71DeuceAK
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- Fairbanks, Alaska
Had a weird one today.
I've had this M929A2 dump truck for a few years now. It's had a set of Hawker 6TL military batteries dated '05. They finally quit holding a charge long term about a year ago, but with how much the truck sits I couldn't justify new batteries.
After being gone out of state for a few months, I threw a staggard 24 volt cart-style battery charger on after, of course, the truck was completely dead.
I hooked it up as I always have, following the wires from the slave port to ensure I was going to the appropriate terminals.
After I plugged the charger in I noticed the digital Amp meter on it didn't read much. I even bunped it up to the engine-start setting.
Subsequently I went and hit the master switch and starter switch. Something in the region of the very driver side of the dash went pop and released magic smoke. I shut things off.
After stuffing my head under there, I couldn't find an obvious source (rodent-chewed wiring insulation comes to mind).Hit the switch again, even the starter, and it would intermittently crank as best it could on still-nearly-dead batteries- clickclickclick.
At some point I figured I'd throw a multimeter on the batteries. Interestingly, it would read negative voltage with the red probe to positive, and non-negative with the black probe to positive.
I've heard wives' tales of lead acid batteries that were completely dead being inadvertently hooked up to a charger backwards and subsequently having their polarity successfully reversed, albeit not holding a full charge given the flow of electrons between plates and electrolyte is not occurring as designed. I am almost certain I hooked it up correctly, but the equivalent of reverse polarity could explain electronic components like a low air alarm beeper cooking themselves.
Thoughts?
I've had this M929A2 dump truck for a few years now. It's had a set of Hawker 6TL military batteries dated '05. They finally quit holding a charge long term about a year ago, but with how much the truck sits I couldn't justify new batteries.
After being gone out of state for a few months, I threw a staggard 24 volt cart-style battery charger on after, of course, the truck was completely dead.
I hooked it up as I always have, following the wires from the slave port to ensure I was going to the appropriate terminals.
After I plugged the charger in I noticed the digital Amp meter on it didn't read much. I even bunped it up to the engine-start setting.
Subsequently I went and hit the master switch and starter switch. Something in the region of the very driver side of the dash went pop and released magic smoke. I shut things off.
After stuffing my head under there, I couldn't find an obvious source (rodent-chewed wiring insulation comes to mind).Hit the switch again, even the starter, and it would intermittently crank as best it could on still-nearly-dead batteries- clickclickclick.
At some point I figured I'd throw a multimeter on the batteries. Interestingly, it would read negative voltage with the red probe to positive, and non-negative with the black probe to positive.
I've heard wives' tales of lead acid batteries that were completely dead being inadvertently hooked up to a charger backwards and subsequently having their polarity successfully reversed, albeit not holding a full charge given the flow of electrons between plates and electrolyte is not occurring as designed. I am almost certain I hooked it up correctly, but the equivalent of reverse polarity could explain electronic components like a low air alarm beeper cooking themselves.
Thoughts?
