Clean It Up

UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Sir Squeaky on September 04, 2007, 12:50:10 pm

Title: Flat battery.
Post by: Sir Squeaky on September 04, 2007, 12:50:10 pm
I've had to return home for a while due to a flat battery.

I forgot to charge it last night, but yesterday wasn't a big day, and it's always been alright for over 2 days if I've forgotten.

Don't know why it's not lasting now, it's only 5 months old. ???

What I wanted to know is if I put it on for 2 and a half hours now, will it give me enough power for half hour's work later?

It's a pre-booked job, so I don't want to let them down.
Wouldn't mind finishing the 3 houses I had left too...
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: Alex Gardiner on September 04, 2007, 01:05:18 pm
Should do.
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: john tomkins on September 04, 2007, 01:25:50 pm
You could always rig  up so you can link into the vans battery if it ever happens again in emergencies, courtesy light is a good/easy one to link to.
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: Sir Squeaky on September 04, 2007, 02:03:30 pm
I'll take my jump leads with me. ;)
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: Russell Macdonald on September 04, 2007, 05:01:39 pm
Rog.

Put in a leisure battery with a split charge relay, end of problem.  ::)

Macc
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: geefree on September 04, 2007, 05:50:32 pm
i have 110 leisure.

charge only at weekends, brilliant....thats solid work all day every day.

went on holiday for two week, worked for a week still alive lol

what battery is is squeaky?
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: brightnclean on September 04, 2007, 06:06:52 pm
Rog.

If it's a leisure battery and you dont use the correct type of charger for it it will die an early death. One of the first symptoms is not holding a full charge :(  I wouldnt rely solely on a split charge relay unless you do loads of mileage or leave the engine running while you work. I looked into this recently and got some very good advice and it stopped me from bothering with one.

Of course you could always invest in a varistream or similar and cut down on battery drain a whole lot  :P  Like Gazza I only charge my 110 amp hr batteries over the weekend and they last a whole week with no probs.
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: Sir Squeaky on September 04, 2007, 06:41:46 pm
It think it's a 90 a/h leisure battery.

I used to have to charge it every other day, now it just about sees out a big day, or 1 and a half small days. :(
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: brightnclean on September 04, 2007, 06:49:56 pm
Are you using a normal car battery charger for it Rog?  Even if it has a trickle charge facilility it wont charge it properly :( A proper charger for this type of battery costs err mega bucks!! £100 ish.
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: geefree on September 04, 2007, 06:53:07 pm
i only have a small 15 amp charger but it does it and it has a light to say fully charged.. it takes all day saturday but it still fully charges it....

you have got me worried now, i hope i aint damaging it.  ???
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: Sir Squeaky on September 04, 2007, 06:57:42 pm
Mine's only 5 amp. :-\
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: geefree on September 04, 2007, 07:11:10 pm
5 amp... that will take 40 hours to fully charge squeaks.
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: Sir Squeaky on September 04, 2007, 07:17:48 pm
Well it drops down to 0 after about 7 or 8 hours.
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: m.b.s. on September 04, 2007, 07:35:41 pm
have a look on ebay under water fed pole there is a splitcharge relay and brush for sale on there
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: jeff1 on September 04, 2007, 08:02:10 pm
I won't go into Battery mode, but Go to Halfords, spend £30  on a fully automatic charger, it charges you battery to full capacity, then switches to trickle charge and maintaines the full charge of your battery, you can leave it connected even while you go on 2 weeks holiday, without fear of over charging your battery.

Squeaky, your running your battery to flat all the time, keep it topped up more often.
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: m.b.s. on September 04, 2007, 08:09:15 pm
what amp output jeff
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: jeff1 on September 04, 2007, 08:17:22 pm
Just checked the spec and the charger, and it does not have a figure, but its suitable for ALL cars, M/cycles/ and ALL vans, and all leisure batteries including the Gel type, so it will do all your batteries including your 110Ah ones.

If you need a product number let me know, and I'll go out into my cold dark shed and get it for you. ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: brightnclean on September 04, 2007, 08:22:03 pm
Just checked the spec and the charger, and it does not have a figure, but its suitable for ALL cars, M/cycles/ and ALL vans, and all leisure batteries including the Gel type, so it will do all your batteries including your 110Ah ones.

If you need a product number let me know, and I'll go out into my cold dark shed and get it for you. ;D ;D ;D

Get yer coat on and torch out and do it  lol  :)
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: jeff1 on September 04, 2007, 08:29:05 pm
Just checked the spec and the charger, and it does not have a figure, but its suitable for ALL cars, M/cycles/ and ALL vans, and all leisure batteries including the Gel type, so it will do all your batteries including your 110Ah ones.

If you need a product number let me know, and I'll go out into my cold dark shed and get it for you. ;D ;D ;D

Get yer coat on and torch out and do it  lol  :)
Its not the cold and dark that bothers me? there is a huge spider out there, who looks like he visits the gym every day  ;D ;D but he's a good friend now, because I feed him flys every day ;D ;D

Anyway he let me past and here is the Model number.
Model No 181750-BFH-1275AM
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: dai on September 04, 2007, 08:48:03 pm
Squeaks, If it's not a sealed battery check the water level. That was the problem when mine was'nt holding a charge, the plates were showing. d i water is all you need to top it up. Just cover the plates.
My 80 amp battery is still going strong after more than 2 years. I only trickle charge it with an 8 amp charger. I do it every night now though.
If you get a meter, take a reading. A deep cycle, other wise known as a leisure battery needs charging when it's 50% discharged, this state has been reached when you get a reading of 12.05 volts.
I researched all this ages ago. The link to the research site is on here if you look back far enough. Hope this helps, Dai
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: Sir Squeaky on September 04, 2007, 09:10:55 pm
Cheers Dai, I thought about checking the levels earlier, but I forgot.
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: Nathanael Jones on September 04, 2007, 09:27:31 pm
Are you using a pump box or flowmaster/varistream controller? I'm using a flowmaster (Which I'm told reduces battery usage) with a cheap 75 amp hour car battery,.. and I've gone 4 days without charging the battery before now!
Title: Re: Flat battery.
Post by: Sir Squeaky on September 04, 2007, 09:28:46 pm
No, I don't need one.
I've got an inline adjustable tap.