I have a fiberglass buggy. I get a fresh charge on it.. take it out.. have a good drive.. bring it back to the garage.. next morning the car is dead.
What causes mysterious loss of battery charge?
Why does my battery mysteriously go dead?
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MNAirHead
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MedicTed
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The short answer (pun intended) is a short. Charge the battery, disconnect one of the battery cables and connect an amp meter between the battery and the cable. With the key off, and no lights energized, you should have no current flowing (assuming no radio in the buggy, a radio may have a slight draw to maintain it's memory and clock). If you have a draw, remove the fuses one at a time to determine which circuit has the short. Once you determine which circuit, you need to trace the wiring looking for the short.
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Marc
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http://www.nls.net/MP/VOLKS/schem/drain.gif
If you don't have an ammeter, simply rig a testlamp (or any common tail/marker lamp bulb) in series with the disconnected cable. If there's any significant current flow out of the battery the filament will glow, you can pull fuses/wires until it goes out to isolate the drain.
If you don't have an ammeter, simply rig a testlamp (or any common tail/marker lamp bulb) in series with the disconnected cable. If there's any significant current flow out of the battery the filament will glow, you can pull fuses/wires until it goes out to isolate the drain.
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SUbuggy
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you could have a bad cell in your battery. remember, a 12 volt car battery is really something like 6 1.5volt cells internally wired in series. so if one cell was bad, you could have enough juice to get you going off a fresh charge but it is only go to lasty a day or so.
just take a digitial meter, fully charge it and you should have something like 12.4 volts. start it a couple time. re-measure. if it is less than 11.4 volts you have a bad cell. if it is not a sealed battery, check and see if oner of you cells is low on fluid.
just take a digitial meter, fully charge it and you should have something like 12.4 volts. start it a couple time. re-measure. if it is less than 11.4 volts you have a bad cell. if it is not a sealed battery, check and see if oner of you cells is low on fluid.
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MNAirHead
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Marc
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The lead/sulfuric-acid reaction creates a cell voltage of ~2.2V - a fully-charged "12V" battery should read 13.2V across the posts.
You can find a dead cell with a hydrometer, or by immersing one voltmeter probe in the acid of each cell with the other one connected to a post (be careful to not touch the plates). The difference between adjacent cells should be 2.2V, if you find one that's noticeably less the battery is bad.
You can find a dead cell with a hydrometer, or by immersing one voltmeter probe in the acid of each cell with the other one connected to a post (be careful to not touch the plates). The difference between adjacent cells should be 2.2V, if you find one that's noticeably less the battery is bad.
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Marc
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That's one style ..."gravity ball" - you just count how many are floating and interpret the specific gravity from a chart.
There are other types which use a freely-bobbing or pivoting calibrated float instead, any of them are adequate for occasional use - generally you're more interested in relative readings between the cells and ultimate accuracy isn't a major concern.
http://autorepair.about.com/library/a/1h/bl403h.htm
You use a similar-looking tool to check the specific gravity (and therefore the freeze-protection level) of coolant in a waterpumper radiator. Be sure to get the right one for the job.
There are other types which use a freely-bobbing or pivoting calibrated float instead, any of them are adequate for occasional use - generally you're more interested in relative readings between the cells and ultimate accuracy isn't a major concern.
http://autorepair.about.com/library/a/1h/bl403h.htm
You use a similar-looking tool to check the specific gravity (and therefore the freeze-protection level) of coolant in a waterpumper radiator. Be sure to get the right one for the job.
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DannyK
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Re: Why does my battery mysteriously go dead?
Good advice guys. I'm checking my Thing out with your help. Thanks, -Dan
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Dale M.
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Re:
Actually its something like 6, 2.2 volt cells in series for about 12 .8 volts....SUbuggy wrote:you could have a bad cell in your battery. remember, a 12 volt car battery is really something like 6 1.5volt cells internally wired in series. so if one cell was bad, you could have enough juice to get you going off a fresh charge but it is only go to lasty a day or so.
just take a digitial meter, fully charge it and you should have something like 12.4 volts. start it a couple time. re-measure. if it is less than 11.4 volts you have a bad cell. if it is not a sealed battery, check and see if oner of you cells is low on fluid.
Dale
"Fear The Government That Wants To Take Your Guns" - Thomas Jefferson
1970 "Kellison Sand Piper Roadster"
1970 "Kellison Sand Piper Roadster"
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Ol'fogasaurus
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Re: Why does my battery mysteriously go dead?
The first thing I would do is get a leak down test done on your battery (with the sealed batteries now days, many of the other techniques either won't work or are hard to do). Charge it up, pull it out and take it down and have the test done. If you have weak cell or sulfated battery, either of which can only taking a surface charge, you need to know that before you get too far along; you need a base line to start from and this is it.
Next, assuming that the battery is OK and having cleaned your battery posts and connectors, take your volt OHM meter and do a static check on the battery voltage, then start the engine and do a check of how much voltage is going into it. It should be over 13.8 volts or in the low 14s as I remember. This will tell you if your charging system is working. If you have a generator, it was a common problem for the points in the relay to stick and discharge your battery but with the electronic relays, I am not sure if they will do that. Also it should tell you the condition of your battery cables. Make sure that the pos and negative battery cables are as short as possible and you are not using the flat ground cables (in my opinion they are a troublesome invention). Being a glass buggy, make sure your ground goes first to the engine and transaxle bolt then a cable to the chassis. You want the best connection you can. I also use a battery shut off/disconnect switch as a just in case safety thing.
I prefer an AMP gauge to determine shorts. On my last rewire, one of the things people did not like about an AMP gauge is the long run of an un-protected heavy gauge wire. I thought that was good assumption as it had bothered me too, so I added a maxi circuit breaker in line (50 or 55 amp unit), as far to the rear as I could get, The charge line off the alt comes to it, then forward to the gauge and back to the starter. On a generator car, the fuse/circuit breaker could be as low as 30 amps. I match the protection to the output potential of the charging system.
Glass buggies can be hard on wiring, the glass can wear the sheathing on the wiring easily and if you go though a hole in the glass, grommet it. I run my wiring though one of those looms you can buy now days. On my off-road glass buggy, I rewire it every so often; just to be sure I have good wiring in it. Also, I change how I wire/group the wiring differently as I learn new things and techniques. Off-road wiring is very simple/basic so it is easy to do. On glass buggies, the ground system is more than a pain in the no-speak-about.
Off-road, I use circuit breakers for most of my wiring and when I have electronics, like a radio, I fuse that line; for on road only, I use fuses. On my off-road buggy, the ignition is completely separate from the rest of the wiring so I can get home if there is a problem out on the dunes.
I hope this helps.
Lee
Next, assuming that the battery is OK and having cleaned your battery posts and connectors, take your volt OHM meter and do a static check on the battery voltage, then start the engine and do a check of how much voltage is going into it. It should be over 13.8 volts or in the low 14s as I remember. This will tell you if your charging system is working. If you have a generator, it was a common problem for the points in the relay to stick and discharge your battery but with the electronic relays, I am not sure if they will do that. Also it should tell you the condition of your battery cables. Make sure that the pos and negative battery cables are as short as possible and you are not using the flat ground cables (in my opinion they are a troublesome invention). Being a glass buggy, make sure your ground goes first to the engine and transaxle bolt then a cable to the chassis. You want the best connection you can. I also use a battery shut off/disconnect switch as a just in case safety thing.
I prefer an AMP gauge to determine shorts. On my last rewire, one of the things people did not like about an AMP gauge is the long run of an un-protected heavy gauge wire. I thought that was good assumption as it had bothered me too, so I added a maxi circuit breaker in line (50 or 55 amp unit), as far to the rear as I could get, The charge line off the alt comes to it, then forward to the gauge and back to the starter. On a generator car, the fuse/circuit breaker could be as low as 30 amps. I match the protection to the output potential of the charging system.
Glass buggies can be hard on wiring, the glass can wear the sheathing on the wiring easily and if you go though a hole in the glass, grommet it. I run my wiring though one of those looms you can buy now days. On my off-road glass buggy, I rewire it every so often; just to be sure I have good wiring in it. Also, I change how I wire/group the wiring differently as I learn new things and techniques. Off-road wiring is very simple/basic so it is easy to do. On glass buggies, the ground system is more than a pain in the no-speak-about.
Off-road, I use circuit breakers for most of my wiring and when I have electronics, like a radio, I fuse that line; for on road only, I use fuses. On my off-road buggy, the ignition is completely separate from the rest of the wiring so I can get home if there is a problem out on the dunes.
I hope this helps.
Lee