I burned up a charger on this #11 Long Griddle

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

... at least I think I that’s the problem. My old charger died. It would make a buzzing sound but the needle would barely move off zero. (I think I dropped water into it once.) So ... I bought a new one. Granted, it was a cheap one. A Schumacher 6-amp.

Recently, I had made a bigger e-tank, using a 30 gallon plastic trash can. I bought to sheets of steel. I can’t remember the exact size, but I bent them into a curve and put them inside the trash can. They almost form a complete wall of steel around the inside of the can.

Anyway, then I put this monster of a Long Griddle in there and hooked up the new charger. I watched it for a minute and it’s bubbling like crazy. Success! But, when I came back later, noting was happening. I look at the meter and it is sitting on zero. Dead as a door nail.

Is it possible this monster was too much for that underpowered unit? Maybe it overheated and burned up? Do I risk buying the expensive Schumacher? (I finally found a hardware store that carries several manual models). I’d hate to throw good money after bad. I could clean this baby with elbow grease and vinegar if I have to.

[Cheryl Watson]

A picture of the newest charger, showing the front panel would be helpful....

Most likely the charger shut off with automatic override....?

See this current thread...

http://www.griswoldandwagner.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1521953754

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

Mine is (or was) a manual charger. This weekend I’m going to empty the water, clean it up, and maybe change out my sacrific Metal. Hopefully that works. But I think the charger is toast. I hooked it up to a dead car battery and it still didn’t indicate it was charging.

[Russell Ware]

That charger is too small. It is light duty, and it won't stand up for electrolysis use. Check the charger links Cheryl listed in this post:

http://www.griswoldandwagner.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1521953754

You need to go big time on the chargers(especially with all that iron you've been buying). Them little ones, as you have found out, just don't cut the mustard.

[Cheryl Watson]

Yep.. yep....

Been there, done it....

Eight years ago I started small... and wasted a bit o money on tabletop charger(s), etc.

Folks here on the Forum straightened me out quickly... and I invested in first one, then two Wheeled Manual Chargers.  (A Schumacher model that has been discontinued... arggggh!)

During last summer's perpetual Garage Clean-out Sale (in my front yard), I got rid of all the table top chargers... except ONE, that I kept, to actually charge lawn equipment batteries!

Now, I had to use the Wheeled Schumacher 10+ days ago to actually get the Mustang running again!  (danged battery keeps going South, as soon as the temp drops to 32°, zero cranking amps,,,,,:( :( )

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

Holy mackerel! That’s the Mack Daddy of chargers! I just bought another one. Still a tabletop model, but this one is a 50/10/2. I have it running now on 10. Seems to be working. Should I crank it up to 50?

[Russell Ware]

Leave it at 10, and see how long it lasts. I think running at 50 is too high. But really, the larger unit is what you need. Mine basically looks the same as Cheryl's. It's been pumping iron for 5 years and only needs some routine maintenance.

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

The one I had before was a Diehard 10/2 amp. It ran almost constantly for the last two years. I put a pan in there ... come back a day of two later ... put another pan in there ... rinse and repeat. Once, I forgot I had one in there and it ran for a couple of weeks straight. It sure was clean when I pulled it out. Ha!

But that was in a five gallon Home Depot bucket. I’m guessing the larger trash can and the increased amount of metal (both on the positive end AND on the negative end) was too much for that little 6 amp and it overheated?

[Jeff Friend]

Spurgeon,

Exceeding the charger's rated capacity (i. e. 10 amps) usually results in burned out diodes.  Some charges have a circuit breaker.  If yours does not, you can probably look on-line and find replacement diodes for the unit you fried.

I used to use a 10 amp Sears charger and cleaned a lot of pans with it before I bought a bigger charger.  That small charger still works.  You just have to adjust the conductivity of your electrolyte solution to use a small charger.  Too much sodium carbonate (or whatever it is you prefer to use) makes a very conductive solution and the charger tries to put more amps through it than the diodes can handle.  And then you smoke it.

If you are going to use a small charger, I would go with the 2 amp setting and see how that works.  As we have discussed here before, the amp setting does not dictate the current flow through the electrolysis system.  It depends on several factors: size on anode, size of cathode, voltage output of charger, and conductivity of the solution.  I now use a big charger and rarely run at more than 10 amps.

By the way, 1 amp is a lot of current.  There is no need to electrocute you griddle with 25 amps just to convert a little rust.

I hope to see you in Asheville for the convention this year!

Jeff

[Duke Gilleland]

Have used Sears largest wheeled unit for over 2 years now and have been really satisfied with the performance it gives [smiley=thumbsup.gif] [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
Our summer temps here are really tough on anything that runs constantly. [smiley=teu42.gif] NO PROBLEMS [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

Thanks, guys. I’ll guess I’ll have to start saving for a wheeled unit!

And thanks for the tip on setting it to 2 amps. Probably less likely to overheat when it’s running on the lower settkngz

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

Well, in the immortal words of Britney Spears ... oops, I did it again.

When I posted the other day that the charger seemed to be working, I had a bean pot in my new 30 gallon trash can with a piece of metal suspended inside the pot. That worked fine. But, when I finished the inside and switched to the metal on the outside ... the charger started smoking. I unplugged it immediately. Today, I figured, since that charger appears to be too small to handle the big e-tank, I would switch it over to my old five gallon bucket and work on a Lodge #538 trivet I found awhile back.

Within about two minutes ... this is what happened. Strange, because my old 10/2 charger worked like a champ in this small bucket. Oh well, I guess i’m Out of the e-tank business until I can save up for a monster unit like Cheryl’s.

BTW - the amp meter was showing right at 2 before the smoking started. Then it dropped to zero.