# [EVDL] Odyssey charging with Protech4 charger



## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Sorry for the re-post but the original ended up under another topic on the Nabble archive
and anyone using that interface may not have seen my post.

I am currently using a single Protech4 20 amp to charge individual
batteries. 

http://www.promariner.com/productFeature.php?ProductNum=61220&page=0

I have the switches set for 3 hour absorption. I recently received 4
new Odyssey PC 1700 batteries, one of them was showing 13 volts, two
others 12.9, and one 12.5. I put the charger on each battery
individually and on all but the 12.5 one the charger starts to pulse on and off
after a while, even after switching to float. During absorption it
starts out normally but at some point begins to fluctuate quickly between
14.62 and 14.56, and during float it does the same but at a lower
voltage, 13 something. Is this normal? The 12.5 battery has come up to about
12.8 resting volts, Odyssey considers 12.84 and above fully charged,
but still the charger does not pulse, presumably because it is not yet
fully charged. I also used the charger on two older flooded batteries
that came up to around 12.7 volts and there was no pulsing with these.
The other question is the charger mentions a "fast charge" mode that is
supposed to be indicated by the top 2 LED's lighting up but I can find
no way to place the charger into "fast charge". Not that I really
need that but I'd just like to know what I'm missing.


John

http://amp-phibian.blogspot.com/
http://www.evalbum.com/1609

---------------------------------
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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Oops,
I'm sorry, I forgot to reply to this.
It is really simple sorry to say. The charger does not have any type of a
pulse mode. It is defective and I would not trust it at this point to hold
proper voltages. Call their service line at 800-824-0524. They should
warranty this fully if under 2 years and will prorate up to five years. Try
to get them to upgrade you to a ProText-i, it is a much better charger and
retails for the same price as the PtoTech-4.

Mark Grasser



-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf
Of John X
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 8:41 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [EVDL] Odyssey charging with Protech4 charger


Sorry for the re-post but the original ended up under another topic on the
Nabble archive
and anyone using that interface may not have seen my post.

I am currently using a single Protech4 20 amp to charge individual
batteries. 

http://www.promariner.com/productFeature.php?ProductNum=61220&page=0

I have the switches set for 3 hour absorption. I recently received 4
new Odyssey PC 1700 batteries, one of them was showing 13 volts, two
others 12.9, and one 12.5. I put the charger on each battery
individually and on all but the 12.5 one the charger starts to pulse on and
off
after a while, even after switching to float. During absorption it
starts out normally but at some point begins to fluctuate quickly between
14.62 and 14.56, and during float it does the same but at a lower
voltage, 13 something. Is this normal? The 12.5 battery has come up to
about
12.8 resting volts, Odyssey considers 12.84 and above fully charged,
but still the charger does not pulse, presumably because it is not yet
fully charged. I also used the charger on two older flooded batteries
that came up to around 12.7 volts and there was no pulsing with these.
The other question is the charger mentions a "fast charge" mode that is
supposed to be indicated by the top 2 LED's lighting up but I can find
no way to place the charger into "fast charge". Not that I really
need that but I'd just like to know what I'm missing.


John

http://amp-phibian.blogspot.com/
http://www.evalbum.com/1609

---------------------------------
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it
now.
_______________________________________________
For subscription options, see
http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/ev

_______________________________________________
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http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/ev


----------



## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Thanks, that's what I was afraid of. 



> Mark Grasser <[email protected]> wrote: Oops,
> I'm sorry, I forgot to reply to this.
> It is really simple sorry to say. The charger does not have any type of a
> pulse mode. It is defective and I would not trust it at this point to hold
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

[No message]


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

[No message]


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

My reply didn't show up on the list so here it is again:

Here's what I'm seeing. Note, this only happens with a fully charged
Odyssey battery which can have a resting voltage between 12.9 and 13, not
with flooded which seem to rest around 12.7 to 12.75.
As indicated by the LED's the Protech4 30 shows "Fast charging" for a second
or so then goes into "Absorption", which I have set for 2 hours. The
Protech4 20 never shows the "Fast charging" LED's, presumably because these
batteries are fully charged or very close to it. At some point during the
"Absorption" phase I see the LED's begin pulsing and the voltage of the
battery fluctuates, never going above 14.7, but dropping to 14.65 or so for
a split second. I'm guessing that the higher voltage capacity of the
Odyssey's are taking the chargers to the 14.7 limit and the charger is
cutting back to keep the voltage from going over 14.7. If the charger is
left on long enough to go into the "Float" stage the same thing happens but
at a lower voltage. However, with the Protech4 30 the voltage actually held
at 13.3 in float but the LED's were flashing, but with the Protech4 20 the
voltage fluctuated as well as the LED's flashing. The flashing is more like
a
pulsing really, they don't go on and off they just quickly change intensity. 
There is also a very soft hum that changes intensity with the LED's and
voltage. So in quick summary, with the Odysseys, both chargers appear to
begin pulsing voltage with maybe a .05 volt range when the batteries are
fully charged.
I hope that was somewhat clear.

John

Just a quick update. I just put the 30 amp on a charged Odyssey and watched
it for about ten minutes. The "pulsing" is the middle, red, LED coming on
for a second or so, not full on, but dimly on, and when the red LED is on is
when the voltage drops a bit, when it goes off the voltage climbs back up
for a second.




> markgrasser wrote:
> >
> > Let's check your terminology. Here is what should happen. When the voltage
> > reaches 14.7 volts the CURRENT should begin to drop. From the time the
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

My reply didn't show up on the list so here it is again:

Here's what I'm seeing. Note, this only happens with a fully charged
Odyssey battery which can have a resting voltage between 12.9 and 13, not
with flooded which seem to rest around 12.7 to 12.75.
As indicated by the LED's the Protech4 30 shows "Fast charging" for a second
or so then goes into "Absorption", which I have set for 2 hours. The
Protech4 20 never shows the "Fast charging" LED's, presumably because these
batteries are fully charged or very close to it.

This is ok so far, you are correct about the fast charge LED functions.


At some point during the
"Absorption" phase I see the LED's begin pulsing and the voltage of the
battery fluctuates, never going above 14.7, but dropping to 14.65 or so for
a split second. I'm guessing that the higher voltage capacity of the
Odyssey's are taking the chargers to the 14.7 limit and the charger is
cutting back to keep the voltage from going over 14.7. If the charger is
left on long enough to go into the "Float" stage the same thing happens but
at a lower voltage. However, with the Protech4 30 the voltage actually held
at 13.3 in float but the LED's were flashing, but with the Protech4 20 the
voltage fluctuated as well as the LED's flashing. The flashing is more like
a
pulsing really, they don't go on and off they just quickly change intensity.

There is also a very soft hum that changes intensity with the LED's and
voltage. So in quick summary, with the Odysseys, both chargers appear to
begin pulsing voltage with maybe a .05 volt range when the batteries are
fully charged.
I hope that was somewhat clear.

John

Just a quick update. I just put the 30 amp on a charged Odyssey and watched
it for about ten minutes. The "pulsing" is the middle, red, LED coming on
for a second or so, not full on, but dimly on, and when the red LED is on is
when the voltage drops a bit, when it goes off the voltage climbs back up
for a second.

Pulsing is very odd. The only thing I can think of is that the feedback
isn't dampened enough. Someone that is more familiar with these and still
works there is Bruce Giard. I would call the 800 number and ask for Bruce in
service. He is the hands on guy in the lab, been there the longest. He might
just ask you to return them, never know.

Mark





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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Thanks, I'll do that and post my results.



> markgrasser wrote:
> >
> > Pulsing is very odd. The only thing I can think of is that the feedback
> > isn't dampened enough. Someone that is more familiar with these and still
> ...


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