HORNY GOAT

The third charge of the pack was was started around 4 PM on Monday but had to be stopped around 6 PM so I could take my wife to the grocery store. The 220 volt breaker was turned off and the power to the JLD404 was unplugged. While the wife was getting groceries, I had a taco and a large glass of Elevator Company Horny Goat at Ziggy's in Pataskala. I really enjoy craft beers but it seems the extra hops sometimes tends to turn me into Sleeping Beauty.

HORNY GOAT

Upon returning home, the charger was started again and the JLD404 was turned on again, so the charge continued. When the charge was started in the afternoon, the temperature was in the 80's and part way into the charge, the thermal cutout kicked in and dropped the amps down to 14 volts from the 18 volts original amperage. The charger had cooled, so again my amperage was back up to 18 volts. I decided this time to take readings every 1/2 hour after the initial voltage readings were taken at the start of the charge. Two more half hour readings were taken and I went inside to watch TV, noting the time when the next reading needed to be taken. Seems as a result of the higher hops IPA, I drifted off into nap time. Frantically waking up, I ran outside and the JLD timer was exactly at 4 hours, so I had completely missed the 3-1/2 hour reading. The voltage was slightly over 139 volts and the amperage had dropped to 3 volts but the module had taken 60 amp hours, just 5 amp hours off of it's rating of 65 amp hours. I went to the engine compartment and did a careful smell test to see if the sweet odor of battery electrolyte was present but there were not traces of it.

THIRD CHARGE

It seems like the voltage was finally starting to spike but I missed documenting the most important end of the charge because of my little unplanned nap. The charger is almost set where it need to be and if I can stay awake the next time the module is charged, I believe just a little lowering of the voltage and current pots will get the charger shutting off before the voltage reaches 140 volts.At 139 volts, the cell average is 4.35 and I am going to do a little research on the breakdown point of the electrolyte to see if 4.35 volts is still under where the electrolyte boils and gasses.

My son's car was finished, so he brought my wife's car that he borrowed, back to the house and we went over to Gary's Place in Kirkersville, OH to pick the car up. Seems the alternator and starter were both bad but the NAPA alternator was still under warranty, so that helped a little. So hopefully tomorrow night I can take a test drive in the Fiero and start doing some range testing.

Thanks for visiting,

Randy