How do I repair a battery maintainer?

[Lonesome00]

I think I may have hooked the positive and negative leads on the wrong posts. So, I am guessing I blew something inside. It happens to all of us at some point. Anyhoo, I would rather repair than replace. Any idea what I should check first? How do I check it? I figured this would be a good chance to try out my new multimeter. It would be a good learning experience.

 

[Nugefan]

are there any fuses in it , I would start there if not start with the diodes , then the capasitor's then the resistors ....

put that new meter to the test ....

 

[Lonesome00]

I was expecting to find a fuse, but I did not. How do I test the other stuff?

 

[Nugefan]

here is a great site for most componet testing ....

http://www.ohmcheck.com/content.php?138-How-to-test-a-capacitor

 

[MonroeTaco]

The black components look like they could be reverse-polarity diodes, and they may have blown. But I haven't done electronics in a while. You should be able to get them at Radio Shack for a few bucks.

 

[georgia357]

You might be able to find a schematic for the charger on the internet. It sure will be a big help in trying to do component testing.

 

[Lonesome00]

Thanks for the link.

I was hoping to spend a few buck at Radio Shack instead of a lot more replacing it. Plus, I will know how to do it.

 

[.]

You could have a resistor blown that isn't evident by outside appearance. I'd test them individually. Do you know how to read the color bands to determine their values of resistance?

Here's a chart that explains it.

 

[Backlasher82]

I think I may have hooked the positive and negative leads on the wrong posts. So, I am guessing I blew something inside. It happens to all of us at some point. Anyhoo, I would rather repair than replace. Any idea what I should check first? How do I check it? I figured this would be a good chance to try out my new multimeter. It would be a good learning experience

Not trying to be a wise guy, but I didn't see where you verified with your meter that the charger is bad.

Some chargers have reverse polarity protection, don't know if yours does. If you haven't already done it, checking for voltage at the battery connections would be the first step.

 

[1gr8bldr]

Tractor supply, new one's have cross connect protection. You can hook them up backwards and it will not hurt anything. I have 6. You can catch them on sale for $19

 

[Lonesome00]

Thanks for that chart, that is a big help.

It did not charge a battery plus the light that tells me it is charging does not work. Now, that could mean that light is bad. Anyone know how to check a small LED bulb?

 

[Killdee]

Have you tried hooking to another battery, sometimes a bad or shorted battery wont let a charger work.

 

[Lonesome00]

I did, but it did not seem to do anything.