24V Smart Battery Charger

If it is not drawing a current then testing with an am probe is useless. It would be the same as clamping it onto an eXtension cord that has no load on the receiving end. Have you tried testing the output with a regular meter?

If you can send a picture and maybe some more info on the unit, perhaps we can help.

If it has a brand and model number, you might have some luck by searching the internet for a manual. That's what I do in these cases.

No, I don't think you can test it unless you hook it up to a battery. You can probably use a big resistor but finding the right value will be difficult. You could end up burning the resistor at the very least or both the resistor and the charger at the very most.

One way you can test is to hook up a voltmeter to the battery being charged and check to see if the charger switches off when the battery reaches its full voltage. Note, however, that some smart chargers may switch off at a slightly higher voltage than the battery label.

regards,

Vulcan

First of all you need to know what kind of battery do you want to charge : NiCr , NiMH , SLA ?

As i know , some smart chargers don't get neither voltage or current until it "see" the battery conected , because it make some tests before to begins to charge the battery.( the battery may be damaged ,shortcircuited , overdischarged , connected reversely , so on)

If this is the type charger I think you are refering to it takes battery voltage at the output connector to turn it on. Only then can you test anything.

Thanks guys, I will give it a try and let you know how I make out.

Basically, you need a little bit of electrical knowledge and at least 2 x 12 volt batteries that are at least partially discharged.......

Any other tests with a resistor or similar will be rather difficult to interpret as to what is working or not.....

A possibility is if you have a variable voltage DC power supply that can be set between 20 to 30 volts, in place of the battery and to NOT connect the mains plug to anything....and an accurate DC voltmeter.

Are you OK with electronics, or do you need assistance?

Because it is a "smart" charger, it must be connected to a battery.

The charging circuit uses an SCR which is fired based on the difference in voltage between the battery and the charger up to the current limit of the charger.

If the battery is severly depleted, the current will max out at 5 A until the battery comes up to charger and then falls away down to the tricle current level .

Please tell me how the SCR "drops off", as they latch on with DC until current drops below some tiny value...more detail required please.

I don't think that Smart chargers uses SCR.

Thanks all, I hooked up the charger to a 24V battery bank and she is putting out around 4amps, this is a 5amp charger.

Monitor the battery voltage, charging should reduce or stop when the battery has around 28.8 volts max. Less is better....

Open a cell and make sure that no gassing is present, do this all well away from naked lights and well ventilated. Do not operate light switches if gassing is seen.

Gassing is bad for the battery and just gets rid of water.......