amperage question (recharging)-UPDATE

[brent]

Kinda stupid--
Settled for a 940 CCA batt which was stupid in hindsight 'cause every morning I wake to 0 degrees. Doesn't have the "umphh."
I'm recharging it today. My charger has a 6 amp and 2 amp setting. I usually use the 6.
So here's the stupid question:
When I flop between 2 and 6 amp settings I get different readings. How can my battery be totally charged at the 2 am setting and still be radically undercharged at 6 amp setting?
How could it be totally charged and not-even-close-to-totally charged AT THE SAME TIME????

Brent--stupid in the ways of all things electrical....

[Ristow]

it's probably not undercharged,but if you hook up the charger it's gonna force some amperage into it.your battery will turn it into heat,feel the sides after a while.

a 940 is a lot of battery,bigger than i use up north here. have you put new,and bigger cables on yet? also clean all the connections,and grease them.

[Chevelleguy]

You can't go by the indicator on a cheap charger. If you are having trouble turning over when cold. Make sure you have good cables. Not the cheap, 4 gauge cables you get at the parts stores. I made my own from 1/0 welding cable and swedge terminals. You can get the terminals at Napa and the cable is about $3.00 a foot at a welding supply store. Makes a HUGE difference in how fast your motor will spin over.

[Ristow]

i made my own from "o" cable too. mine acted like the battery was dead whenever it got below about 20 degrees. i thought the battery was junk at first.but the factory wimpy cables were pretty trashed,so i made a set up at the shop,i ran the negative cable down to the starter's mounting bolt. cured the problem,it was not the battery. i really cranks now,even at sub-zero weather.

[brent]

Won't crank, takes maybe 10 embarrasing minutes in the AM.
Just pulled starter: flywheel and starter teeth are PERFECT!!!

So you guys are telling me the new 2 guage batt cables I have may be the reason??
Thanks, Brent

[Ristow]

you have new cables? prolly not the problem. starter could be goin' on you,though,they'll pull a lot of power and turn slow when they're givin' up.

[andy d]

what viscosity oil are you using???????? How cold does it get in Flagstaff ?????? 10w 30 should be fine at 0f.

[brent]

what viscosity oil are you using???????? How cold does it get in Flagstaff ?????? 10w 30 should be fine at 0f.

10W-40 last oil change in November. Prolly too thin?

Ristow--tell me again why you hooked an extra ground from your negative terminal and ran it to a starter motor bolt? What size cable?

[Ristow]

the starter uses a lot of power,and i wanted an easy path for the power to get back to the negative terminal of the battery. hooking the negative down on the starter ear does that,and also retains the engine ground for the smaller amperage items.

[GWChris]

If you are concerned that it's your battery, then connect a voltmeter to the battey terminals when cranking - not to the cable clamps but to the terminals themselves. If the battery voltage holds, then the battery is ok and you are losing voltage through resistance elsewhere in the system. The ground path from the starter back to the battery is a good place to look, but any connection is suspect.

And even though the cables are new, 99% of the time the problem is the battery terminals. Take 'em off and clean the clamps and the terminals with one of theose reamers they sell at the autoparts store. It's just too easy to clean them to make it worth skipping that step.

I'd bet on it being a connection, not the cables, just about every time.

[brent]

Stated SECOND FRIGGIN TRY this morning.
The only thing I did was amp up a battery at apporx 60% and reset starter teeth to flywheel teeth.
Funny thing about FSJ's: the solution is always there but it takes 50 tries at stuff that doesn't work....

Ristow--I still want insurance and will try that batt gound to starter bolt idea....what guage wire?

Thanks all,
Brent

[Ristow]

check all the connection like chris mentioned,you shouldn't NEED to run a ground cable to the starter,but it does HELP.

i would use 2 guage or larger. i have 0 guage.

[shimniok]

Kinda stupid--
Settled for a 940 CCA batt which was stupid in hindsight 'cause every morning I wake to 0 degrees. Doesn't have the "umphh."
I'm recharging it today. My charger has a 6 amp and 2 amp setting. I usually use the 6.
So here's the stupid question:
When I flop between 2 and 6 amp settings I get different readings. How can my battery be totally charged at the 2 am setting and still be radically undercharged at 6 amp setting?
How could it be totally charged and not-even-close-to-totally charged AT THE SAME TIME????

My Sears charger has 2 and 10A settings and has different scales for each. The needle is in different positions depending on setting.

I had something similar to this happen with the battery in my Subaru; at 2A it seemed charged, at 10A not as charged. The battery was shot. It was charging but then couldn't deliver any current to start. I had let it completely discharge over the span of a couple months and it sat outside in very cold weather. Oops.

So maybe what you're seeing is different voltage drop due to excessive internal battery resistance? Meaning the 900CCA battery is having problems?

900 CCA should be PLENTY to start the FSJ in pretty cold weather. IIWY I'd think about getting #2 or #0 gauge wire for battery / solenoid / starter wires. That should boost your performance a little bit. I used to have a 1000CCA with bigger wire and it'd spin the motor so fast in any weather it was scary.

Another thought: use synthetic or a blend; the synthetic will coat the cylinder walls so you may have a little less startup resistance.

Michael