The Camaro Club (UK)

So i have had the same car battery charger for at least 15 years, maybe even 20. It has 2 settings, normal and fast (higher amperage on fast). The way it used to work was on say the normal setting, the 0-12 bar would be on 3 and after about an hour or two would reach 0 (fully charged) on a car used used normally (i.e. charged by alternator but a bit low in winter due to headlights being on more etc.). On an older battery you would put it onto fast charge and it would be at 6 on the scale and you could hear it buzz louder as it was delivering more amps.

Recently it goes straight to 0 in about 30 seconds, when on normal and within 2 minutes it will say fully charged on fast. Doesn't seem right and i've had a look around to see if it's possible to test / check a charger but results are always flooded with phone car chargers, so haven't found anything out there. I've tested with a voltmeter and it's showing over 14 volts, so it's delivering a voltage but there's no way it can be charging a big battery that fast. I remember having it on before and whilst waxing the car for example, would keep checking back and see it move up the scale a bit every time i rechecked, waiting for it to fully charge. Now it just goes straight to fully charged in almost no time. When i put it on the camaro (which hasn't been running since december and i left the battery hooked up, it was set to fast charge when i turned it on and showed 6, then i changed it to normal as i was going to leave it overnight but it went straight to 0, i then thought that's strange, so switched it back to fast charge and then that also went to 0 on the scale, even though it was at 6 a few seconds ago. Very odd. Any ideas?

Cheers!

_________________
How to post pics: When writing a message, scroll down and use the "attach file" option. Where possible, a photo sharing service can be used such as Flickr, Imgur etc. The image location (usually ending in .jpg) can be copy and pasted between the ][ brackets that appear when you click the 'Img' button (you can find this button at the top of the message box).

How to post youtube vids: Click on the 'youtubeHD' button at the top of the message box and in the middle of the ][ brackets that just appeared, copy and paste everything from the youtube web address that appears after the = sign i.e if this is the url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cNqaPSHv0 just copy "K2cNqaPSHv0").

Sounds like it´s turned in it´s charging days.

My old charger buzzes and groans but the new one I bought recently you can almost put in your pocket,
silent and more than likely digital.

In fact I bought two, one for the Camaro and one for the misses car.

As her car is used very little the charger can be left plugged in, it charges the battery then keeps it topped up.
Also before beginning the charge it de-calcifies the battery.

There are two plugged end leads, one has crocodile clips the other can be fixed permanently to the battery
so you can plug and charge.

Thanks Malc, sounds like it's given up the ghost then, i thought they just chug along and keep going. I had the battery in the house and had the charger on it, set to normal and when i went down earlier it was buzzing somethin' fierce, but sat at 0, so guess it's done.

Looked into the type that you mentioned and saw that Ring do some Smart chargers and it might make sense, as my new daily driver has an AGM Stop Start battery which (from what i've read) requires a different type of charger apparently. I actually took the car to the dealership as it's under extended warranty and one of the things i wanted them to check is the battery - they said the battery (3.5 years old) is at 60% health and would actually be changed under normal 3 year warranty, but extended warranty doesn't cover the battery. A replacement is £150 so for the sake of a more expensive £65 charger that has the ability to try and recover the battery health, it's worth a shot.

_________________
How to post pics: When writing a message, scroll down and use the "attach file" option. Where possible, a photo sharing service can be used such as Flickr, Imgur etc. The image location (usually ending in .jpg) can be copy and pasted between the ][ brackets that appear when you click the 'Img' button (you can find this button at the top of the message box).

How to post youtube vids: Click on the 'youtubeHD' button at the top of the message box and in the middle of the ][ brackets that just appeared, copy and paste everything from the youtube web address that appears after the = sign i.e if this is the url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cNqaPSHv0 just copy "K2cNqaPSHv0").

This is the one I use in the Camaro.
Cost me about 70€uros, there are more expensive ones, in fact a plethora of ´em.....

http://optimate1.com/zoekresultaten/?wp ... y-chargers

Could it be the battery you tested it on is fubar?

_________________
1997 30th Anniversary SS SLP
1993 GMC Typhoon

Originally i thought so - had an optima red top that came with the car and i thought the battery was the issue, so (annoyingly in hindsight) got rid of the battery. Used the charger on the battery in the 3rd gen (ac delco, only 1.5 years old) and it charged up a bit too quick for what i was used to. Then tried it on a brand new varta that was replacing the optima, after a couple of months of it arriving topped it up but didn't do seemingly much. Then tried it on another brand new varta (previous one had been dropped on its edge) and that one had been left for a while in the colder weather and it did the same (showed full charge in about a minute). Then tried it on the daily driver which definitely needed a charge and it charged up an apparently low battery to full in about 10 minutes.

Had a look around and ended up going for a Ring RSC612 Smart Charger. It has a few different functions and will charge an AGM battery and has a few diagnostics (some simple like checking alternator charge which is basically just acting as a voltmeter while the car is running). Has a crank draw test which is of interest to see what the camaro is pulling when starting and can be used as a long storage trickle charger too. I will try and recondition the AGM battery with it and see if it makes any difference. A nice feature it has is memory storage, which means it will keep the voltage in through the car whilst you change battery to avoid losing radio codes and other settings.

_________________
How to post pics: When writing a message, scroll down and use the "attach file" option. Where possible, a photo sharing service can be used such as Flickr, Imgur etc. The image location (usually ending in .jpg) can be copy and pasted between the ][ brackets that appear when you click the 'Img' button (you can find this button at the top of the message box).

How to post youtube vids: Click on the 'youtubeHD' button at the top of the message box and in the middle of the ][ brackets that just appeared, copy and paste everything from the youtube web address that appears after the = sign i.e if this is the url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cNqaPSHv0 just copy "K2cNqaPSHv0").

Bit of an update. Charged 3 batteries with it so far. Used the recondition function on 2 batteries as they were showing 60% charge. Left it overnight and was 100% after about 24 hours. It's got a handy LCD backlight which shows you what it's doing. It varies voltage and amperage and this helps with the recon / decalcifiying stages. Used it on my AGM stop start battery as well and seemed happy with it. It has a fan on it which is quite loud, so wouldn't suggest using it in a room that you'll be sitting in for a while. Also has a storage feature which basically acts as a trickle charger.

_________________
How to post pics: When writing a message, scroll down and use the "attach file" option. Where possible, a photo sharing service can be used such as Flickr, Imgur etc. The image location (usually ending in .jpg) can be copy and pasted between the ][ brackets that appear when you click the 'Img' button (you can find this button at the top of the message box).

How to post youtube vids: Click on the 'youtubeHD' button at the top of the message box and in the middle of the ][ brackets that just appeared, copy and paste everything from the youtube web address that appears after the = sign i.e if this is the url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cNqaPSHv0 just copy "K2cNqaPSHv0").