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Dead battery

4K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  gtohrl 
#1 · (Edited)
So I was an idiot last night and forgot my keys in the 'on' position overnight :mecry:

needless to say nothing happened when I turned the key, and no lights, beeps, nada.

I go and buy a battery charger, unhook the terminals, put the positive clamp from the charger to the positive terminal, I clamp the negative bit to that metal tab right next to the battery, not on the negative terminal, as recommended.

When I plug in the charger (I tried it with both 2A-slow charge and 12A-fast charge), the charge needle is near 100% but the full charge light is not lit.
I am a little confused at this point, should't the charge be more near 0% if my car is dead? Is this car grounded via the negative terminal (the charger manual states that most cars are so that is what I followed)?

I have left it on the charger and will check on it later but I have a bad feeling that I screwed up something else... Road side assistance on labour day weekend, yeah right....

Any ideas?

EDIT: I think I may be SOL since the charger I am using needs to 'see' at least 4 volts to start charging per their FAQ

An automatic charger is designed to power the transformer when you first plug it into a receptacle. The automatic charger needs to “see” at least 4 volts in the battery to power up the circuitry. This initializes the charge sequence. When a completely discharged battery, or one with less than 4 volts charge remaining, is attached to the charger, the charger never “sees” this battery and will not begin the charging cycle. It will also cancel out the Engine Start function. The yellow charging light will also not come on. The meter (where used) will remain in the default “100%” position.
 
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#2 ·
Jump start your unit and run it for 10 miles or so and let your vehicle's charging system bring it up to that supposed 4 volts you need.
Then re-connect your charger and let it charge then.
This is WHY I use battery tender's on ALL vehicle's I own.
They do work and I always have a fully charged battery!
 
#3 ·
Thanks, i wound up calling roadside assistance (heck I paid for it...) Call me stunned, the guy showed up within 20 minutes, plugged his 1500 amp powerpack and I just started. Drove it around for 30 minuted, got a refund on the charger :jester: and all is good with the world again!
 
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