Genny starter battery intrigue [RE-wrenches]

[Geoff Greenfield]

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I have a customer who's rarely used backup genny can't keep it's battery
alive.  It is a northstar cheapo from northern tool and it is fine for his
needs (so far) except for when his battery self-discharges.

It came set up with a built in AC trickle-charger, complete with it's own
plug and cord.  The customer also bought a little el cheapo "battery
maintainer" pv panel that came with a cig lighter plug... meant to go on the
dashboard.  It is an amorphous panel, about 16" x 4", and I have no idea if
it has any self regulation or diode...

so- this thing is hooked up to the batt... last I looked the batt terminals
read 13.5 on a sunny day and now the batts dead.  I am going over to
troubleshoot for him... I guess I'll use my fluke to check for a diode - do
you listers think nighttime discharge is the problem?  Maybe there was a
built in diode in the car lighter he clipped off to hardwire this in?  How
would I test for nightime discharge.... isolate the batt and the pv and
monitor voltage drop over time?  I'm assuming the amperage is too small to
be picked up with my clamp on.

Or might there be some other drain to suss out...  I will look for
continuity - the starter should be out of the system by the relay right?

Our back up plan is to plug the shorepower trickle charger in (we did send
an ac light/plug circuit to the genny shed) but I would like to avoid
another phantom load - although this system can take it)

For a brighter energy future,

Geoff Greenfield
NABCEP Certified Energy Practitioner

THIRD SUN SOLAR & WIND POWER Ltd.
340 West State Street
Athens, OH 45701

www.third-sun.com
(740) 597-3111

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