Author Topic: Replaced battery, losing faith in microprocessors  (Read 2426 times)

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OperaHouse

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Replaced battery, losing faith in microprocessors
« on: March 27, 2019, 08:50:44 AM »
I bought a battery for my car 6 months ago.  It was four years old and winter was coming. I could use the old one for the boat. Lately when I turn off the key the dash display says it is going into the battery save mode. Also gone out a couple of times and it was just dead stranding me.  My meter would read almost 14.8V when running and immediately drop to 12.2V when shut off.  If not left for too many days it would start fine. I put another old battery in and it was fine for a week.

Finally got around to taking it back for warranty.  They had this hi tech wifi enabled tester with a fancy screen. Battery measured 11.97V, cranking was over 700A and it said good battery. Told me they would exchange the battery, but I could never come back with another problem.

Everything works fine now with no dash warnings or battery voltage dropping. So much for that microprocessor program. People just believe anything that appears on a screen.


DamonHD

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Re: Replaced battery, losing faith in microprocessors
« Reply #1 on: March 27, 2019, 08:53:20 AM »
I can build you microcontroller stuff with any amount of really smart stuff mixed in with a selection of really dumb bugs, even though I'm very very careful.  I don't think that the microprocessor is responsible for the faults of the human that programmed it.

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Bruce S

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Re: Replaced battery, losing faith in microprocessors
« Reply #2 on: March 27, 2019, 10:25:55 AM »
I agree with DamonHD on this, there's a whole slew of poorly programmed testers out there.

However , any place I go that slaps a new fangled tester on my battery and tells me that I can't ever come back gets a where's your manager question.
Plus I have a load tester that I'll throw in front of them if they get smart mouthed about it (only had one guy "young: dude do that at an O'Reilys).
 
Glad you got your battery and knew better than the sale person!
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dnix71

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Re: Replaced battery, losing faith in microprocessors
« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2019, 08:15:25 PM »
I had a marginal battery I wanted to replace and was willing to pay cash for, but the clerk refused to sell me one at first because the hand-held tester said the battery was "good." I told him I was not asking for any prorate or warranty because I bought the battery elsewhere, but he said the company would discipline him for selling a new battery when the old one tested usable.

I told him the the battery had already failed once and stranded me and that the company would get a legal complaint from me if they sent me away and I got stranded again. I have driven cars making deliveries and daily to earn a living for over 40 years. I repair my own vehicles and have tools to test. The person testing agreed to a second test and this time the battery 'failed.'

There is no way a cheap clipon tester could accurately determine a 700 amp draw. That is outright fraud.

If your battery is reading 14.8v accurately under no load, then your alternator regulator is way our of wack and is destroying the battery internally. That's your fault, not the battery maker.

OperaHouse

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Re: Replaced battery, losing faith in microprocessors
« Reply #4 on: April 03, 2019, 02:11:46 PM »
I forgot to mention with the new battery it went down to 14.4V. Anyway, everything is normal now.  I was just playing with a PWM regulator charging my battery for camp I brought home. I had used it for testing with a couple of broken MPPT controllers.   It was measuring 14.98V.  I checked it with a scope. The duty cycle is 600ms.  At that battery maintain, the on pulse is only 25ms.  Just surface charge that goes away.

JW

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Re: Replaced battery, losing faith in microprocessors
« Reply #5 on: April 04, 2019, 09:18:39 PM »

5 cool arduino project with code
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I37nWdxrWNE

frackers

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Re: Replaced battery, losing faith in microprocessors
« Reply #6 on: April 04, 2019, 09:28:09 PM »
I can't say there is much processing going on with any but the first project as all the peripherals are basically switches - could just use a light bulb rather than an Arduino!!
Robin Down Under (Or Are You Up Over)

JW

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Re: Replaced battery, losing faith in microprocessors
« Reply #7 on: April 04, 2019, 09:41:18 PM »
Ok you make a good point. Here is a picture of my setup











I will say it again why is nobody talking about sketches

OperaHouse

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Re: Replaced battery, losing faith in microprocessors
« Reply #8 on: April 05, 2019, 09:24:27 AM »
In my camp arduino system I have a battery slump detector.  The fridge puts a pretty uniform 120A load on the battery. I record the lowest voltage drop each time the fridge turns on. That gives me an indication of battery condition. The system always remains at near full charge so the results are pretty uniform. Quite good for finding bad connections.

frackers

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Re: Replaced battery, losing faith in microprocessors
« Reply #9 on: April 09, 2019, 12:22:14 AM »
I will say it again why is nobody talking about sketches
Is that as in Arduino sketches?

All the stuff I code for the Arduino hardware I use BeRToS as a base having been bitten by some pretty shoddy libraries in the past.
A few projects are at https://github.com/g8ecj and are reasonably modular so chunks can be cut out for simplified use (I tend to go a bit over the top!!)
Robin Down Under (Or Are You Up Over)

OperaHouse

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Re: Replaced battery, losing faith in microprocessors
« Reply #10 on: April 09, 2019, 12:03:50 PM »
Are those pictures supposed to show up? Because I've never seen them.  What's up with sketches.  The world has turned into a place where no one builds or programs anything.  I'm through telling how to build stuff. People need major assistance just hitting the BUY button.

JW

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Re: Replaced battery, losing faith in microprocessors
« Reply #11 on: April 09, 2019, 04:25:58 PM »
Hi OperaHouse,

I see the problem im going back and fourth with my tax guy will repost the images after. thought I could get away with. Im pretty sure using goggle chrome is a work around

JW

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Re: Replaced battery, losing faith in microprocessors
« Reply #12 on: April 09, 2019, 04:42:02 PM »
Thanks for speaking up

here they are

11759-0



here is my setup $80 laptop and some drivers

11761-2

I think it's using a usb printer cable to communicate

I have been moved out of my office by my daughter and grandson so I cant get what I want to take pictures. And the laptop is being used for my youtube music in the shop for now.   
« Last Edit: April 09, 2019, 05:44:14 PM by JW »