[T3] 73 type 3 FI ignition condenser ?

[William Jahn]

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

From: Jim Adney
Sent: Thursday, March 14, 2019 3:33 PM
To: type3 at vwtype3.org
Subject: Re: [T3] 73 type 3 FI ignition condenser ?

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?  

  When it’s set to the 2 amp setting the voltage is at least 13.7 V , it’s a 2 amp/12 amp 12 or 6 volt charger which does have an auto taper . it’s a Rizk or RN industries model 1262 I got in 2001. It’s not auto off , I have it plugged into a timer so once the timer switch flips to off so does the charger. 

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

 I read the 4 stage Maintainers are the best. I had one long ago yet It was not high tech and had 2 lights yet I always saw 15 volts which was to much and there was no way to tell if the voltage dropped during , I was not about to baby sit it I just plugged it in . 

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.

 I do the same . All 3 interstates were topped of to the proper level. I used to believe since even the autozone was maintenance free and autozone told me not to remove the 2 caps I didn’t , that’s what killed that battery . I saw the vents in the caps yet listened to them anyway. Since then I check when it get them and once a year I check them , that’s how I found the one was leaking at a seam near the neg post where the top is sealed to the case on the top side edge. I made one mistake in the last post , when I charge this battery after 12 hours it reads 12.66 to .68 V then as the other 2 drops about .04 V  per day . It seems the cars charging system does a better job than a charger since the gen puts out more than 2 amps and a bit above 14 volts when the RPM is above 1,000 RPM . Plus the short trips I make does not help , 1 mile to 2 miles and 2 to 4 starts and all stop and go traffic which here with so very many cars on the road 24/7 even on the freeway you sit there. 

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

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