Help need with generators
Discussion
Wildcat has posted about this - but help IS needed!
Claire (partner of Paul Smith of SafeSpeed who sadly died before Christmas) has got back to where she lives in "remote" Scotland to find she is without power
Here is a summary of the situation. If any of you know anything about 12 volt power systems (as found on a typical yacht / caravan, PLEASE post, as it's a problem that needs solving ASAP!!
She has no mains electricity. Instead, she has a big diesel 3.3KVA generator. This is mainly used to charge a number of 12 volt "leisure" batteries and these in turn provide power for the various household appliances via inverters. A lot of the stuff in the house is 12 volt anyway.
She got back from her travels to find the batteries dead and not able to take a charge. Apparently the charger isn't "seeing" the batteries. I think this means that the batteries are simply too dead to provide a "signal" to the charger so that it knows what rate to charge them at.
She thinks one battery might be more dead than the other one to which it is connected so she's going to try and disconnect that one and see if she can get some charge into the other one.
Apparently the batteries are AT LEAST 2 years old (they were second hand when Paul and Claire got them). Also, it was 5 degrees below zero last night up there and lead acid batteries hate cold weather!
The batteries are both 75AH "Leisure" ones.
All thoughts gratefully (and URGENTLY!) appreciated - post here or email me and I'll pass them on!
If the batteries are dead, can anyone recommend a good, cheap source for Leisure batteries?
IF ANYONE IS IN A POSITION to help Claire directly - email me and I'll send you her phone details.
Claire (partner of Paul Smith of SafeSpeed who sadly died before Christmas) has got back to where she lives in "remote" Scotland to find she is without power
Here is a summary of the situation. If any of you know anything about 12 volt power systems (as found on a typical yacht / caravan, PLEASE post, as it's a problem that needs solving ASAP!!
She has no mains electricity. Instead, she has a big diesel 3.3KVA generator. This is mainly used to charge a number of 12 volt "leisure" batteries and these in turn provide power for the various household appliances via inverters. A lot of the stuff in the house is 12 volt anyway.
She got back from her travels to find the batteries dead and not able to take a charge. Apparently the charger isn't "seeing" the batteries. I think this means that the batteries are simply too dead to provide a "signal" to the charger so that it knows what rate to charge them at.
She thinks one battery might be more dead than the other one to which it is connected so she's going to try and disconnect that one and see if she can get some charge into the other one.
Apparently the batteries are AT LEAST 2 years old (they were second hand when Paul and Claire got them). Also, it was 5 degrees below zero last night up there and lead acid batteries hate cold weather!
The batteries are both 75AH "Leisure" ones.
All thoughts gratefully (and URGENTLY!) appreciated - post here or email me and I'll pass them on!
If the batteries are dead, can anyone recommend a good, cheap source for Leisure batteries?
IF ANYONE IS IN A POSITION to help Claire directly - email me and I'll send you her phone details.
Cheer Prof!
I'd come on line to post up what's needed as well
If anyone knows of any on-line supplier of these batteries -preferably in the Highlands so that they get delivered asap. Cannot be easy life up there. I think it fair to say that Paul Smith gave up a heck of a lot in reality. He had a decent career.. decent job..and carried fighting for more BiBs and a better road safety policy right until moment of death.
His partner is in need of help. Decent human beings try to help another in real need. She's not asking for much - just some help with getting batteries and the means to cook a meal and get some warmth. She's one nice lady too. Down to earth - but she needs help all the same.
If anyone out there knows where we can get hold of the batteries required quicky as I gather the batteries in question were second hand when they bought them.. then please point to web site.
If anyone knows how to kickstart the generator - then please contact Claire via the contact on the safespeed forum itself. Use the mobile number Paulie gave out.there . she does use that hand set too
But if you want to help financially to keep the website
, campaign and Paul's work and life's work afloat - then I am sure most who supported this valued fellow PH-er can manage to buy her a spray of flowers - but send her the cash spent on the little spray from the supermarket instead of the carnations and rosebuds
I'd come on line to post up what's needed as well
If anyone knows of any on-line supplier of these batteries -preferably in the Highlands so that they get delivered asap. Cannot be easy life up there. I think it fair to say that Paul Smith gave up a heck of a lot in reality. He had a decent career.. decent job..and carried fighting for more BiBs and a better road safety policy right until moment of death.
His partner is in need of help. Decent human beings try to help another in real need. She's not asking for much - just some help with getting batteries and the means to cook a meal and get some warmth. She's one nice lady too. Down to earth - but she needs help all the same.
If anyone out there knows where we can get hold of the batteries required quicky as I gather the batteries in question were second hand when they bought them.. then please point to web site.
If anyone knows how to kickstart the generator - then please contact Claire via the contact on the safespeed forum itself. Use the mobile number Paulie gave out.there . she does use that hand set too
But if you want to help financially to keep the website
, campaign and Paul's work and life's work afloat - then I am sure most who supported this valued fellow PH-er can manage to buy her a spray of flowers - but send her the cash spent on the little spray from the supermarket instead of the carnations and rosebuds
http://www.mdsbattery.co.uk/ should be able to help out if new batteries are needed?
(They sponsor the RGB race series IIRC, incidentally).
Jim
(They sponsor the RGB race series IIRC, incidentally).
Jim
Edited by JimNoble on Sunday 3rd February 21:57
Cheers mate. Thank you!
She will need batteries very soon. I have some good news anyway. I just got a call from my sister. They've been nattering most of the day by all accounts in case anyone wondered why the phone was unavailable..
Anyway sis' tells me that Claire managed to get the generator started. It was some fuse causing the problem. So the good news is that she has some power to at least warm herself up for now.
But she'd sure welcome any helpful suggestions - and if not that - then a kind word via the board's pm system would help. She posts on her as "Safespeedv2"
I think one of life's rare types though... the dependable survivor and it's tough being one at times.
Let's all just wish her well and hope her fortunes change for the better.
Thank you!She will need batteries very soon. I have some good news anyway. I just got a call from my sister. They've been nattering most of the day by all accounts in case anyone wondered why the phone was unavailable..
Anyway sis' tells me that Claire managed to get the generator started. It was some fuse causing the problem. So the good news is that she has some power to at least warm herself up for now.
But she'd sure welcome any helpful suggestions - and if not that - then a kind word via the board's pm system would help. She posts on her as "Safespeedv2"
I think one of life's rare types though... the dependable survivor and it's tough being one at times.
Let's all just wish her well and hope her fortunes change for the better.
Charging lead-acid batteries below freezing isn't a great idea. Not when you consider the hydrogen gas given off.
If the temperature of the batteries is below freezing, take them elsewhere, let them acclimatise, and charge them there. Don't attempt to do it at -5c unless you like the idea of explosions.
If the temperature of the batteries is below freezing, take them elsewhere, let them acclimatise, and charge them there. Don't attempt to do it at -5c unless you like the idea of explosions.
Prof Beard said:
She got back from her travels to find the batteries dead and not able to take a charge. Apparently the charger isn't "seeing" the batteries. I think this means that the batteries are simply too dead to provide a "signal" to the charger so that it knows what rate to charge them at.
Could be. UPSs do that when the batteries are shagged... and you can often make them come to life by connecting an external charger direct to the battery. So it may be possible to kick its arse by connecting the car battery to the storage batteries with jump leads.
I have heard of deep cycle chargers being able to recover batteries previously thought to be knackered, information can be found at http://www.hardwarexpress.co.uk/ if this fails your only realistic option would be to replace them, but shop around as these can be quite expensive.
batteryking said:
I have heard of deep cycle chargers being able to recover batteries previously thought to be knackered, information can be found at http://www.hardwarexpress.co.uk/ if this fails your only realistic option would be to replace them, but shop around as these can be quite expensive.
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