Problem With Power Outlet

Yes, I'd just change the whole car.


Matt

 

I'd just stop crossposting such easy problems. What's next, flat tires?

 

Jesus, do something, and let this idiotic thread die. Hard to friggin
believe.

 

Reminds me of something that happened several months ago with my other car,
the GMC Jimmy. Car died on me while driving, and I couldn't start it again.
Towed it into the shop, and they couldn't find what was wrong with it. Said
that there wasn't enough voltage going to the starter, but they couldn't see
why. So they started changing parts.

They changed one part, and the guy told me, "Well, we're getting more
voltage, but it's still not enough. We're going to try the next one in the
line." I said that it didn't make sense that two components would go out
simultaneously. He said they were going to try it. So they replaced the next
component. And they got a little more voltage, but still not enough.

So then the owner of the shop said he'd have it towed to his other shop,
where they have more experienced mechanics. Those guys looked at it and
found the problem in less than an hour: there was an ignition cut-off switch
in the line which had shorted out. They removed the switch, and the problem
was solved.

 

LOL, is this all you got??? Of course it is.

 

LOL, is this all you got??? Of course it is.

Its all I need. Your statement was so stupid as to be the epitome of your
entire posting style.



--
Max

"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)

 

OK, you have a .05 voltage drop between the battery negative and the
body ground. Not good. Fix this first. Clean the connection between
the battery neg and the body, or just add a new body ground. Use
minimum #6 wire.

 

Just a note: when I wrote that, I was referring to the front outlet. Rather
than deal with issues with wiring to the rear outlet, I was just referring
to the front outlet, and how it couldn't power the inverter/laptop with the
engine off. The voltage readings from the later post also show a very low
reading in the front when the engine was off (11.2V), though in that case it
didn't drop below 11V, so the inverter stayed on.

 

SO, either he can do a two minute test and find out if the battery is the

Actually, the only "techs" to be near the vehicle were service managers at
two service stations (both of which said they had no device to test the
voltage at the power outlet). The one I believe you're referring to (the one
at a dealer) said that the battery was three years old and should just be
replaced, that that was probably the problem. He didn't suggest any test.
The other one suggested I buy a capacitor to add to the rear outlet, like
people do when they want to run high-powered stereo equipment.

Neil

 

Heh! If you consider over 20 years of circuit design, including
designing and prototyping (means building by hand) *battery* *charger*
and *regulator* circuits, pioneering developments in the design of
electronics for diagnostics in the field of doppler blood flow,
designing robot arm hand controllers for the space station, electical
design lead for Titan missiles, and designing fixtures for supporting
navy shipboard equipment for shock testing (shocked by dynamite) as
"desk jobs", then you'd be right. But as usual...

Hey - do you know what Litz wire is? I didn't think so (without your
doing a Google search).

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

You're proving a high level of dishonesty on your part by repeating that
lie numerous times. As was accurately pointed out several times by
others, the battery voltage was already tested, and the inverter cuts
off even with the alternator pumping the system well above battery
voltage, and measurements showing considerable drop in the wiring.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

If we did, Max Dodge would certainly suggest running a full volumetric
flow rate test of the compressor that had been used to originally fill
the tire, and to ignore any holes observed in the tire until that was
done.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

But the important question is: did they load test and replace the
battery?


Matt

 

Bill, I'm an EE and I don't know. Care to tell us?

Matt

 

Just out of curiosity, 0.05V doesn't seem like a big drop. Of course, I'm
ignorant and trying to learn here. But I'm wondering how the 0.05V drop
relates to the 1.0-1.5V drop we're seeing across the line. Is it amplified
somehow? Otherwise, wouldn't the main source of the drop be elsewhere?

Thanks for your help!

Neil

 

The interesting thing is that they *almost* fixed the problem by swapping
parts. Each time they got a slight increase in voltage (afterwards, the
service manager said that it was probably because the new parts had less
resistance than the older parts). The older parts were fine, and, after they
fixed the problem, they put the old parts back on and everything worked
fine. But they almost fixed it by swapping parts. Which means that once
those parts had gotten a little old and had more resistance, the problem
would have just resurfaced.

 

Hi...

You must be one of the young ones, still a little wet behind the ears

Comparatively speaking, of course

Ken

 

The one I believe you're referring to (the one at a dealer) said that the

Thats the one I referred to. I referred to him because he pinpointed the
battery age/condition way out in front of anyone here. Despite all else on
here, I still say that the best way to determine if the drop in port voltage
is due to line drop or battery drop is to load test the battery. A load test
is quick and easy; ringing out wiring can take time and be less than easy
unless you happen to be a contortionist. Because of previous experience with
factory batteries, I highly recommend doing the load test.

Next, should you determine that the wiring is the problem, it'll be
considerably more work than swapping a battery, particularly if you wish to
do a proper job of it.

I'm not sure why the problem with testing the battery, since you determined
that the port had a voltage drop by plugging in the inverter the first time.
I'm sure the factory design didn't allow a large drop to 10.5 volts with the
minimal load your inverter poses.

As to all the technical stuff about the battery and state of charge: A
Cummins Ram with three year old batteries starts just fine and runs well.
Grid heater cycles nicely, and all works according to design. Swap in a set
of new batteries, and the difference is quite noticable, despite the old
batteries working just fine. Engine spins up on start much more easily,
voltage drop on grid heater operation was less drop and at a higher voltage
(14.5 to 11.5 prior to swap, 15 to 12.5 after new batteries).

Now, I'm sure that there is some line drop in your system on that port. But
if the battery is less than optimum, you'll get the effects of that line
drop much more readily. You can certainly upgrade that part of the vehicle,
but at three years old, that battery is coming out of that vehicle sooner
than later. People have mentioned economics, my thought is the battery is
the basis, and far more important part, of your electrical system. I'd
rather spend money making EVERYthing work better, and then spend spare cash
on an upgrade later, when its affordable.

A failed power port won't let you sit along the road, a failed battery will.

--
Max

"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)

 

None of these give you field experience in troubleshooting 12v neg ground
systems. As such, you'd do well to stick to what you know, which obviously
isn't automotive electrical.

I could wave my credentials around as well, but the only one that is
important is 20 years of dealing with the exact problem this gentleman seems
to be having.

--
Max

"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)

 

You're proving a high level of dishonesty on your part by repeating that

Voltage tesed, yes, load tested, NO.

Time to test the battery for load handling ability.

--
Max

"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)