K2 Internal Battery Voltage
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K2 Internal Battery Voltage
 
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Insight needed. I noticed my K2's internal battery voltage dropped to below
operating range even though the rig was in charging mode while plugged into mains. I assumed the battery had gone bad. Pulled the rig apart and measured voltage while the rig was off. 12.1 VDC. Turned the rig on and measured across the battery. 8.9 VDC. Any ideas where the problem lies? 72, Dick AB0CD.. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html |
Re: K2 Internal Battery Voltage
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Dick,
Either the battery wasn't being charged properly or it's old and not holding a charge. How old IS the battery? Cheers, Alan Alan D. Wilcox, W3DVX (K2-5373, K3-40) 570-321-1516 http://WilcoxEngineering.com http://eBookEditor.net https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/28062?ref=awilcox Williamsport, PA 17701 On 6/15/11 3:15 PM, RICHARD SCHNEIDER wrote: > Insight needed. I noticed my K2's internal battery voltage dropped to below > operating range even though the rig was in charging mode while plugged into > mains. I assumed the battery had gone bad. Pulled the rig apart and measured > voltage while the rig was off. 12.1 VDC. Turned the rig on and measured > across the battery. 8.9 VDC. Any ideas where the problem lies? > > 72, Dick AB0CD.. > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html |
Re: K2 Internal Battery Voltage
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In reply to this post by RICHARD SCHNEIDER
Dick,
I can second Alan's suggestions. Either your battery has failed, or it is not being charged fully. Do you hsave at least 14.1 volts output from the power supply that normally connects to your K2? If it is lower than that, the battery will never be fully charged. If it is 14.1 to 14.3 volts, then do you turn off the power supply when not using the K2? If so, the battery will never be fully charged. Leave the power supply on so it can charge the internal battery while the K2 is off. One way to shorten the life of a battery is to constantly undercharge it - the other way is to overcharge it. It may also be that your battery has seen its end of life. If the battery is more than 3 or 4 years old, that is a possibility. You may want to look at my Smartcharger solution on my website - www.w3fpr.com - a fused direct connection to the battery terminals is required to use a Smartcharger. 73, Don W3FPR On 6/15/2011 3:15 PM, RICHARD SCHNEIDER wrote: > Insight needed. I noticed my K2's internal battery voltage dropped to below > operating range even though the rig was in charging mode while plugged into > mains. I assumed the battery had gone bad. Pulled the rig apart and measured > voltage while the rig was off. 12.1 VDC. Turned the rig on and measured > across the battery. 8.9 VDC. Any ideas where the problem lies? > > 72, Dick AB0CD.. > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html |
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In reply to this post by Alan D. Wilcox, W3DVX
I think you have one cell in the battery that has gone shorted. Hard
charge on a 6 cell is 14.4. 5/6 of that is 12. 12.1 volts is what you get when a charger expecting to charge something at 13.8 to 14.2 is put across 5 cells instead of 6. On discharge a normal fully charged battery will near instantly drop to 12.8 and then quickly ease down to about 12.2 where it finds the main discharge plateau. 5/6 of 12.2 is 10.2 So you have one cell shorted, and however much way-over-charging was happening to the other five has started to make them resistive. Time to replace and recycle. 73, Guy. On Wed, Jun 15, 2011 at 6:49 PM, Alan D. Wilcox <[hidden email]> wrote: > Dick, > Either the battery wasn't being charged properly or it's old and not > holding a charge. > How old IS the battery? > Cheers, Alan > > Alan D. Wilcox, W3DVX (K2-5373, K3-40) > 570-321-1516 > http://WilcoxEngineering.com > http://eBookEditor.net > https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/28062?ref=awilcox > Williamsport, PA 17701 > > > On 6/15/11 3:15 PM, RICHARD SCHNEIDER wrote: >> Insight needed. I noticed my K2's internal battery voltage dropped to below >> operating range even though the rig was in charging mode while plugged into >> mains. I assumed the battery had gone bad. Pulled the rig apart and measured >> voltage while the rig was off. 12.1 VDC. Turned the rig on and measured >> across the battery. 8.9 VDC. Any ideas where the problem lies? >> >> 72, Dick AB0CD.. >> > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html |
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