Testing battery charger

[Jonboy]

Hi again,

I am having a go at electrolysis and have everything set up, and want to plug it in.
But.....
My battery charger is a old one, it has two switches on the front for 6v and 12v, and another for slow and fast charge.
So.....
How do I know what voltage my battery charger is giving out? It has no gauges on it at all.
How can I test it?
I do have a multimeter, but what setting do I put it on, and do I test from the red to black, or start the electrolysis and test from the red to where the red should connect?

Thanks for your help.

Thank

 

[dogdog]

put it on DC and measure the output...should be around 14v-ish...

If you have ac measurement on your meter, put it on AC setting (Not for measuring your AC input), measure the peak to peak of the DC voltage output..... should be something low... or very low... if it is high, add more cap or replace the cap inside maybe... or filter it between a battery...

Older non-smart charger are preferred for electrolysis.... DC voltage is preferred...12V-ish is preferred over higher voltage that might give you hydrogen embrittlement... but sometimes necessary on more stubborn pieces...


If I remember correctly Neg lead goes on the part to be cleaned, Positive lead goes on the sacrificial piece of metal... ( should NOT BE anything stainless or anything giving off toxic chemicals, plain steel or graphite rods is preferred)

https://www.instructables.com/id/Electrolytic-Rust-Removal-aka-Magic/

There is a thread here also about electrolysis de-rusting... search.

If you like this, you might also like Etching....with DC, table salt and a cotton swab.

 

[kinglew]

Set meter to 20 volt or above lowest range to that .red to positive black negative on dc volts

 

[dogdog]

Set meter to 20 volt or above lowest range to that .red to positive black negative on dc volts

Oh yea forgot what he was asking... my bad...

Red lead of the multimeter goes to the Postive ouput of the powersupply or charger that you have.... Black lead goes to the negative... usually....

 

[Jonboy]

I thought that was the right way, and I was testing my circuit and getting no reading back.
My light on the charger said it was on, but nothing was happening.
So I left it overnight and this morning things looked exactly as they were last night.

So today I decided to take the battery charger apart and see if a wire inside had come loose. Turning the charger over I saw a fuse that I never knew existed a 10amp car fuse.
I pulled this out and it was blown!! Changed it with one from my mower and.....hey presto bubbles!!

Things are looking up for me today.

 

[dogdog]

I thought that was the right way, and I was testing my circuit and getting no reading back.
My light on the charger said it was on, but nothing was happening.
So I left it overnight and this morning things looked exactly as they were last night.

So today I decided to take the battery charger apart and see if a wire inside had come loose. Turning the charger over I saw a fuse that I never knew existed a 10amp car fuse.
I pulled this out and it was blown!! Changed it with one from my mower and.....hey presto bubbles!!

Things are looking up for me today.

There is a common automatically reset fuse in the charger for many older and most manual chargers....something like this, it could be round or square, but always in series with the positive output.... There might also thermal overload fuse embedded in the transformer, also self resetting, but smaller.

So YMMV. dependents on your charger make and models.



something like this but probably different amp rating... the spring contact sometimes stuck, bend or arc fused together.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B8MRRBY/?tag=atomicindus08-20