is 1-year old 6v Optima going bad?

[Dave Wildrick]

Today, I took the Optima to O'Reilly auto parts, where I bought it about a year ago. The used their usual battery tester and declared the battery to be good. They didn't know how to do a load test. Said they don't have the equipment for that. So, what is a load test and where do I look to get that done?

Yesterday, when I charged the battery, I used a Schumaker model that lets you select AGM as the type of battery you are charging; so why wouldn't that charge a 6v Optima?
I avoided the charging selection of 30 amp boost, and used "normal" charging. The battery was charged up to 80% after a few hours. At that point, I decided to let it charge overnight, but in the process I unplugged the charger momentarily and failed to notice that when I plugged it back in, it automatically went to "30 amp boost". It was doing that for about 10 minutes before I changed it back to "normal" mode. I noted that the battery was now making a sort of bubbling sound (possibly off gassing?), even at normal charging level, and the battery post clamps were hot enough to burn your fingers. So I disconnected the charger.

I guess I need to do further testing on the generator and learn how to test the voltage regulator.

[David Jones]

Dave, harbor freight sell a decent load tester for $22 . Just Google battery load tester.

[Martin Benade]

The store probably had an internal resistance tester, more modern and high tech than a load tester, a very good way to test a battery. Best of all is doing both styles.
The 30 amp boost shouldn’t really bother it much, that’s a fraction of the full charging current on a modern car.

[Dave Wildrick]

Dave, harbor freight sell a decent load tester for $22 . Just Google battery load tester.

O.K. I'll check it out.
Thanks.

[Jules Dielen]

I bought one of these, works great..NEIKO 40510A Car Battery Tester | 100 AMP 6 and 12 Volt Automotive Load Checker | CCA Analyzer https://a.co/d/3iH8HA3

[Dave Wildrick]

Two things I would suggest Dave, do a load test on the battery, your local parts store should have a tester. No need to disconnect the battery to test it. Done in situ. Next buy a digital voltmeter that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket and monitor charging voltage in real time.

Where did you get one that has 6V in its range? All I find on line are ones with a range starting at 12V and up.

[Al Zim]

Dave: you are always welcome to send the generator to us to be checked by our rebuilder. *BUT* if something is wrong with the generator we are probably not going to be able to rebuild it. (no more armatures) You have been a customer of ours for years--we will do the best we can for you. You will not be forgotten. Al Zim

[Mike Wilson]

Harbor Freight has a couple of 6/12V testers.

Mike

[David Jones]

The harbor freight Cen-tech 100 does 6 and 12 volt. $21.99

[Dave Wildrick]

Two things I would suggest Dave, do a load test on the battery, your local parts store should have a tester. No need to disconnect the battery to test it. Done in situ. Next buy a digital voltmeter that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket and monitor charging voltage in real time.

Where did you get one that has 6V in its range? All I find on line are ones with a range starting at 12V and up.

Sorry, David. I was trying to find a 6V cigarette lighter voltmeter as shown in your picture. Can't find one that includes 6V in its range.

[Dave Wildrick]

So, I took the battery to Autozone for their free battery check up. It tested good on their machine. Next, I went to Harbor Freight and bought their $21 battery load tester. Used it and the battery tested good under load (and not under load). I put the battery back in the car and checked voltage at battery when idling = 6.15 volts.
Without disconnecting D+ or DF (or the ground wire on generator), I connected D+ to the car body (ground) and got 6.25V at idle (800 r/m). When I revved to about 3000 r/m, I got about 7.25V.
I then disconnected the wires at D+ and DF on the generator, and I checked voltage between D+ and ground with the meter; got 1 volt at idle, and if I revved to 3000 and above, it never reached more than 3 volts.
Is this normal? I thought you should see a very large output from the generator when not connected to the voltage regulator--no?

[Dave Wildrick]

Next, I followed Joe Leoni's method to test the regulator's contacts:
"Lift the DF wire at the regulator.
With a test bulb (6v), touch between B+ and
DF on the regulator.
If the contacts are good, the bulb will be bright.
If not the regulator contacts need attention."

I used my voltmeter, not a test bulb, and got 7.25 volts, which should indicate that the regulator's contacts are OK.
I wanted to try motoring the generator by flashing it, but I could not undo the gen pulley nut because the notches in the generator pulley supplied by Zim's on the generator they rebuilt and attached to the motor they rebuilt are too shallow for me to use either my square shank Sears screwdriver or the tool I bought a few years ago from the California 356 club for immobilizing the pulley. So, I guess I will have to file deeper notches in the pulley, if I want to remove the belt. So, I used the alternate flashing method of releasing the B+ lead from the regulator and very briefly touching it to D+ on the regulator. I then checked generator output by removing leads on the generator at both D+ and DF, and then testing voltage from D+ to ground--I got only 0.8 volt at idle and never got beyond 2-3 volts at high r/m.
I believe this means that this generator is not good. Am I right?

[Pete Indelicato]

Tractor Supply--6 volt tractor battery 875 cca--$79.99

[Chuck House]

From Joe Leoni's troubleshooting guide in the tech documents section of the website...

[Dave Wildrick]

From Joe Leoni's troubleshooting guide in the tech documents section of the website...

I guess I could try that.
But didn't what I've already done answer the question of whether the generator is working or not.
I don't think it is.
What do you think?