Tominator Posted August 8, 2006 Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Went to go to get the mail today, and the battery in my truck is dead. I hooked it up to the charger. Here's my question: How do I know when it's done? Every time I've used that charger, nothing seems to get done. Needle never seems to move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted August 8, 2006 Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out Hmm, Maybe when the battery explodes?? J/K!! We have a charger here at work, needle never moves, I just put a battery on all day, and it should be good to go....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted August 8, 2006 Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out First off, are you sure its the battery? Btw, the gage should read 12V when the battery is ready. A lot of chargers also have color coded gages (red, orange, green). Once it fires up, leave it running and then pull off one of the battery cables (Personally I pull the hot). If it keeps running its your battery, if it dies start looking for an Alternator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OJR Posted August 8, 2006 Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out If you put it on high charge, it will start to move after about 2 or 3 hours. If it is on slow charge, it will move after about 5 or 6 hours. If the battery was dead, it will take longer to charge. Don't try to start it until you have had the charger on for several hours! When the battery is fully charged, the needle will drop back down and look like it has never moved! I figure I have confused you real good now, so I will quit!! LOL!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted August 8, 2006 Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out NEVER pull the hot wire.......... Always pull the negative Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hutchies Posted August 8, 2006 Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out Jeramie hit it on the head. I have a jumpstarter on my charger as well. I can kick it up and jump it right off. Comes in handy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griz Posted August 8, 2006 Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out Chris you may have a bad connection on your battery or dirty post and there again you may need a new battery. As far as the charger goes. If the battery is all the way down I would leave it on there for 45 minutes to an hour... First, Pull the caps off and make sure that all the ports are full. If not and there is 1 or 2 that are dry. The best thing to do is to replace the battery... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted August 8, 2006 Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out You need to know the cold cranking amps of the battery in you vehicle "usaly on the top or side of the battery then you need to know how many amps your charger is putting out. When you know that thats how you can determine the amount of time needed. you would not want to charge your battery on high for an hour if your charger is putting out 400 amps that would cook the battery. So In my opinion a med charge of say 10 amps for and hour would be work well A slow trickle charge iis always best for the battery life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted August 8, 2006 Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out [ QUOTE ] NEVER pull the hot wire.......... Always pull the negative [/ QUOTE ] Worried about bumping it against the ground? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUDRUNNER Posted August 8, 2006 Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out I was taught when your hooking up a battery you do positive then negative and when unhooking you do negative then positive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted August 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out Well, this is on my '03 Silverado. the terminals are not corroded at all. pretty sure it's a "maintenance free" battery. the green eye is totally dead. I did have an iPod adapter hooked up, and I don't drive too much in the summer. other than that, I don't know why it would have died. I didn't notice any amp problems on the gauge last time I drove it, so I don't know if it was the alternator, kind of doubt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andrea Posted August 8, 2006 Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out Does the needle move when you rub the clamp up and down on the battery post? Mine does. Kinda sparks a bit too. Then I leave it on ( fast charge) for a couple of hours. This, of course...is on my lawnmower battery. Not my truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdvantageTimberLou Posted August 8, 2006 Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out [ QUOTE ] Well, this is on my '03 Silverado. the terminals are not corroded at all. pretty sure it's a "maintenance free" battery. the green eye is totally dead. I did have an iPod adapter hooked up, and I don't drive too much in the summer. other than that, I don't know why it would have died. I didn't notice any amp problems on the gauge last time I drove it, so I don't know if it was the alternator, kind of doubt it. [/ QUOTE ] Chris, You can't always beleive the green eye as I have seen some green but dead. So that does not always tell you if the battery truly is dead. If its the original battery or been in there for many years, it probably won't hold a charge and you will need a new one. Wal-mart, Sam's Clubs, Auto Zones usually are great places to find a good battery at a good price. If you have cleaned the terminals, and tried the battery and still nothing, its dead. If you charge it up, get it to start, then shut it off and try again in an hour and it don't start, its the battery. In this weather a good battery should easily roll over your engine in that truck. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted August 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out OK, my charger has two scales on it. One red, one green. The red one is on top. On the left of that scale it says 100% and fades to black as it goes to the right. The green scale has numbers on it starting at 2 and goes to 19 I think it is. Right now the needle is just past the 5 on the green scale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horst Posted August 8, 2006 Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out Do what I do, take a bunch of stuff apart starting at the battery and working back to wards the alternator and even the starter if you like.Wait till you got a hopelessly lost feeling, it may take several hours to get enough stuff tore apart.Then call and invite your brother, friend, or an nieghbor over that knows about cars and happen to be trying to put stuff back together when they show up.Dont use the same guy more than once in row, give em a few months to forget or theyll start screening thier calls Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htephil Posted August 9, 2006 Report Share Posted August 9, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out I guess I qualify ....been wrenching since Davy Crockett took off for Texas on one of our "fleet mules" from the shop. First - on newer vehicles NEVER disconnect either battery cable with the engine running as you could easily damage the computer or the alternator. Either substitute a known good battery to test the charging system or install a new battery if your unsure. Batteries are a lot cheaper to replace than anything else. If you need to jump a battery- connect the positive cables 1st, then connect the negative from the good battery to an engine ground...not the old battery as it can explode. I've seen this many times(especially cold weather). Hate to see a fellow hunter damage their eyesight in a flash ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted August 9, 2006 Report Share Posted August 9, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out As Jason said, never take the positive cable off first, if you touch a ground, you'll have a spark show. That's the same as disconnecting the battery cables with a metal wrench, always disconnect the negative first. If you don't, and one end of the wrench is on the + side, and the other end touches metal, it'll short out and again you'll have a spark show. As for the battery problem, if the Ipod connector was plugged in and drawing amperage, it'd drain the battery. It puts a parasidic load on the battery as us mechanics call it. It'll draw too much amperage and eventually you'll have no power left. As for the charge, the best thing to do is leave it on a trickle charge, which is 2 amps. Charge the battery on trickle charge for about 6 hours and you should be good to go. If she still doesn't go, that probably means the battery is done and you need a new one. From my experience, don't buy junk batteries. You're better off to buy an AC Delco and be done with it. It'll last a lot longer then most batteries. Good luck Chris, hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontHunter Posted August 9, 2006 Report Share Posted August 9, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out Chris,,, have a load test done on that battery to determine wether it has dead cells or not.... and while they are at it have the charging system tested ,, to see if the altanator may have a problem... Most places like Advance Auto will do this test for ya FREE of charge... This way it takes the guess work out of the equation.. Good Luck Buddy.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdvantageTimberLou Posted August 9, 2006 Report Share Posted August 9, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out Shaun, I gave up on AC Delco batteries myself, my wife's mini-van at 32,000 miles, the positive post came completely off the battery, it corroded off the side of the battery. That should never happen with a battery especially on a new car with only 32,000 miles. Then Pontiac nicely stuffs the battery in the right front corner where you have to take some things off before you can even get to the battery, nice engineering work there too!! Then again the right front wheel bearing went out at 37,000 miles too, so geniune parts don't impress me like they did in the past! Put in an aftermarket battery and an aftermarket wheel bearing and still running strong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted August 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out *Update* Well, I got it started last night after charging all day, but it's dead again this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted August 9, 2006 Report Share Posted August 9, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out *Update* Yep, sounds like the battery is shot Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted August 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out *Update* [ QUOTE ] Yep, sounds like the battery is shot Chris. [/ QUOTE ] So that's not alternator trouble is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowtechTurkeyHunter Posted August 9, 2006 Report Share Posted August 9, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out *Update* [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Yep, sounds like the battery is shot Chris. [/ QUOTE ] So that's not alternator trouble is it? [/ QUOTE ] Not if it it stayed running and everything worked in the trcuk its not the alternator ... were the lights bright? Usually you can unhook the battery from the truck after its running ... if the alternator is working the truck should stay working ... usually. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted August 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out *Update* [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Yep, sounds like the battery is shot Chris. [/ QUOTE ] So that's not alternator trouble is it? [/ QUOTE ] Not if it it stayed running and everything worked in the trcuk its not the alternator ... were the lights bright? Usually you can unhook the battery from the truck after its running ... if the alternator is working the truck should stay working ... usually. Steve [/ QUOTE ] Nope, it ran fine. I turned off the radio and AC and let it run for about 10 minutes to try and charge the battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted August 9, 2006 Report Share Posted August 9, 2006 Re: Mechanics--Help a brother out *Update* Chris, if you have a multimeter, put it across the battery and measure the DC voltage. When running it should read around 13-14VDC, and off around 12VDC. If you can, measure across the battery, and see what the voltage drops to when trying to start it, it shouldn't drop below around 10VDC, if it drops more than that, the battery is shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.