Battery goes flat!

[A TRUCK]

I keep my '29 pick-up on a trickle charge - however once I drive it or even after working on it in my garage (starting/stopping the pick-up) or (checking any electrical issues) the battery goes flat.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I am running a 6 volt generator.

[SeaSlugs]

i had a trickle charger die on me, supposed to auto sense and stay charged and every time i hook it up it says its charged yet i go to crank over the car and all i get is a rugh and cliiiiiiiiick... charge battery with a real battery charger for half an hour on 2amp and starts right up (modern 12V car that gets stored all winter) i made sure the clips are clean on clean lead but still doesnt make a difference..

I think all the major auto stores should be able to load test the 6v battery... id call ahead and make sure tho.

[A TRUCK]

Hey SeaSlugs - the battery is quite new and the trickle charger does keep it charged. It is after I have gone for a drive or after I've worked on the pick-up that it doesn't want to start again.

[Phil]

Check the amp guage after shut down to make sure the cut out is not sticking and discharging the battery. When it has gone "flat" check the battery at the post with a volt meter. A bad connection on a cable can make it seem the battery is dead when it is not. Check make sure brake light switch is not sticking on. Check these and report back. We will go from there.

[A TRUCK]

Originally Posted by Phil

Check the amp guage after shut down to make sure the cut out is not sticking and discharging the battery. When it has gone "flat" check the battery at the post with a volt meter. A bad connection on a cable can make it seem the battery is dead when it is not. Check make sure brake light switch is not sticking on. Check these and report back. We will go from there.

Hey Phil - thanks for your reply.

*Battery connections are good
*Brake light switch is not staying on
*Whilst on the trickle charger, the amp gauge sits on "0"
*When I crank it over, the amp gauge goes to -20 and just sits there

[Tom Wesenberg]

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Originally Posted by A TRUCK

Hey Phil - thanks for your reply.

*Battery connections are good
*Brake light switch is not staying on
*Whilst on the trickle charger, the amp gauge sits on "0"
*When I crank it over, the amp gauge goes to -20 and just sits there

Does "crank it over" mean running? The ammeter shouldn't move during cranking except for a small amount showing the points opening and closing on most A's. If the ammeter sets on 0 with the engine off, but then goes to -20 with the engine running, then something must be wrong with the generator or cutout. With the belt removed from the generator, if you polarize it, does it spin slowly in the same direction that it normally runs?

Has anyone worked on the generator or cutout recently? Did this problem just start, but everything was fine before?

[A TRUCK]

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

Does "crank it over" mean running? The ammeter shouldn't move during cranking except for a small amount showing the points opening and closing on most A's. If the ammeter sets on 0 with the engine off, but then goes to -20 with the engine running, then something must be wrong with the generator or cutout. With the belt removed from the generator, if you polarize it, does it spin slowly in the same direction that it normally runs?

Has anyone worked on the generator or cutout recently? Did this problem just start, but everything was fine before?

Thanks for replying Tom

Yes, "crank it over", means the car is running.

I've just checked it out again and this is exactly what is happening. Sorry if I haven't explained this properly.

To begin with, the pick-up has a kill switch.

*While on a trickle charger and with the kill switch on, the ammeter sits on "0"
*I turn the kill switch off to be able to start the pick-up and the ammeter goes to -20
*I start the pick-up and the ammeter goes to "0"
*While keeping the revs up, the ammeter goes to +10
*If I switch the headlights on, the ammeter goes to -20 and pretty much sits there.

No-one has worked on the generator or cutout - it has been like this since I purchased the pick-up a couple of months ago.

Thanks for your help.

[Tom Wesenberg]

What do you have for headlights? Either you have a short in the light circuit or they draw a lot of amps. Could it be you have terminals touching each other and all 4 headlamp filaments are on at the same time? Only the 2 low, or the 2 high should be on at a time.

You can use a welding helmet to look at the lit filaments.

[A TRUCK]

I installed headlight bulbs that I purchased through Mac's - they are 32-50 Candle Power 6 Volt
No, the 4 filaments are not all on at the same time.
The low and high work perfectly well.

[Patrick L.]

You say that as soon as the 'kill' switch[which I assume is an after market battery cut-out switch] is turned so as to allow the engine to start, the ammeter reads -20 even before the the ignition switch is turned on. Right ? If so, that means you have a huge draw somewhere in the electrical system. With a volt meter attached between the removed battery cable and terminal, either the - or +, really doesn't make much difference] read the voltage. it should be zero. If not, then keep disconnecting things until it does read zero and that'll be your problem. You can use the car's ammeter to quickly check the simple things like the brake light switch [most common problem] or cut-out, headlight switch etc.

[A TRUCK]

Originally Posted by Patrick L.

You say that as soon as the 'kill' switch[which I assume is an after market battery cut-out switch] is turned so as to allow the engine to start, the ammeter reads -20 even before the the ignition switch is turned on. Right ? If so, that means you have a huge draw somewhere in the electrical system. With a volt meter attached between the removed battery cable and terminal, either the - or +, really doesn't make much difference] read the voltage. it should be zero. If not, then keep disconnecting things until it does read zero and that'll be your problem. You can use the car's ammeter to quickly check the simple things like the brake light switch [most common problem] or cut-out, headlight switch etc.

Yes that's correct that the ammeter reads -20 as soon as I switch off the kill switch to allow the engine to start. Once the engine starts it goes to 0 and charges while driving or revving the engine. Once headlights are switched on it goes all the way down to -20 again and just stays there. Thanks for the advice Patrick L. - I'll give it a go!


Thanks again

[H. L. Chauvin]

*While on a trickle charger and with the kill switch on, the ammeter sits on "0"

*I turn the kill switch off to be able to start the pick-up and the ammeter goes to -20

1. With preferably an analog multi-meter with a needle, with the DC Volts setting at +10 or below, try placing the multi-meter's red (+) probe on the positive (+) terminal of the battery, & the black (-) negative probe on a clean unpainted engine (+) ground.

2. Next, between these tow points, see if you get a DC volt multi-meter reading first with the kill switch "ON", & second with the kill switch "OFF".

[Mike V. Florida]

There are only two things that will cause the ammeter to go to -20. The lights and the generator. Since you have the lights off the only thing in the circuit that will draw current is the generator due to a bad cutout.