------------------
QUESTION

Okay my question is why should this be happening?

What are we doing wrong?
Is the pump to blame and not the battery?

Has anyone had this experience?

Thanks
Darren

« **Reply #1 on:** May 15, 2006, 02:33:04 pm »

Maybe you left the trigger off?

« **Reply #2 on:** May 15, 2006, 02:34:19 pm »

There is no trigger on it.

« **Reply #3 on:** May 15, 2006, 03:09:09 pm »

is it possible you have let the battery run to low, as this can damage the battery, but as you said you have no indicator to tell you this, maybe it would be a good idea to get a spare battery to change over half way through the day,

« **Reply #4 on:** May 15, 2006, 03:11:09 pm »

it could possibly be a couple of things, But first if it came with a manual? check the charge time, the first charge for a new battery is always longer, than for succesive charges. is there voltage coming out of the charger now?

1. The battery could be faulty.
2. The pump although it seems to work ok, can be causing the battery to drain when left unused, fully charge battery then disconnect it from the pump, leave it say overnight and then try it straight away, if everything ok then the fault lies in the pump draining it. if the battery is flat, then the battery is at fault, did the system come with its own charger if so is it charging at the correct rate. if you have a meter check the out put from the charger, also you can test for current drain. if you can afford to buy a new battery for it I would go for one at least this way you can eliminate a pump or battery fault. if you need more help then email or pm me

What type of battery is it?

« **Reply #5 on:** May 15, 2006, 03:30:32 pm »

It sounds like you must have a faulty battery as i operate 2 of the same backpacks and when charged i get 2 full days work out of each of them.

Also try checking that your actual battery charger is working properley.

« **Reply #6 on:** May 15, 2006, 04:32:55 pm »

1st charge from new 24 hours lasted 2-3 days there after 8hour charge( acc to the booklet) that was fine aswell used for a couple of small jobs after that then dident use for 2-3 days gave it another 8 charge stayed on for about 10seconds. dont about the charger thou doesent have indicator lights on it. ps can i charge the batt with a small car charger. cheers darren.

« **Reply #7 on:** May 15, 2006, 04:50:49 pm »

maybe you have a loose wire somewhere

Paul

« **Reply #8 on:** May 15, 2006, 05:22:34 pm »

My Shurflo backpack battery lasted for seven months; no problems even during the winter. I gave it some stick too.

However, when it died; it died. I could get maybe half-a-day's work out of it.

The backpack is designed to pull the full current needed from the battery and if it can't get it, it switches itself off. But it should work for a while.

I found that if I disconnected the battery and then reconnected it again, it would work for 10 seconds or so, then switch itself off.

I got a replacement battery from some car shop that sold them to power electric scooters (the sort kids use). It was exactly the same specifications, although I had to change the connecting spades to a larger size.

No problems at all with it.

« **Reply #9 on:** May 15, 2006, 07:58:43 pm »

Hi Darren

Don't use a car charger for this type of battery,its to dangerous, and may explode, a car charger is for car battery's, and not for the type of battery you are useing. They are no good for leisure battery's either.

It certainly sounds like a faulty battery to me!

« **Reply #10 on:** May 15, 2006, 08:48:21 pm »

Don't use a car charger for this type of battery,its to dangerous, and may explode, a car charger is for car battery's, and not for the type of battery you are useing. They are no good for leisure battery's either.

It certainly sounds like a faulty battery to me!

I have been using a car charger since last August. The chargers that have overnight
trickle charge seem to work fine.
Is the Shurflow battery not the same as a leisure battery? I have only used the charger that came with the backpack to charge it. The trickle charge seems fine for the leisure battery though. Dai

« **Reply #11 on:** May 16, 2006, 10:52:51 pm »

thanks for all the responce gonna buy new bat tom see if it works. word warning buy one from abroad it goes wrong stuffed!!!

« **Reply #12 on:** May 17, 2006, 05:13:57 pm »

LOOKED ALL DAY TODAY TO BUY A NEW BATT NO JOY NEED IT FOR SAT WILLING TO DRIVE A FAIR DISTANCE TO PICK ONE UP. ANY IDEAS ANYONE?

« **Reply #13 on:** May 17, 2006, 05:21:34 pm »

Have you tried www.williamsonpumps.com ? i know they sell the backpacks and they are a main dealer for the pumps,Gaz

« **Reply #14 on:** May 17, 2006, 06:12:42 pm »

Also check out Maplins. Dai

« **Reply #15 on:** May 17, 2006, 10:37:02 pm »

I got my shurflo backpack from cleantech - they may sell batteries for them

« **Reply #16 on:** May 18, 2006, 09:23:58 pm »

williamson pumps in sussex really knows his stuff have seen the batteries at his wharehouse
regards grant

« **Reply #17 on:** May 19, 2006, 04:51:43 pm »

Quote from: dai on May 15, 2006, 08:48:21 pm

Don't use a car charger for this type of battery,its to dangerous, and may explode, a car charger is for car battery's, and not for the type of battery you are useing. They are no good for leisure battery's either.

It certainly sounds like a faulty battery to me!

I have been using a car charger since last August. The chargers that have overnight
trickle charge seem to work fine.
Is the Shurflow battery not the same as a leisure battery? I have only used the charger that came with the backpack to charge it. The trickle charge seems fine for the leisure battery though. Dai

The plates can overheat, and if its not vented properly it will explode

« **Reply #18 on:** May 19, 2006, 05:25:04 pm »

Have you taken the plastic top off, on top of the battery, Their are Two terminals, if they have become lose the battery will not charge.

It caught me out once, I thought I had a dud battery till I checked.

Photos below if it helps.

« **Reply #19 on:** May 19, 2006, 06:13:51 pm »

Quote from: jeff1 on May 19, 2006, 04:51:43 pm

The plates can overheat, and if its not vented properly it will explode

You will wreck thi s type of battery if you use a car charger, they are completely differant types of battery compared to a leisure battery.

A leisure battery is basically a glorified car battery with better plates in it to prevent the plates oxidising from sustained, long periods of discharge, whereas a car battery is designed just to provide a large, short term discharge when you start the car. The car battery and the leisure battery are vented to allow any gasses caused from the high current diischarge and also from the higher charge currents to disperse safely. These vents are the reason that with both a car battery and a leisure battery needs to remain upright to stop the acid leaking out.

The sealed lead acid battery is a differant kettle of fish altogether. It by it's name is sealed, although if there is a buildup of pressure inside the battery there is a safety vent to allow that to be released. Because it is a sealed battery with no way to top up the acid like you can with a car or leisure battery, that's why you must use a charger that has been designed for sealed lead acid batteries. In an extreme case, if you used a normal car battery charger the gasses could build up too fast for the safety vent to work and it could, in theory, explode. What would happen is that the acid would vapourise and escape through the safety vent and then your battery would have less acid and thus less capacity for holding a charge.

The differance between the two types of chargers basically is that the car/leisure type charger will use quite a high charge current initially and will use a constant voltage, ie 13.8V or for a quicker charge some may use up to 14.4V.
The sealed lead acid charger is a far more intelligent being, it uses a differant type of regulation, it uses a Constant Current charge technology. The charger senses what state of charge the battery is in and uses a constant current to charge the battery safely, using a lower amperage so as to not cause a build up of gasses that deplete the acid.

The best sealed lead acid chargers are "Intelligent Chargers", they have a 3 stage charging method to maximise the life of the battery while still having a short a charging period as possible.

Hope this brief ( yea right !! ) reply helps

Tim

« **Reply #20 on:** May 19, 2006, 07:52:47 pm »

The plates can overheat, and if its not vented properly it will explode
Jeff, I know what you mean but not all car chargers are the same. I have a choice of charging for a fast charge at 13 amps, or charging overnight at 2 amps. I charge my leisure battery at 2 amps. This drops off to zero when the battery is fully charged.

I have been given a big charger that is designed for mobility scooter gel batteries. I havn't used it yet as I'm not sure it would be suitable for leisure batteries.
Does any one know if you can charge leisure batteries with these? Dai

« **Reply #21 on:** May 19, 2006, 09:50:57 pm »

Quote from: dai on May 19, 2006, 07:52:47 pm

The plates can overheat, and if its not vented properly it will explode
Jeff, I know what you mean but not all car chargers are the same. I have a choice of charging for a fast charge at 13 amps, or charging overnight at 2 amps. I charge my leisure battery at 2 amps. This drops off to zero when the battery is fully charged.

I have been given a big charger that is designed for mobility scooter gel batteries. I havn't used it yet as I'm not sure it would be suitable for leisure batteries.
Does any one know if you can charge leisure batteries with these? Dai

You should be fine using your car charger at 2amps to charge your leisure battery, although at 2amps and with a 85Ah battery you would need to leave it on charge for 40-50hrs to charge it from flat. ( although you should never totally discharge any battery whether leisure or sealed lead acid )

Charging a leisure battery with a sealed lead acid / sealed gel battery charger wont do your battery any harm, but it could do damage to the charger as a leisure battery will load the charger more than a gel/sealed lead acid battery would. Having said that, there are some SLA/gel chargers which can charge both types of battery, but most will say on them if they are specifically designed for charging both.

Tim

« **Reply #22 on:** May 19, 2006, 10:04:29 pm »

Thanks Tim. It does say on the big charcher that it should only be used for Gel batteries. Dai

« **Reply #23 on:** May 21, 2006, 07:37:40 pm »

MAPLINS £20 NICE ONE DAI. USED THE BACKPACK YESTERDAY SEEMS OK THE ONE THAT CAME FROM USA WITH THE BACKPACK (6-7 WEEKS OLD ) WONT TAKE A CHARGE SO I TAKE IT THE BATT IS A DUFF ONE. THANKS TO ALL FOR YOUR ADVICE DARREN.