What's new

Battery charging/ electrical current question here...

Joined
16 December 2008
Messages
235
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Tacoma, WA, USA
Country
Not having any knowledge on how electrical currents work.. got a question about battery charging.

I purchased a Optima redtop battery (34R) for my s15 a few months back. After the car sitting over winter several months, the battery was dead. I have a schumacher SC-600A charger that I purchased in the U.S. that I'm using to charge the battery, but I can never get it to charge more than 25%.

The question is.. I live in Japan were the electrical current is only 100V/50Hz, were as the U.S., the current is 120V/60Hz, which is what the charger is designed for. Could this be the reason why I can't get my battery charged? Any help would be greatly appriciated!
 
Last edited:

meddler

It's not easy being a green text speak nazi
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
17 October 2007
Messages
3,085
Reaction score
0
Points
36
Location
Australia
Country
Yes, I would say that your charger is not operating correctly. It is not designed to run on 100v/50hz. The chances that you will damage the charger is pretty good. Get a charger that is designed for your local power supply.
 

Nickichi

Joined
13 March 2010
Messages
240
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Location
Southampton, UK
Website
forum.s15oc.com
Country
like Meddler says, get one local from Japan, its not just the reduced voltage but also the frequency of the supply (50Hz) that will be messing the charger up. if memory is right from college the reduced freq will reduce the current supplied to the unit. Been a while tho so i might have it the wrong way around.
 
Last edited:

meddler

It's not easy being a green text speak nazi
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
17 October 2007
Messages
3,085
Reaction score
0
Points
36
Location
Australia
Country
you are right Nickichi, both the reduced frequency and voltage will have an effect on the chargers output.
 
Joined
16 December 2008
Messages
235
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Tacoma, WA, USA
Country
you gentlemen were right! i hooked up my battery charger to a 120V/60Hz power inverter box, and it charged the battery like a champ! thanks again!
 

meddler

It's not easy being a green text speak nazi
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
17 October 2007
Messages
3,085
Reaction score
0
Points
36
Location
Australia
Country
there you go, occasionally I am right. :) lol
 
Top