[T3] 73 type 3 FI ignition condenser ?

[Jim Adney]

On 14 Mar 2019 at 14:08, William Jahn wrote:

> On the 2 amp setting @ 3hours I have 12.68 after 12 hours the next day
> it would be .04 less and each day it would continue at this rate ,
> within 5 days it would be @ 12.32. The when I started it I could tell
> the starter turned slower. 

My Sears 2/8 Amp charger has no trouble keeping a battery well above 13 V 
on the 2 Amp range. This makes me wonder if there might be a problem with 
the low range on your charger. Perhaps the switch is not making good 
contact anymore. Or is this one of the fancy chargers that's supposed to 
taper off?  

Consider buying a Harbor Freight "Battery Maintainer." They are normally 
~$9 but commonly go on sale for half price. They are quite effective.

For my '73, which sits outside all winter, I bought a solar charger that sits on 
the dash. That's not as effective as the Battery Maintainer: I had to 
disconnect the clock to keep the charge ahead of the discharge.

>  Interstate kept telling me it was the battery even though it was new
> so they gave me a replacement and that one leaked then gave me another
> that I have now yet all dropped voltage at the same rate. The first 2
> averaged 12.78 volts once charged and sat for 12 hours this one always
> is 12.5 which is what Interstate said was fine. Had an autozone
> battery before this yet never bothered to check the voltage 

It seems odd that there could be this much variation. One thing I've started 
doing when buying new batteries, is checking the acid level. I've found 
several incompletely filled cells in the batteries I've bought in the past few 
years.

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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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