If you found this video helpful & feel like giving something back to the channel, you can do that here.. www.buymeacoffee.com/theultimat9 All coffees are hugely appreciated and keeping me well caffeinated is likely to bring you many more helpful videos! ☕☕😊😊
A tip to use a battery charger for electrolysis.. higher volts are better.. setup your bath filled with WATER & terminal on & switched on .. now add acid (or caustic soda.. it's just an electrolite) till amps rise to a sustainable or desired current (for overnight or like.. gentle jobs).. I use an STC 12/24v early 80s era trickle charger to 10amps g rust explodes off.. caustic doesn't attack base metal steel or galv plating/hot dip 👍
I learned of this trick some 10-15 years ago. Just remember to check the fluid levels before you begin charging, since it's a lead acid battery. This wake up technique also works with Ni-cads and Li-ion batteries as well.
Oh my I wish I had seen this a month ago, my neighbor just went through this on her two year old 12 volt lawn tractor mower battery. I tried to charge her battery and nothing happened, so she bought a new battery, if only I had known about this, of course the dealer said nothing and just sold her a new battery. Great video and I will pass it around to people I know, thank you for showing this.
Makes you wonder how many perfectly good battery chargers go in the trash each day because people simply do not know. This is when reading the instructions that come with the battery charger come in handy
Yes, it seems many have been thrown out! Since most don't read instructions, maybe there needs to be a large sticker on the charger to explain that it's different to the old style!
Thank you very much. I'm an old experienced handy man with no smart charger experience. You have taught me a lot! Very clever demonstration! Thank you again! Erich in New Zealand ☺️
Great idea. I have an old dumb charger with just a transformer and rectifier. That will work on a totally dead battery. It may pop the breaker a few times due to the surge but will eventually charge the battery. It brought my battery back from the grave and it's still working fine years later. Sometimes I hate new technology. They outsmart themselves and make life difficult.
I cant find an old dumb charger, new or used! My new computer controlled charger is incredibly fast at charging a good battery, but will not charge a dead batyery, which is basically when I really need it!
@@TheUltimateRecycler well, you have misunderstood the point of this behavior. They made it like this because not so smart people might let the clamps on the table and make short circuit that might lead to fires. Sure, there are simple circuits which might be used to limit the current but the charger will still overheat if left in this state for long time. The solution to start the charger only if it has a few volts between the leads is a simple one.
03:36 smart charger new information @ 03:26 in the video "connect in a household 9 volt battery" to let the smart charger know that there is a dead battery ready to be charged great stuff Thank You ❤
Had this happen a lot and I just grabbed a spare 12v battery to get the charge cycle started. The 9v battery is a brilliant idea. A cool mod to the charger would be to put a battery inside with a momentary switch labelled 'dead battery kick start' (or something better lol).
@@TheUltimateRecycler Even when a bypass method exists the manufacturer often essentially hides it. If one has the manual, fine. If the manual is easily found online, fine. It's all rather irksome. To bypass, a series of buttons or switches must be pressed in a certain order or simultaneously in a way that isn't spelled out on the unit. It's not like there's an obvious switch or setting staring up at you. And, most just don't have a bypass nowadays.
Fantastic video. I had same issue with my generator battery. I hooked up my BATTERY TENDER & it wouldn’t charge. Checked voltage, only had 3.2 volts. Put the 9 volt inline & instantly recognized it and started charging!! Showing 12.5 now within 1 minute. Glad I found your video. Thanks
I was at ends wit and I am so grateful I stumbled upon your video. This trick worked like a charm. Thank you very much for the thorough explanation because I have no experience with any electrical components!!! Paul from El Paso, Texas.
I have got the same charger as that one but 2.7 amp. Could not get it to charge a 100% dead car battery, but as soon as I did this the charger kicked into life. Another clip suggested hooking up a fully charged CAR battery to achieve this. If I had a spare fully charged car battery sitting round I wouldn't be stranded!! You just saved my life!!! Thank you!!
This was amazing...only wish I'd seen it before I threw out my old Genius smart charger and bought a new one.. (it was behaving the same way) Thanks for sharing this information!
I have a Dodge Journey that has 2 12v Aux ports, one that should only turn on when the car is on and one that is always on. The switched port stopped working, so I plugged my cell signal booster and dashcam into the always-on port. Unfortunately, I didn't drive the car for a few days and it drained the battery. I have one of these "smart chargers" and it refused to charge the battery, with a msg "battery fault". Once I jump-started the car with my truck, the battery charged right up. Gotta love how they "make things better" by completely screwing them up.
That's a Big Trick simplified by your explanation over the top of the presentation. Many people have done this type before yet never convinced me as you have . This will be great for the squillion power tool batteries in the world . Thank you , much appreciated .
Some chargers have a boost or low voltage button that pretty much does this, but the 9V battery is ideal as its something that many people will have. Give it a good charge and then a run on a good reconditioning charger to help desulfate it and it will be a good spare
Yes I believe that some have an override button which is a good idea. Reconditioning chargers are great for getting the best life from a battery. The one I used had a crook cell though - but it was a good example for the video. It ended up going to the scrapyard!
Good info! I've put a "wall wart" 12v power supply on a car battery for a couple of hours before to put enough into it for the new charger to turn on. Technically, I guess if you have a few days to wait, that same wall wart would charge the battery at a steaming 500mA - 1A. If I cared enough or had enough time, hunting down a floating charge circuit would probably make it a useful thing to keep hooked up. The battery maintainer chargers are like that, but I'm too lazy to hook one of those up. Lead acid batteries are pretty much a rental item here in the States. They build them to last almost exactly what the warranty is, and if it ever froze discharged, it seems like pretty much game over for that battery no matter what you try.
We don't have issues with freezing here, but I've wondered how that effects a lead-acid battery! 🤔 Yes, manufacturers of all kinds have pretty much mastered the skill of making something that just makes end of warranty period 🙄
Great idea! Tried it and it works. It's "insane" why they do this, the shock from a 12v isn't that high. . and HOW would you charge a "dead" battery. I made a set of alligator clips and 9v to throw in my CenTech Harbor Freight charger.
The HF Cen-tech charge needs to see 7V before it will charge. There is a hack where you solder a switch inside to 2 solder joints to bypass the anti-short safety feature and get it started. This is only "old style charger" I have found that is still on the market. Too bad it has the 7V safety feature.
part of it is the reverse polarity protection. The horrible freight roll around charger that my grandfather had was not working. I tore it apart as there wasn't power to the leads but at different points inside it had power. There is a relay that is activated by the power from the battery you are charging. If you hook it up with the correct polarity, then the relay allows a connection to the charger circuit. Hook it up backwards or have a flat battery and the relay will not make a connection. I have a small "smart" charger as well and have had it tell me a battery was bad, then had an old charger bring it back to life. It wasn't until I tore apart the HF charger that I figured out how unsmart the new chargers are. This is a great and easy trick that I will keep in mind.
I used this trick a few weeks back to get my "smart" trickle charger to start charging on one of my seldom used motorcycles. Worked great and now my smart charger is keeping a maintenance charge on the battery.
Excellent tip. I have had the same problem, and to solve it I hooked up my booster pack 3 times for 20 seconds .... pushes a very low level of charge into the battery, but enough that my "smart" charger can recognize and start its cycle.
This is great! I will use this technique next time. I ended up using my other vehicle with jumpers to bring the voltage up on the dead battery and then used my smart charger to do the rest.
Sir. Thank you for your video, it seems to have helped quite a few folks. An older battery, especially one that gotten as dead as it was, might mot have the ability to take and hold a full spec charge. Your charger is 4.3 amps. 1.5 hours would give an output of about 6.5 amps. the battery would only absorb part of that, say 4.5 to 5 amps. The new capacity of that small 9 plate battery should be around 37.5 amps. At 1.5 hours the battery cannot be very full from the charge rate. It would probably take 10-12 hours to give that battery the best charge it could take considering its condition. My information is free and worth every penny.... A T Burke
Yes, that sounds about right AT. Actually, I don't think the battery was any good in the end - but that wasn't the point of the video. Thanks for watching 😊👍
Did this with my battery tender 4amp "smart" Dual regular & Lithium charger & your regular 9 volt battery hack by just tapping 5x's the connection for one second each tap, Battery Tender recognized the dead "Lithium" 12 volt motorcycle battery and within 5 seconds was charging. Brilliant, & Cheers, Eric from NC-USA.
Excellent! Thank you very much for a quick-ish (could be more terse), effective and informative demonstration. I've wondered of late exactly about using a battery "jumper" and if needs to stay on for the entire charging duration or just long enough to momentarily satisfy the "smart-charger's" test threshold. People always want to call that "fooling the system" . Uggh! Anyway, there are so many bad videos that are verbose, circular, unfocused, rambling, incorrect technically and/or "muddy", overly long and rather boring and/or stupid. Your video shines like a beacon in the galaxy ... to paraphrase Forbidden Planet! Seriously, I cannot thank you enough!
I am doing a hybrid battery right now...your question of leave the jumping battery on through the charge is important. when I use another car battery to bring them up to where the "smart" charger charger will latch on, I just flash it for a few seconds. I have a voltmeter clipped on the dead cell, and can immediately see when the charger kicks in and starts climbing, thats when you can disconnect the good battery.
My charger was purchased at Sams club years ago and it has a 100 amp start mode and when I run into a dead-dead battery I just hit the start mode for a couple of minutes and put it to 15 amp charge, unplug and replug and that normally works. Sometime it takes a second 100 amp boost but that usually does it. If I have time I'll charge it on a 2 amp charge once its 12 to 13 volts. Overnight it possible. As. cheap as trickle chargers anymore I just keep equipment I don't use a lot on those.
Many jumper packs have a safety override to get around the dead-flat battery issue. Smart chargers need one too. You can probably add one by wiring a 100 ohms resistor in series with a momentary switch across whatever isolates the output.
I salvaged a 24v charger from an order picker and it was just the same procedure. I almost threw it out thinking it was no good. I jumped a twelve volt battery across like you did and it charged up a 24v forkift battery. Each cell had two volts thus six cells. 1990s lift.
Kudos to this suggestion. It's a lot easier than running jumper cables to another car to obtain the same result. And what if you don't have another car or set of jumper cables? It's easy to just break out a 9v battery and give the thing a 'kick' enough to start charging.
Brilliant! So, from here how can I hook up a rusted artifact to do the electrolysis? From the battery terminals to the artifact while everything else (charger to the battery) remains hooked up? Thanks
I've had exactly the same problem with my smart charger. I thought about doing but got lent a normal charger in the meantime so I haven't got around to trying it yet. Nice video, well explained.
Brilliant TUC ! This helped me no end with my mobility scooter ! (2 x 12v x 75ah batteries!). The charger , after a year or so of non-use, charged the scooter overnight - but next day not all the lights were lit which was odd! The scooter was useless - no power at all uphill. Would move on the flat or downhill. I was going to remove the cells and treat them like this video does the flat battery - BUT the charger knew there was a battery or two connected so I aborted that idea!!! I wondered if the charger assumed full charge because the voltage from the scooter exceeded 12v? I propped up the drive wheels and ran the motor with no load at HIGH and LOW and Hare and Tortoise speeds and the wheels kept turning! (Toilet roll tube on the handle bars and over one paddle is a good way to run the battery into the ground). I ran it down to near zero on HIGH. Then switched to LOW where it ran on 3 reds until it dropped to 2. Turned off the display showed in the amber zone so I could have discharge for longer for sure. Recharged the scooter and it charged up with an hour and the power was as good as new! Drove up the ramp into the Berlingo - no problems. I just need to use it nw and the charging cycle will improve imho. I was almost ready to order Lithium batteries which would be £600 to over a grand for 75ah - so Ulimate Recycler is a hero in my house! Thank you for the tip!!!
Interesting video. I have 2 old school dumb battery chargers, but no smart ones. If I ever find myself trying to use a smart charger but have no luck I'll know what to do to get it to work. Another strategy would be to take it apart and put in a bypass switch or button for a completely dead battery, or to use it as a DC power supply.
Works on tool battery chargers too. That tool battery that won’t charge is often just too flat to be recognized by the charger. A AA cell connected to the battery for just a second will give enough surface charge for the charger to recognize it.
thanks for sharing, life saver tip. I knew the the charger was working, but battery was just too flat. I knew it needed to be triggered somehow, but I thought I needed another car battery: I used my drill battery instead!
Great tip - just helped me get a charger going. I knew that it needed some voltage to get going, but I didn't have another battery or any wires where I am now - your 9v battery idea plus a couple of coat hangers got it going - thanks mate!
The 9v battery is a great tip. But you still need a battery load tester to see if the battery is of any use. The faithful multimeter just doesn't cut it.
@TheUltimateRecycler I gutted the last dead car battery because It had a good flip up handle I lined with rubber exercise mat ,hinged and latched the lid and made a six beer can cooler out of it and everyone loved it and wanted one 👍🏻🤠
I just had a similar experience with a battery charger a friend just picked up from Harbor Freight. Car battery was to discharged to activate charger, so I used jumper cables from another battery to trick the charger into charging!
Fascinating, I had exactly that yesterday when my daughter left an interior light on in her car flattening the battery. I was about to return the nearly new smart charger!
I wouldn't ever have tried that. Recharging a standard battery can be dangerous, as you'll know. But it only needs to be connected for a fraction of a second. I have an apparently dead 110 Amp hour battery that "trick" may help. Thanks for posting this.
Here’s some additional information in case you’re interested The practice refered to is called "equalization" or "desulfation" of lead-acid batteries. It involves applying a controlled overcharge to remove sulfation from the battery plates. Here are some points to consider: - Equalization is typically performed at a higher voltage (around 2.5-2.7 V per cell) than normal charging (2.2-2.4 V per cell). - The current used for equalization is usually limited to prevent overheating and damage to the battery. - The duration of equalization can vary depending on the battery type, age, and level of sulfation.
I have an older Craftsman smart charger that has a switch to manually charge a totally dead battery, after a few minutes on manual it can be switched to auto. I like the auto mode because if you forget to take it off it won't overcharge the battery and simply maintains the full charge.
what model is it called please? id love to get something like that - i have a couple of the aldi smart chargers and they work fine but if the voltage is below a certain level wont detect and its a pain in the arse!
I hope you see this your idea worked great trigger the 9-volt battery on my big car charger now i can use the charger on my electrolysis tank works so good thanks again
Excellent Marvin! I think it depends on the charger whether you can use them for electrolysis once triggered to start up. Some cheaper ones will keep shutting down. Thanks for watching 😊👍
Same thing applies to cordless drills etc. When those batteries get too low; the chargers won't charge them. Just open up the battery pack to get direct access to the battery and use a 9V battery to jump start those batteries. It only takes a few seconds to wake up the tool batteries. Put the protective case back on. The charger will now start charging that battery pack. I wonder how many of those have been tossed as well.
I had a smart charger but it wouldn't start working on any battery even one I knew was charged, So I threw away the charger and bought a Ring RSC808. Subbed.
Wow, how useful! I have a so called "smart charger", and same as this one, 0 volts as a power supply, a flat battery also gives 0v. Definitely going to try this hack. Thanks for the information.
THANK YOU! I do home hobiest electronics, and just bout a "smart charger", for my 2 Deep Cell "Marine Batteries" (for powering an electric trowling motor) . . . I also had a "DEAD" AGM battery, tested @ under 1 Volt, I will try this trick, and see what happens!
Yup, I had a similar thing in the UK with a Black and Decker charger that actually displays fault codes, which do not necessarily relate to the the problem at hand. I think that the Black and Decker one is a little more centered around a microcontroller of some sort, (like yourself, I haven't taken the casing off yet, so don't yet know), but it makes you start to wonder whether the manufacturers of chargers and lead acid batteries haven't had their heads together and thought to themselves, we could make a few bob outta this. Just saying
Man, this is freaking genius! I totally discharged my motorcycle mattery a year ago. It cost me $600 in transport and repair time (British bike so nobody services it). I just discharged it again, but this time it's going to cost $5 - the cost of some new alligator clips. Thanks, mate!
2003 - 2008 I worked at a national tool store, dozens of times, the cashiers called me to the desk with the customers complaints the charger wouldn't work, as they couldn't get a spark from the clamps, no lights came on. I'd take even a flashlight battery & touch the terminals, it worked. They hadn't even tried to charge the battery because they didn't get a spark. If the battery was completely dead, I told them the same trick you showed.
Thanks .. those were some good points. Ie The trickle charge part. • Keep your tester on the post with a solid connection, and if the battery loses voltage at a steady rate, then you can tell if the battery is shorted out by the sulphite crystals. • a welder hooked up at 35 A. (I’m guessing 48 V) does supposedl boil the corrosion off those plates. Be careful do it for no longer than five minutes at a time in a the well ventilated area. don’t be smoking cigarettes or something.lol..
@@TheUltimateRecycler I know eh ! I have 2 expensive batteries that have a dead cells. And other than throwing them away I think I might set up some sort of steel cage lol. The guy I watched on utube was braver idk. I did some math with a 135 amp alternator. with a 12-48v converter dialed into 48v I’d get 33.75 amps. (For the boats 36v tolling motor) I might use that. I don’t like shorting out the welder for that long , those mother boards are expensive.
I used to design battery chargers. The electronics was powered up by the battery you connect it to, so you won't get any output until a battery is connected to it. This is called 'sparkless' connection. The control circuit requires a minimum voltage to operate to avoid trying to charge into a battery in deep discharge or a shorted cell. The chargers we made would fold back to the correct float voltage after a certain time. A common problem is users not leaving the charger on long enough to get the full charge into battery. If it's a powered golf trolley they might plug it in at 10pm, then unplug it at 7:30 the next day for another day on the golf course. Not allowing the charger to run the full cycle leads to a loss of capacity, and nothing infuriates a golfer more than his trolley running out after 16 holes.
Thanks Brendan, that's interesting. Is that what they refer to as a battery's "memory". If it is not fully charged regularly, the battery then remembers the incomplete charge level as "full" and you have less capacity as a result? Trees were my main infuriation when I was a golfer! There were too many of them! 🤣
@@TheUltimateRecycler It applies to lead-acid batteries. Holding the battery at the 'absorption' voltage for hours gets the last 15% of charge into the battery and it's essential to do it periodically or the battery will suffer. All the battery makers have their preferred charging regime. For example, if the charger current drops below 5% of rated current, an internal timer then starts which holds it at the absorption voltage for maybe 8, or 12 hours, then it drops the volts down to a safe indefinite float voltage. If it holds the absorption voltage for too long the electrolyte can start to boil off and with a sealed battery there's no way of topping it up.
Very clever! I just had a similar experience with a smart charger I own and a vehicle sitting unused for a few months. Fortunately, I have a second charger with a "jump charge" function that got the vehicle battery past the smart charger's "start volt" threshold. I knew what you would do as soon as I noticed the 9V battery and clip leads in the background. I'll remember that!
Thanks maaan! Brand new battery, died in my parked car that I don’t drive. I just bought a Viking charger/maintainer from harbor freight to look after the battery for me. It wouldn’t respond. Thanks your method worked. It is processing the info at least. Not sure if it is okay though. The backlight stops blinking and shows a full battery bar, but everything disappears except for a blinking icon of a broken battery.
Thanks. It made me laugh. I actually did pull the charger apart looking for the fuse and to fix it. Great video. I hope it prevents them from being binned.
Thank you for sharing. Seeing this makes me wonder if this same principle could be applied on power tools chargers that won't charge due to a fail safe mode for detecting a battery under 4 (more or less) volts. Thoughts anyone?
Im glad I came across your video. It just so happens I have a "Smart" charger that has no output voltage. I will try and re-train it like you did. Will let all kmow how it works out.
Nope, the smart chargers are still no good for electrolysis as they'll shut off thinking there's a short somewhere! You'll need a dumb charger or another power supply for electrolysis 👍😊
I've been doing this ever since I came across one of these "smart" chargers. I prefer a conventional charger that will put out voltage when you plug it in.
Thank you, sir. I've needed to know this for years. What about your original intention to use the charger as an electrolysis power source? Can it be done?
Awesome trick! I was going to find a good car battery and hook up leads to trick mine. I thought about using a 9v but thought it would fail, Thanks for the tip.
This is something everyone should know. For decades, many chargers, from automotive to small ones for your flashlight cells, have needed a reference voltage to get them started. Most only need a momentary “bump” then will keep charging. Chargers and maintainers are two different things. Given time, even the smallest “trickle charger” will fry a truck battery if it’s unregulated. I test questionable chargers for 24 hours on an expendable battery. A good float charger or maintainer will stay around 13-1/2 volts, not much higher.
Absolute legend! It worked for me, thank you very, very much. Saved me from screwing around with jumpers or tearing the garage apart looking for my 'dumb' charger from the 90's. I guess the smart/trickle/float chargers aren't great if you forget to plug them in before the battery goes flat, consider me schooled! Rock on sir! Details for the curious: Car battery (960 CCA, Calcium SMF) - Century Charger CC2160 - stuck flashing 'eco', no charging, no force start instructions. 1) Disconnected car battery; 2) Touched 9v battery positive terminal to car battery positive terminal for 10 seconds - I wanted to try disconnected from charger first for safety because I'm a wimp; 3) Connected charger to battery and switched on mains supply; 4) Smile! It's running the charging programme from 'initial charging', the dead battery slow pre-charge step. If it fails to progress through the rest of the programme all the way to float I'll report back, otherwise huzzah!
Another way to do this is to get another (good) car battery and put it in parallel. The good battery's 12 volts will eventually trickle to the bad battery and the smart charger keeps a charge on the good battery. It worked great for me.
Thank you for just getting to the friggin point! All l needed to know was how much current and and how many volts do l need to outsmart this "smart" charger. Every other video I've watched is just blah blah blah blah blah blah blah..... "Usr another car battery this, use jumper cables that.. ". Hell, if l had all that at my immediate disposal, l wouldn't even be trying to use a battery charger! I was about to kick the TV screen in while screaming "Just STFU and gimme some practical information"! As little as 9v and almost no current will do... Thanks to you, now l know! Thanks to you
If you found this video helpful & feel like giving something back to the channel, you can do that here..
www.buymeacoffee.com/theultimat9
All coffees are hugely appreciated and keeping me well caffeinated is likely to bring you many more helpful videos! ☕☕😊😊
Poor engineering causing an unnecessary inconvenience
Looks fine but))butter
@@WallyS-r2h Requiring an existing voltage is how they make the product safer. It prevents sparking when the leads are shorted, applied or removed.
A tip to use a battery charger for electrolysis.. higher volts are better.. setup your bath filled with WATER & terminal on & switched on .. now add acid (or caustic soda.. it's just an electrolite) till amps rise to a sustainable or desired current (for overnight or like.. gentle jobs).. I use an STC 12/24v early 80s era trickle charger to 10amps g rust explodes off.. caustic doesn't attack base metal steel or galv plating/hot dip 👍
Thank you
Absolute genius. No more frustration and my battery got charged. Thank you
Excellent, that's great to hear Randy! 😊👍
Yoy are welcome but do you know how to build it?
If this is all TH-cam ever gave me, it was worth it. Sir, you're a friggin' genius!
Haha, thanks Stephen! It wasn't my original idea, but I'm happy to have shared it with you 😊👍
I learned of this trick some 10-15 years ago. Just remember to check the fluid levels before you begin charging, since it's a lead acid battery. This wake up technique also works with Ni-cads and Li-ion batteries as well.
Thanks and good advice with the fluid levels 😊👍
Thank you so much. I was having trouble charging a battery for hours. As soon as I did this I had a full 12vDc within an hour. Genius.
Excellent, I'm glad it helped 👍😃
Oh my I wish I had seen this a month ago, my neighbor just went through this on her two year old 12 volt lawn tractor mower battery. I tried to charge her battery and nothing happened, so she bought a new battery, if only I had known about this, of course the dealer said nothing and just sold her a new battery. Great video and I will pass it around to people I know, thank you for showing this.
Many thanks! Yeah, some dealers just want sales without actually being helpful!!
Just think of all the good batteries that have been thrown out thanks to these very questionably designed "smart" chargers
You can also add a diode to the 9v to allow power to the charger but not worry about not leaving it on too long.
Yes, great thought! 😊👍
Makes you wonder how many perfectly good battery chargers go in the trash each day because people simply do not know. This is when reading the instructions that come with the battery charger come in handy
Yes, it seems many have been thrown out! Since most don't read instructions, maybe there needs to be a large sticker on the charger to explain that it's different to the old style!
@@TheUltimateRecycler
And why would they read that?
@@davidhenderson3400 Because the sticker would start with "Free beer.." 😂😂
Thank you very much. I'm an old experienced handy man with no smart charger experience. You have taught me a lot! Very clever demonstration! Thank you again! Erich in New Zealand ☺️
Thank you Erich, glad my content has been helpful! 😊👍
Great idea. I have an old dumb charger with just a transformer and rectifier. That will work on a totally dead battery. It may pop the breaker a few times due to the surge but will eventually charge the battery. It brought my battery back from the grave and it's still working fine years later. Sometimes I hate new technology. They outsmart themselves and make life difficult.
Thanks mate. Yeah technology is just too clever for itself sometimes! 🙄
I cant find an old dumb charger, new or used! My new computer controlled charger is incredibly fast at charging a good battery, but will not charge a dead batyery, which is basically when I really need it!
I do the same thing with my dumb charger. The 9V battery trick will come in handy if one does not have a dumb charger or spare battery handy.
@@TheUltimateRecycler well, you have misunderstood the point of this behavior. They made it like this because not so smart people might let the clamps on the table and make short circuit that might lead to fires. Sure, there are simple circuits which might be used to limit the current but the charger will still overheat if left in this state for long time. The solution to start the charger only if it has a few volts between the leads is a simple one.
03:36 smart charger new information @ 03:26 in the video "connect in a household 9 volt battery" to let the smart charger know that there is a dead battery ready to be charged
great stuff
Thank You ❤
Thanks for watch EN 👍😊
Had this happen a lot and I just grabbed a spare 12v battery to get the charge cycle started. The 9v battery is a brilliant idea. A cool mod to the charger would be to put a battery inside with a momentary switch labelled 'dead battery kick start' (or something better lol).
Yep, it wouldn't be hard to do that mod. I believe many smart chargers have an override switch now.
@@TheUltimateRecycler Even when a bypass method exists the manufacturer often essentially hides it.
If one has the manual, fine. If the manual is easily found online, fine.
It's all rather irksome.
To bypass, a series of buttons or switches must be pressed in a certain order or simultaneously in a way that isn't spelled out on the unit.
It's not like there's an obvious switch or setting staring up at you.
And, most just don't have a bypass nowadays.
Fantastic video. I had same issue with my generator battery. I hooked up my BATTERY TENDER & it wouldn’t charge. Checked voltage, only had 3.2 volts. Put the 9 volt inline & instantly recognized it and started charging!!
Showing 12.5 now within 1 minute. Glad I found your video. Thanks
That's awesome Stephen! Well done. Thanks for watching 😊👍
Great idea. Way easier than finding another good car battery to kick it off to charge. Thanks
Thanks for watching! 😊👍
I was at ends wit and I am so grateful I stumbled upon your video. This trick worked like a charm. Thank you very much for the thorough explanation because I have no experience with any electrical components!!! Paul from El Paso, Texas.
That's excellent Paul, I'm glad the video was helpful! Thanks for watching 😊👍
I have got the same charger as that one but 2.7 amp. Could not get it to charge a 100% dead car battery, but as soon as I did this the charger kicked into life. Another clip suggested hooking up a fully charged CAR battery to achieve this. If I had a spare fully charged car battery sitting round I wouldn't be stranded!! You just saved my life!!! Thank you!!
Thanks Fred! Yes, and it's much easier to carry a small 9v battery than a spare car battery!
This was amazing...only wish I'd seen it before I threw out my old Genius smart charger and bought a new one.. (it was behaving the same way) Thanks for sharing this information!
Thanks Kelvin. I wonder how many perfectly fine chargers went into the bin?
Mate, you SAVED me about €90 I had 2 batteries that would not charge. Was about to toss them, then saw this, tried it, worked like a charm. Thanx.
Fantastic Tony, that's what I like to hear! 😀👍
I have a Dodge Journey that has 2 12v Aux ports, one that should only turn on when the car is on and one that is always on. The switched port stopped working, so I plugged my cell signal booster and dashcam into the always-on port. Unfortunately, I didn't drive the car for a few days and it drained the battery. I have one of these "smart chargers" and it refused to charge the battery, with a msg "battery fault". Once I jump-started the car with my truck, the battery charged right up. Gotta love how they "make things better" by completely screwing them up.
Haha, yep and they call it "progress"!! 🤣🤣
"Smart chargers" were a stupid invention. Some things should just be left alone.
That's a Big Trick simplified by your explanation over the top of the presentation. Many people have done this type before yet never convinced me as you have . This will be great for the squillion power tool batteries in the world . Thank you , much appreciated .
Thanks for watching and your excellent comment KM!
Wish I'd seen this before giving up on my smart charger and buying a "proper" charger. Great little video
Thanks Colin! 😊
Some chargers have a boost or low voltage button that pretty much does this, but the 9V battery is ideal as its something that many people will have. Give it a good charge and then a run on a good reconditioning charger to help desulfate it and it will be a good spare
Yes I believe that some have an override button which is a good idea. Reconditioning chargers are great for getting the best life from a battery. The one I used had a crook cell though - but it was a good example for the video. It ended up going to the scrapyard!
Good info! I've put a "wall wart" 12v power supply on a car battery for a couple of hours before to put enough into it for the new charger to turn on. Technically, I guess if you have a few days to wait, that same wall wart would charge the battery at a steaming 500mA - 1A. If I cared enough or had enough time, hunting down a floating charge circuit would probably make it a useful thing to keep hooked up. The battery maintainer chargers are like that, but I'm too lazy to hook one of those up. Lead acid batteries are pretty much a rental item here in the States. They build them to last almost exactly what the warranty is, and if it ever froze discharged, it seems like pretty much game over for that battery no matter what you try.
We don't have issues with freezing here, but I've wondered how that effects a lead-acid battery! 🤔 Yes, manufacturers of all kinds have pretty much mastered the skill of making something that just makes end of warranty period 🙄
Just bought a Centech charger today & it wouldn’t charge my dead battery from my mower. The 9 volt battery trick worked. Thanks so much.
That's excellent! Thanks for watching Sherry 😊👍
Thanks! I partly knew these things but you filled in the important details😀
Great! Thanks for watching Ron! 😊👍
@@TheUltimateRecycler I knew to boast them with another battery , but never thought of using a simple little 9 volt
Great idea! Tried it and it works. It's "insane" why they do this, the shock from a 12v isn't that high. . and HOW would you charge a "dead" battery. I made a set of alligator clips and 9v to throw in my CenTech Harbor Freight charger.
Thanks mate. Who knows why they do half the stuff they do! Thanks for watching 😊
The HF Cen-tech charge needs to see 7V before it will charge. There is a hack where you solder a switch inside to 2 solder joints to bypass the anti-short safety feature and get it started. This is only "old style charger" I have found that is still on the market. Too bad it has the 7V safety feature.
part of it is the reverse polarity protection. The horrible freight roll around charger that my grandfather had was not working. I tore it apart as there wasn't power to the leads but at different points inside it had power. There is a relay that is activated by the power from the battery you are charging. If you hook it up with the correct polarity, then the relay allows a connection to the charger circuit. Hook it up backwards or have a flat battery and the relay will not make a connection. I have a small "smart" charger as well and have had it tell me a battery was bad, then had an old charger bring it back to life. It wasn't until I tore apart the HF charger that I figured out how unsmart the new chargers are. This is a great and easy trick that I will keep in mind.
Thank you for this awesome trick, i used a 12v drill battery for mine and it did the job great. I will be keeping this one in the books!
Excellent James, glad you found the video useful! 👍😊
I used this trick a few weeks back to get my "smart" trickle charger to start charging on one of my seldom used motorcycles. Worked great and now my smart charger is keeping a maintenance charge on the battery.
Excellent! Thanks for watching Rob 👍
This will come in handy some day. Wish I had one of those old heavy battery chargers.
I have a few floating around - I usually sell then in the shop for $20 - $30
Excellent tip. I have had the same problem, and to solve it I hooked up my booster pack 3 times for 20 seconds .... pushes a very low level of charge into the battery, but enough that my "smart" charger can recognize and start its cycle.
That's another way to kick start things, yep. Thanks for watching 😊👍
Oh that's so nice. Much simpler than the other ways to deal with that problem.
Thanks NA 👍
This is great! I will use this technique next time. I ended up using my other vehicle with jumpers to bring the voltage up on the dead battery and then used my smart charger to do the rest.
Excellent, I'm glad you found this useful! Thanks for watching 😊👍
Sir. Thank you for your video, it seems to have helped quite a few folks. An older battery, especially one that gotten as dead as it was, might mot have the ability to take and hold a full spec charge. Your charger is 4.3 amps. 1.5 hours would give an output of about 6.5 amps. the battery would only absorb part of that, say 4.5 to 5 amps. The new capacity of that small 9 plate battery should be around 37.5 amps. At 1.5 hours the battery cannot be very full from the charge rate. It would probably take 10-12 hours to give that battery the best charge it could take considering its condition.
My information is free and worth every penny....
A T Burke
Yes, that sounds about right AT. Actually, I don't think the battery was any good in the end - but that wasn't the point of the video. Thanks for watching 😊👍
Did this with my battery tender 4amp "smart" Dual regular & Lithium charger & your regular 9 volt battery hack by just tapping 5x's the connection for one second each tap, Battery Tender recognized the dead "Lithium" 12 volt motorcycle battery and within 5 seconds was charging. Brilliant, & Cheers, Eric from NC-USA.
That's excellent Eric! Thanks for watching and sharing your success 😊👍
Excellent! Thank you very much for a quick-ish (could be more terse), effective and informative demonstration. I've wondered of late exactly about using a battery "jumper" and if needs to stay on for the entire charging duration or just long enough to momentarily satisfy the "smart-charger's" test threshold. People always want to call that "fooling the system" . Uggh! Anyway, there are so many bad videos that are verbose, circular, unfocused, rambling, incorrect technically and/or "muddy", overly long and rather boring and/or stupid. Your video shines like a beacon in the galaxy ... to paraphrase Forbidden Planet! Seriously, I cannot thank you enough!
Man, that comment rates well into the top ten of the best & most complimentary I've received! Many thanks from one beacon to another! 😍👍
Forbidden Planet was my favorite old time SciFi movie. What has that got to do with battery chargers? Absolutely nothing.
I am doing a hybrid battery right now...your question of leave the jumping battery on through the charge is important. when I use another car battery to bring them up to where the "smart" charger charger will latch on, I just flash it for a few seconds. I have a voltmeter clipped on the dead cell, and can immediately see when the charger kicks in and starts climbing, thats when you can disconnect the good battery.
P
My charger was purchased at Sams club years ago and it has a 100 amp start mode and when I run into a dead-dead battery I just hit the start mode for a couple of minutes and put it to 15 amp charge, unplug and replug and that normally works. Sometime it takes a second 100 amp boost but that usually does it. If I have time I'll charge it on a 2 amp charge once its 12 to 13 volts. Overnight it possible. As. cheap as trickle chargers anymore I just keep equipment I don't use a lot on those.
Yep, start mode and 100 amps is exactly what is needed! Thanks for watching mate 😊👍
Wow Sir ..!! Very Smart . Ingenious. Thank You for this Video 🙏
Thanks heaps for watching 👍😀
Many jumper packs have a safety override to get around the dead-flat battery issue. Smart chargers need one too. You can probably add one by wiring a 100 ohms resistor in series with a momentary switch across whatever isolates the output.
I believe many smart chargers now have an override, which is sensible! Thanks for watching 😊👍
Brilliant! I may have tossed a smart charger years ago because I didn't know this. I don't understand why the 27 thumbs down (as of my viewing).
Who knows Dan! I guess some people have nothing better to do! Thanks for watching mate 😊👍
I salvaged a 24v charger from an order picker and it was just the same procedure. I almost threw it out thinking it was no good. I jumped a twelve volt battery across like you did and it charged up a 24v forkift battery. Each cell had two volts thus six cells. 1990s lift.
Excellent! Nice work Martin 👍🙌
Kudos to this suggestion. It's a lot easier than running jumper cables to another car to obtain the same result. And what if you don't have another car or set of jumper cables? It's easy to just break out a 9v battery and give the thing a 'kick' enough to start charging.
Thanks Mr C. Yep, it's an easy hack 👍😊
Brilliant! So, from here how can I hook up a rusted artifact to do the electrolysis? From the battery terminals to the artifact while everything else (charger to the battery) remains hooked up? Thanks
That could work I guess - I've never tried it. I just use a standard old school 'dumb' charger for electrolysis. Thanks for watching Thomas 😊👍
I've had exactly the same problem with my smart charger. I thought about doing but got lent a normal charger in the meantime so I haven't got around to trying it yet. Nice video, well explained.
Many thanks for watching mate 👍😃
Brilliant TUC ! This helped me no end with my mobility scooter ! (2 x 12v x 75ah batteries!).
The charger , after a year or so of non-use, charged the scooter overnight - but next day not all the lights were lit which was odd! The scooter was useless - no power at all uphill. Would move on the flat or downhill.
I was going to remove the cells and treat them like this video does the flat battery - BUT the charger knew there was a battery or two connected so I aborted that idea!!!
I wondered if the charger assumed full charge because the voltage from the scooter exceeded 12v? I propped up the drive wheels and ran the motor with no load at HIGH and LOW and Hare and Tortoise speeds and the wheels kept turning! (Toilet roll tube on the handle bars and over one paddle is a good way to run the battery into the ground).
I ran it down to near zero on HIGH. Then switched to LOW where it ran on 3 reds until it dropped to 2.
Turned off the display showed in the amber zone so I could have discharge for longer for sure.
Recharged the scooter and it charged up with an hour and the power was as good as new! Drove up the ramp into the Berlingo - no problems. I just need to use it nw and the charging cycle will improve imho.
I was almost ready to order Lithium batteries which would be £600 to over a grand for 75ah - so Ulimate Recycler is a hero in my house! Thank you for the tip!!!
Haha, thanks Mike! 😃👍
Interesting video. I have 2 old school dumb battery chargers, but no smart ones. If I ever find myself trying to use a smart charger but have no luck I'll know what to do to get it to work. Another strategy would be to take it apart and put in a bypass switch or button for a completely dead battery, or to use it as a DC power supply.
I believe some have an override switch which is sensible! Thanks for watching Doug 👍😊
Brilliant mate. This saved me the ballache of pulling the battery out my van in the rain
Excellent, I'm glad to have helped! Thanks for watching 😊👍
Works on tool battery chargers too. That tool battery that won’t charge is often just too flat to be recognized by the charger. A AA cell connected to the battery for just a second will give enough surface charge for the charger to recognize it.
Yes, a few have mentioned this! Thanks mate! 😀👍
But tool batteries are often more than 12v. Most smart chargers just charge 12v.
@@Frank-Thoresen
Tool battery chargers are smart chargers too.
So you are saying that using this method with a small battery on a tool battery charger might work on a battery that is under the threshold voltage
@@Frank-Thoresen yes. The smart chargers just needs to see some voltage. Try it.
Best video on smart chargers and flat batteries
Thank you Roly! Thanks for watching 😊👍
thanks for sharing, life saver tip. I knew the the charger was working, but battery was just too flat. I knew it needed to be triggered somehow, but I thought I needed another car battery: I used my drill battery instead!
Excellent! Yes, a drill battery will work fine! 👍😊
Great tip - just helped me get a charger going. I knew that it needed some voltage to get going, but I didn't have another battery or any wires where I am now - your 9v battery idea plus a couple of coat hangers got it going - thanks mate!
Great improvisation with the coat hangers! Nice work 👍😊
The 9v battery is a great tip. But you still need a battery load tester to see if the battery is of any use. The faithful multimeter just doesn't cut it.
Yep true. This battery ended up going to the scrapyard as it had a crook cell!
@TheUltimateRecycler I gutted the last dead car battery because It had a good flip up handle I lined with rubber exercise mat ,hinged and latched the lid and made a six beer can cooler out of it and everyone loved it and wanted one 👍🏻🤠
Thank you Sir, I've been sat scratching my head wondering why my new 'smart charger' isn't working!!
Yep, I initially had the same itch! Thanks for watching Gavin 😊😊
I just had a similar experience with a battery charger a friend just picked up from Harbor Freight.
Car battery was to discharged to activate charger, so I used jumper cables from another battery to trick the charger into charging!
Me to
Yep, easy to do when you know the trick! Well done 👍
Fascinating, I had exactly that yesterday when my daughter left an interior light on in her car flattening the battery. I was about to return the nearly new smart charger!
Timing is everything Keith! Glad I was able to help 😊👍
Seems straight forward, no fake bullshit etc..
Great info, Thanks for having no annoying back ground music aswell,
Thanks Robbi! Yeah, background music in videos bugs me too! 🙄👍
I wouldn't ever have tried that. Recharging a standard battery can be dangerous, as you'll know. But it only needs to be connected for a fraction of a second. I have an apparently dead 110 Amp hour battery that "trick" may help. Thanks for posting this.
Thanks Heff. Yes, just a momentary touch is quite safe 👍😊
Here’s some additional information in case you’re interested
The practice refered to is called "equalization" or "desulfation" of lead-acid batteries. It involves applying a controlled overcharge to remove sulfation from the battery plates.
Here are some points to consider:
- Equalization is typically performed at a higher voltage (around 2.5-2.7 V per cell) than normal charging (2.2-2.4 V per cell).
- The current used for equalization is usually limited to prevent overheating and damage to the battery.
- The duration of equalization can vary depending on the battery type, age, and level of sulfation.
Thanks for the extra info mate! 😊👍
I have an older Craftsman smart charger that has a switch to manually charge a totally dead battery, after a few minutes on manual it can be switched to auto. I like the auto mode because if you forget to take it off it won't overcharge the battery and simply maintains the full charge.
That's a sensible idea John - they probably all should have a smart-bypass switch! 👍😊
what model is it called please? id love to get something like that - i have a couple of the aldi smart chargers and they work fine but if the voltage is below a certain level wont detect and its a pain in the arse!
I hope you see this your idea worked great trigger the 9-volt battery on my big car charger now i can use the charger on my electrolysis tank works so good thanks again
Excellent Marvin! I think it depends on the charger whether you can use them for electrolysis once triggered to start up. Some cheaper ones will keep shutting down. Thanks for watching 😊👍
Same thing applies to cordless drills etc. When those batteries get too low; the chargers won't charge them. Just open up the battery pack to get direct access to the battery and use a 9V battery to jump start those batteries. It only takes a few seconds to wake up the tool batteries. Put the protective case back on. The charger will now start charging that battery pack. I wonder how many of those have been tossed as well.
Yeah Robert, it would be frightening to know how any perfectly good batteries have been thrown out! 😱😱
I had a smart charger but it wouldn't start working on any battery even one I knew was charged, So I threw away the charger and bought a Ring RSC808. Subbed.
Well, it sounds like your charger did indeed have a fault! Thanks for hoping on board! 😊👍
Wow, how useful! I have a so called "smart charger", and same as this one, 0 volts as a power supply, a flat battery also gives 0v. Definitely going to try this hack. Thanks for the information.
Thanks for watching Neil! It should work fine 👍😊
THANK YOU! I do home hobiest electronics, and just bout a "smart charger", for my 2 Deep Cell "Marine Batteries" (for powering an electric trowling motor) . . . I also had a "DEAD" AGM battery, tested @ under 1 Volt, I will try this trick, and see what happens!
Thanks for watching mate! Hope the trick worked for you! 😊👍
Needed to be "excited" to begin charging. Reminds me of the days when generators were installed in everything.
Ah, those were the days! Thanks for watching Grampa Garry! 👍😀
Yup, I had a similar thing in the UK with a Black and Decker charger that actually displays fault codes, which do not necessarily relate to the the problem at hand. I think that the Black and Decker one is a little more centered around a microcontroller of some sort, (like yourself, I haven't taken the casing off yet, so don't yet know), but it makes you start to wonder whether the manufacturers of chargers and lead acid batteries haven't had their heads together and thought to themselves, we could make a few bob outta this. Just saying
Haha.. Oh, I'm sure they have talked! Just sayin'... 🤣
Man, this is freaking genius! I totally discharged my motorcycle mattery a year ago. It cost me $600 in transport and repair time (British bike so nobody services it).
I just discharged it again, but this time it's going to cost $5 - the cost of some new alligator clips. Thanks, mate!
That's awesome Josh! Thanks for watching and I'm glad it was helpful! 😁👍
Here on this side of the pond we use crocodile clips maybe that's a problem haha
Yeah, this worked for me. I used speaker wire lol. Thanks for the SOLID tip!
Excellent! Great work 👍😊
2003 - 2008 I worked at a national tool store, dozens of times, the cashiers called me to the desk with the customers complaints the charger wouldn't work, as they couldn't get a spark from the clamps, no lights came on. I'd take even a flashlight battery & touch the terminals, it worked. They hadn't even tried to charge the battery because they didn't get a spark. If the battery was completely dead, I told them the same trick you showed.
Good work Country Boy! 😊👍
Thanks .. those were some good points. Ie The trickle charge part.
• Keep your tester on the post with a solid connection, and if the battery loses voltage at a steady rate, then you can tell if the battery is shorted out by the sulphite crystals.
• a welder hooked up at 35 A. (I’m guessing 48 V) does supposedl boil the corrosion off those plates. Be careful do it for no longer than five minutes at a time in a the well ventilated area. don’t be smoking cigarettes or something.lol..
I'm not sure I'd be game to try the welder trick Henri! 😲😱
@@TheUltimateRecycler
I know eh !
I have 2 expensive batteries that have a dead cells. And other than throwing them away I think I might set up some sort of steel cage lol. The guy I watched on utube was braver idk.
I did some math with a 135 amp alternator. with a 12-48v converter dialed into 48v I’d get 33.75 amps. (For the boats 36v tolling motor) I might use that.
I don’t like shorting out the welder for that long , those mother boards are expensive.
I used to design battery chargers. The electronics was powered up by the battery you connect it to, so you won't get any output until a battery is connected to it. This is called 'sparkless' connection. The control circuit requires a minimum voltage to operate to avoid trying to charge into a battery in deep discharge or a shorted cell. The chargers we made would fold back to the correct float voltage after a certain time. A common problem is users not leaving the charger on long enough to get the full charge into battery. If it's a powered golf trolley they might plug it in at 10pm, then unplug it at 7:30 the next day for another day on the golf course. Not allowing the charger to run the full cycle leads to a loss of capacity, and nothing infuriates a golfer more than his trolley running out after 16 holes.
Thanks Brendan, that's interesting. Is that what they refer to as a battery's "memory". If it is not fully charged regularly, the battery then remembers the incomplete charge level as "full" and you have less capacity as a result?
Trees were my main infuriation when I was a golfer! There were too many of them! 🤣
@@TheUltimateRecycler It applies to lead-acid batteries. Holding the battery at the 'absorption' voltage for hours gets the last 15% of charge into the battery and it's essential to do it periodically or the battery will suffer. All the battery makers have their preferred charging regime. For example, if the charger current drops below 5% of rated current, an internal timer then starts which holds it at the absorption voltage for maybe 8, or 12 hours, then it drops the volts down to a safe indefinite float voltage. If it holds the absorption voltage for too long the electrolyte can start to boil off and with a sealed battery there's no way of topping it up.
Excellent info, Brendan, thank you!
Very clever! I just had a similar experience with a smart charger I own and a vehicle sitting unused for a few months. Fortunately, I have a second charger with a "jump charge" function that got the vehicle battery past the smart charger's "start volt" threshold. I knew what you would do as soon as I noticed the 9V battery and clip leads in the background. I'll remember that!
Yeah I believe some chargers now have an override switch which is sensible! Thanks for watching 😊👍
Good video, the only thing forgotten is always remove caps so pressure doesn't build up, fluid level helps too.
Yep, good point! Thanks for watching 😊👍
Thanks maaan! Brand new battery, died in my parked car that I don’t drive. I just bought a Viking charger/maintainer from harbor freight to look after the battery for me. It wouldn’t respond. Thanks your method worked. It is processing the info at least. Not sure if it is okay though. The backlight stops blinking and shows a full battery bar, but everything disappears except for a blinking icon of a broken battery.
Well at least this method woke things up for you! Hope the new battery is ok! 😊
Glad i came across your video. Excellent information. Thank you!
Thanks Matt! 😊👍
Thanks. It made me laugh. I actually did pull the charger apart looking for the fuse and to fix it. Great video. I hope it prevents them from being binned.
Thanks mate! I'm sure we aren't the only two on the planet that went looking for a fuse! 🤣
Thank you for sharing. Seeing this makes me wonder if this same principle could be applied on power tools chargers that won't charge due to a fail safe mode for detecting a battery under 4 (more or less) volts. Thoughts anyone?
I think it is exactly the same situation and numerous people have already commented to say that it works! 😊👍
Im glad I came across your video. It just so happens I have a "Smart" charger that has no output voltage. I will try and re-train it like you did. Will let all kmow how it works out.
Perfect! Hope it works for you Jim! 👍😊
Hi, so could I use this method for electrolysis? Just wondered before I go find my crappy charger. Thanks.
Nope, the smart chargers are still no good for electrolysis as they'll shut off thinking there's a short somewhere! You'll need a dumb charger or another power supply for electrolysis 👍😊
@@TheUltimateRecycler Cheers mate I’ve got an absaar one that gets abused for silver stripping. It’s only a matter of time before it breaks. 👍
I loved the Curiosity Show and wondered where you got to!
Haha, I used to watch that too! My inspiration maybe? (for science and the moustache!) 🤣
I've been doing this ever since I came across one of these "smart" chargers.
I prefer a conventional charger that will put out voltage when you plug it in.
Yep, me too! Thanks for watching 😊👍
Thank you, sir. I've needed to know this for years.
What about your original intention to use the charger as an electrolysis power source? Can it be done?
Thanks Randy! Nope, smart chargers are no good for electrolysis as they shut down because they think there's a short! I use an old style charger..
Amazing video. Thanks for sharing. I've hooked another battery to the dead battery and left it for a day.
Thanks Phil! 😊👍
I never thought about using a 9 volt battery to trick the charger. thank you
Thanks for watching Geoff 👍😊
I am guessing that this can work for electrolysis as well?
It's just a matter of kickstarting the smart charger with the 9volt battery.
No, the smart chargers aren't any good for electrolysis as they keep thinking there is a short circuit and they shut down!
Worked perfectly. Using a Schumcher automatic charger (1304), charging a battery that showed 0.2 V on meter as I write this.
Excellent Thomas, thanks for the feedback! 😊👍
I used to use a trickle charger first then put it onto the smart charger and that worked ok.
But good vid.👍
Thanks Ian. Yep - that would work too 👍😊
it possible to use the float charger on several batteries simultaneously if the batteries are wired parralel?
I guess so, as long as none of the batteries draws too much current!
Awesome trick! I was going to find a good car battery and hook up leads to trick mine. I thought about using a 9v but thought it would fail, Thanks for the tip.
No worries Jon, glad you found the video useful! 👍😊
Thanks for this. Where do I get those mini charging cables?
Any electronics supply shop or on ebay/amazon etc. Thanks for watching 😊
This is something everyone should know. For decades, many chargers, from automotive to small ones for your flashlight cells, have needed a reference voltage to get them started. Most only need a momentary “bump” then will keep charging. Chargers and maintainers are two different things. Given time, even the smallest “trickle charger” will fry a truck battery if it’s unregulated. I test questionable chargers for 24 hours on an expendable battery. A good float charger or maintainer will stay around 13-1/2 volts, not much higher.
Interesting! Thanks for your input Lane 👍😊
Absolute legend! It worked for me, thank you very, very much. Saved me from screwing around with jumpers or tearing the garage apart looking for my 'dumb' charger from the 90's. I guess the smart/trickle/float chargers aren't great if you forget to plug them in before the battery goes flat, consider me schooled! Rock on sir!
Details for the curious: Car battery (960 CCA, Calcium SMF) - Century Charger CC2160 - stuck flashing 'eco', no charging, no force start instructions.
1) Disconnected car battery;
2) Touched 9v battery positive terminal to car battery positive terminal for 10 seconds - I wanted to try disconnected from charger first for safety because I'm a wimp;
3) Connected charger to battery and switched on mains supply;
4) Smile! It's running the charging programme from 'initial charging', the dead battery slow pre-charge step.
If it fails to progress through the rest of the programme all the way to float I'll report back, otherwise huzzah!
Haha, excellent! Thanks for watching and your very detailed comment! 😊👍
Great workaround, thank you! So what is the shoulder strap for? Weapon, man purse? :)
Haha, shoulder reconstruction surgery!
@@TheUltimateRecycler Oh sorry! Speedy recovery, although I know that takes time.
@@truck57us It took 12 months to get back to competitive table tennis! It's been two years now and is pretty good. The surgeon did a good job! 😊
Another way to do this is to get another (good) car battery and put it in parallel. The good battery's 12 volts will eventually trickle to the bad battery and the smart charger keeps a charge on the good battery. It worked great for me.
Yep, that would work Jeff, but it's a hassle unless you have a good car battery floating around the shed! Thanks for watching mate 👍😊
That’s awesome awesome I might try that I got a 12 V battery I want to get it charged what do you do the same thing to your power tools batteries
Thanks Shep. I've never had any trouble charging power tool batteries!
Thank you for just getting to the friggin point!
All l needed to know was how much current and and how many volts do l need to outsmart this "smart" charger.
Every other video I've watched is just blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.....
"Usr another car battery this, use jumper cables that.. ".
Hell, if l had all that at my immediate disposal, l wouldn't even be trying to use a battery charger! I was about to kick the TV screen in while screaming "Just STFU and gimme some practical information"!
As little as 9v and almost no current will do...
Thanks to you, now l know!
Thanks to you
Thanks for watching and I'm pleased I've saved your TV from a untimely death! 😁
Cheers mate. I will be able to get ny "legs" back in operational order with this trick! Thank you
That's great mate! 👍😊
actual info starts at 5:11
For people who are short on time.. 😊
does this same scenario apply to lithium iron tool batteries that are dead flat?
I believe so Murray, many commenters have been saying that's the case! 👍😊
Thanks!
Many thanks Greg, that's awesome!! 😀😀
I just had this issue yesterday. Good information to know now. Thanks
Excellent! Thanks for watching 😊👍