[ausev] charger help

[Erik]

Have you messed with the programming resistor inside the K&W?  I don't have
the values handy, but I might be able to find them.

What's the open circuit voltage on the K&W? ie. what voltage does it make
when it's not trying to charge? The good news about the K&W chargers is that
they're pretty simple.

Erik

2009/3/21 Marc Kohler <mkohler at austin.rr.com>

>  Hi Guys,
>
> I’ve been slowly getting my ElectraVan road worthy.  Now that it is, I’m
> having problems with my chargers.
>
> Background:  I have two chargers that came with the van, a K&W BC-20 and a
> Lester (transformer version).
>
> Both supposedly worked last time the previous owner used the van (1998).
>
>
>
> The K&W BC-20 works on 120VAC input.  Its fuse is good, the breaker switch
> is not thrown, and the GFI tests out.  When plugged in the Green ON light
> comes on and the fan spins, but no current seems to flow (it has an
> ammeter).  At first I thought that it did not allow current to flow because
> my open circuit voltage was too high.  But I’ve dragged the battery voltage
> down enough that it should have come on.
>
>
>
> The Lester is a dual output version (108V and 12V) and can accept 120V or
> 240VAC.  When I plug it in, the Charger ON light does not come on, nor does
> anything change when I push the Press To Reset button.  The 3 fuses appear
> to be good.  The thing shows no signs of life.  There is no fan.  I took the
> cover off to see if there was anything obvious, but everything looks normal
> (no burns or broken wires).  I suppose the printed circuit board could be
> bad after sitting for so long, but I don’t know how to troubleshoot it.
>
>
>
> It’s killing me to finally have an operational vehicle but I can’t drive it
> until I get a charger working (using my 12V charger takes me 8 days to
> charge the batteries up individually).
>
>
>
> Does anyone have any experience with either of these types of chargers?
> I’m thinking that the problem with the K&W is something simple.  I have no
> desire to send the Lester off to get fixed as it weighs over 60 lbs and
> shipping alone wouldn’t be worth it, so I hope to be able to repair it
> locally (or at least determine the problem locally).
>
> I like it for its dual input voltage capability.
>
>
>
> Any advice would be appreciated.  My only other option is to purchase a new
> charger.
>
> Thanks,
> Marc Kohler
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> AusEV mailing list
> AusEV at austinev.org
> http://www.austinev.org/mailman/listinfo/ausev
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.austinev.org/pipermail/ausev/attachments/20090322/424b63a3/attachment.htm