Generator Battery Charger?

[Caryc]

I have just received a Pulsar 9000 watt generator from my nephew. He said, the guy he got it from hadn't used it in like two years. It will start and run on one or two pulls of the starter chord but it won't start from the battery.

I ran it for about 20 minutes the other day hoping it would charge up its battery. I tested the battery and it reads only 6 volts. It is a 12 volt sealed battery.

This is on the battery. "12V 14Ah 10 hour 6-Fm-14"

I have no idea what all that means. I'm trying to figure out what trickle charge I should buy for it. I see that Noco's chargers are mostly listed by amps. Plenty of them on Amazon. Can anyone tell me what I should be buying?

I was thinking about taking it to an auto parts house and have them test it to see if it's any good but, don't they need to have it charged up first to test it? The thing is, I don't want to buy a trickle charger right now if the battery is no good anyway. I rather just buy a new battery.

Any help on this would be appreciated.

 

[Denny K]

Google 6-fm-14 and you come up with lots of batteries as low as $27.00. Google is your friend.

 

[Janicholson]

Trickle/maintainers are very inexpensive. The battery is probably internally shorted in one or more cells. Trying to charge that battery is probably not going to work and even if it did to a degree, it would not be reliable. New battery and the maintainer is in your future. Jim

 

[runwoolf]

As above..buy a maintainer..you will need it for the new battery.

 

[Hobo,NC]

My bet the original charger was 12V 750ma.

I never got good life out of those battery's, I make a frame for a cheap lawn mower battery and use a solar charger. My extra gen-set is in a building with no power. After 5 years the mower battery has bit the dust I hand start it are use a jumper box.

On the gen-set for my house I added a mount to fit most any 12V automotive battery and use a battery maintainer. I brought a Norco Genius 1 for a customer she has yet to get her electrical outlet out of the weather. I like it so much I am keeping it for my use. I cycle 6 are so battery's on it constantly.

The original charger that came with one of my Generators..

This post was edited by Hobo,NC on 01/08/2023 at 10:18 am.

 

[Mule Meat]

Did you check the voltage at the battery while it was running? It should be in the 13 - 14 volt range if it was charging. If the battery was reading only 6 volts before and after running while the running voltage showed say, 13.2 volts. Then the battery is bad.

If you go shopping for a battery. I highly recommend looking at a YUASA atv/utv AGM battery. Yuasa YTX20HL-BS ($125) Made in the US.
12 volt, 18 amp-hour, 310 CCA.

All of our ATVs and UTVs have Yuasa AGM batteries and they may sit for months not being used. Yet they fire up without hassles. Some of them are between 6 and 8 years old. Follow the direction on adding acid and charging before you put them into service and they will last for many years. In equipment such as a generator is no place you would want cheap off brand parts.

 

[dpendzic]

try charging it with jumpers from your car--see if it will take and hold the charge

 

[chvet73]

My Pulsar battery went dead because I forgot to turn the switch off after I deliberately ran the carb dry.
I charged it with my regular Schumacher charger and its been fine since.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Trickle chargers generally don't turn off.
Get a cheap smart charger, they will turn off when the battery
is charged and they have a 2 amp setting..
A friend gave me a 12v battery out of an electric wheelchair.
It's too big to fit in my generator. I just put longer wires on
the generator and the battery sits on the floor..

 

[wingnuttx]

Depending on the battery type it may be dry or low on cell fluid. The battery on my Polaris 4x4 crew utv holds an acid type fluid but others that have
fluids cells use a different type of fluids. Check your battery or even better Google the specs and information on it to see maintenance notes. Just an
idea. Not saying its the problem. You may just have a dead cell battery. Wingnut

 

[Dusty MI]

(quoted from post at 15:02:25 01/08/23) Trickle chargers generally don't turn off.
Get a cheap smart charger, they will turn off when the battery
is charged and they have a 2 amp setting..
A friend gave me a 12v battery out of an electric wheelchair.
It's too big to fit in my generator. I just put longer wires on
the generator and the battery sits on the floor..

My neighbor returned to Florida from being gone all summer and fall. He had left his battery golf cart unplugged and the batteries dead. He plugged the charger in, and it would not take a charge, no voltage flow.
Come to find out the charger for it would not charge, turn on, when there was no power in the batteries.

 

[Caryc]

(quoted from post at 16:54:45 01/08/23)

(quoted from post at 15:02:25 01/08/23) Trickle chargers generally don't turn off.
Get a cheap smart charger, they will turn off when the battery
is charged and they have a 2 amp setting..
A friend gave me a 12v battery out of an electric wheelchair.
It's too big to fit in my generator. I just put longer wires on
the generator and the battery sits on the floor..

My neighbor returned to Florida from being gone all summer and fall. He had left his battery golf cart unplugged and the batteries dead. He plugged the charger in, and it would not take a charge, no voltage flow.
Come to find out the charger for it would not charge, turn on, when there was no power in the batteries.

I don't think I'll be able to find the size battery I need to fit it. Now they are all larger batteries. I could use a larger battery but the battery box is welded to the frame so I can't even put a bigger battery in there.

But, I remembered that I have a Noco 2000 watt jumper starter that I really like. I hooked that to the battery and it started right up. When the gen was running, I checked the voltage on the battery cables and it was reading 9.2 volts. Should the gens internal charger be sending more than 12 volts to the battery to charge it or would it finally charge to 12 volts with that 9 volt input?

 

[Scott 730]

I don't think I'll be able to find the size battery I need to fit it.

The first responder to this thread found your battery for as low as $27.

 

[MarkB_MI]

If it hasn't been charged in two years and the generator's 12 volt output didn't bring it to life, it's probably shot. You can try putting it on a charger for a while. Really, you can replace it with any 12 volt battery that will fit; a motorcycle or garden tractor battery will probably work.

Buy a cheap battery maintainer to go with the replacement battery.

 

[Caryc]

(quoted from post at 18:24:56 01/08/23)

I don't think I'll be able to find the size battery I need to fit it.

The first responder to this thread found your battery for as low as $27.

You don't seem to understand the problem here. The generator has a steel battery tray welded to the frame where the battery goes. All the batteries that I've looked at (even with the first responders advice) are to large to fit in that tray. THAT MY FRIEND IS THE PROBLEM. All those batteries are at leas 7 inches wide and they won't fit into that space. The batteries are even to tall to fit into that area. GET IT NOW?

Sorry, I had to make it perfectly clear since I guess a lot of guys are not understanding the problem. Thank for trying though guys.

This post was edited by Caryc on 01/08/2023 at 05:53 pm.

 

[Janicholson]

We rely on your information. The link is to batteries that match your (quoted) part#. We are not looking at it. We cannot see through your eyes. We only do this because we like to help. Remember you paid nothing for the information. If I could not find a battery at all. I would remanufacture the mount so one would fit. Most of us might just do that anyway. Jim
bats

 

[Janicholson]

The existing battery is probably internally shorted. Nothing will measure correctly with it in the circuit. Put a good 12v battery of any size (as big or bigger than the bad battery) next to the genset. Take the bad battery out and set it on a block of wood on the bench so it is not involved. Attach good jumper cables (not booster cables, they need pencil sized real copper in the insulation.) so that the good charged battery will strt the unit. No check the charging voltage. It should be above 13v and more like 13.5 to 14 is real nice. Jim

 

[MarkB_MI]

> You don't seem to understand the problem here. The generator has a steel battery tray welded to the frame where the battery goes. All the batteries that I've looked at (even with the first responders advice) are to large to fit in that tray. THAT MY FRIEND IS THE PROBLEM. All those batteries are at leas 7 inches wide and they won't fit into that space. The batteries are even to tall to fit into that area. GET IT NOW?

You have been withholding information! (said with a German accent) What are the dimensions of your current battery? I would be VERY surprised if there isn't a motorsports battery that will not fit.

 

[DoubleO7]

The 6FM14 is most commonly 7.13L x 3W x 6.6H plus or minus a tenth or two.

But this one claims to be smaller at 5.94L x 3.86W x 3.74H inches
https://www.amazon.com/Mighty-Max-Battery-Replacement-LW-6FM14EVX/dp/B074NZQT4Y

So keep looking.

 

[Caryc]

(quoted from post at 20:03:48 01/08/23)

The 6FM14 is most commonly 7.13L x 3W x 6.6H plus or minus a tenth or two.

But this one claims to be smaller at 5.94L x 3.86W x 3.74H inches
https://www.amazon.com/Mighty-Max-Battery-Replacement-LW-6FM14EVX/dp/B074NZQT4Y

So keep looking.

Thank you but it's got the wrong type terminals on it.

By the way, my battery measurements are as follows.
width = 6"
Height = 5 1/4"
depth = 3 3/8"

Guys...I've been on these forums for many many years, especially the 8N and the Massey Ferguson forums. I have gotten a massive amount of good advice over 20 or so years of having tractors and I appreciate all of it. Believe it or not I even give some advice. Even I have learned and experienced a good amount of knowledge over the years. Please don't think I don't appreciate it.