Accumate Charger

[duncanallender]

HELP.
I have been using my accumate charger with no problems for 3 or so years.
When I last charged my Firefly, everything seemed to be going ok, with the lights on and the charging whirring noise.After about an hour, I noticed the charger was quiet and the only light on was the red LED light. I checked all connections, fuses etc and all ok.I thought maybe a prob with the tank, so tried the charger on my Tiger and KT. Same response or lack of it, just LED light on. Same in 12v or 24v mode.It cant be polarity as have kettle type plug to insert into tank charge point.ANY IDEAS anyone. Has the charger reached the end of it';s life. Not used that much for this I think.Welcome any help.
Cheers
Dunc

[Paul Morris]

Hi Duncan.

Sorry I could not help out on the phone mate, as a last resort if no one else knows have you rung accumate or e mailed them it could be something silly they can sort for you

Hope you get it sorted mate.
See you soon.
Cheers Paul.

[Paul Morris]

Hi Duncan.
Just found this on line ?
OptiMate’s Red LED is to tell you there is a battery problem - it has 2 main functions:

The first function is to tell you that OptiMate cannot recover your battery – in this instance your battery will almost certainly be unable to start your vehicle after standing for some time. OptiMate will detect that your battery is deeply discharged and automatically engage its special recovery mode. In most cases, as long as there is no physical damage to the battery, OptiMate will eventually break down the sulphation inside the battery and continue its program to charge your battery. If after a long period of trying, even OptiMate cannot recover the battery, the red LED will light to advise you. The second function is to warn you that the battery is unable to retain its full Voltage after being successfully charged. This can be due to various causes: e.g. one or more of the battery's six cells having suffered an internal short-circuit. This is like a "hole in a bucket" allowing the delivered charge to run out of the battery again quite quickly. Other causes are described below

[phil fitzpatrick]

Hi Dunc
If I was experiencing your problem,I think I would go for charging a known good
battery,like the one in your car or bike if you havent a spare.
If the charger performs ok get the batteries tested by the experts,a pain I know
getting them out of some models.
Cheers
Phil

[Dennis Jones]

I would have thought if he has tried it on 3 tanks then the problem is unlikely to be the batteries.

Dennis.

[duncanallender]

Hi Guys,
Yes I've tried it on 3 tanks. The fireflys batteries are nearly new, and the others are in good nick.So still a mystery.
Ta for your interest.
Dunc

[Adrian Harris]

Sorry for the question but is it the dual 12volt/24volt version and, if so, is the switch in the right position

With no battery attached, I just get a red LED lit under the switched voltage, and no measurable output from the charger, so it sounds like there may be a fault in either the charging lead or the charger itself.

Adrian.

[duncanallender]

Hi Adrian,
Yes it is the dual version charger.With the set up that Richie Wiggins sorted on my tanks, I have a 12v and 24v charge point for some of them. The switch is obviously set to the correct voltage for the charge point.Some tanks have the 2 differing charge points and my tiger only has the 24v point.So all still a mystery, but thanks for your response.I am awaiting to hear back from accumate..
Cheers
Dunc

[John Fitzsimons]

How did you contact accumate. I sent them an email a few weeks ago but heard nothing.

[phil fitzpatrick]

Hi Guys,
Hope this is a bit of help.
I wanted to test something with 24V DC so thought I would use my charging lead that is
connected to my T34-85.
It was dead,not a spark,yet I had not long ago charged it with my Accumate charger and
it had not been run much(still in my bed room waiting for the lawn to dry).
I connected my accumate and there was just the red light nothing else.
I decided to see if the Tank would start and yes it did with a nice green light.
So I went out to my Comet and put the accumate on and all was fine it started charging
straight away.
This led me back to my T34-85 charger lead,I had already checked the fuse on the outside
of the accumate but this was ok and the red light would not have been on if this went.
On checking the fuse in my charging lead which is 15 amp sure enough it had blown.
So worth checking the fuse and all connections to the batteries if the Accumate thinks
nothing is connected.
Worth checking the Charger lead with a volt meter or at the very least see if you get a
little spark.
Cheers
Phil

[phil fitzpatrick]

Just to make sure after my Comet had finished topping up,I had changed the fuse in my
T34-85 and I put that back on charge,als fine again now.
Cheers
Phil

[Adrian Harris]

Glad to hear you've back up and running

I'm surprised a 15A fuse would blow, though they can get weaker with age.

Adrian.

[duncanallender]

Thanks for the replies.
Yes still havn't heard from accumate. But good news, took the casing off the charger ,and the +ve lead had come away from it's secure point. All connected up now and charging well.Don't know how this occured as the inside is independant from plug in lead to crocodile clips or kettle, so even a pull on the lead just means the lead comes away from the plug in point to charger.Maybe mine was a Friday afternoon assembly, people wanting to get home.
Cheers
Dunc