'99 V70. No start condition MVSOLVED. New batt cables

draser · Post by **draser** » 06 Feb 2015, 10:44

Misha, do you care to explain how do cables go bad, I'm curious?

Post by **misha** » 06 Feb 2015, 11:55

Because of their age,they get burnt inside the insulation and become pretty hard and loose their flexibility from high amp current."Burnt" cable inside is making a high resistance and that resistance is killing normal and needed current flow.
On a bad cable which looks perfectly normal you can get 1-2v of voltage drop.Since the system use 12v,you can imagine what damage and problems bad cables can produce.They are that thick for a reason.If you would install thinner cable it would melt for a short time.

draser · Post by **draser** » 07 Feb 2015, 07:46

A cable is just a piece of copper pulled in strands and twisted together inside the insulating jacket. Phisically, copper does not change it's properties due to electrical current flow. Just look at hight voltage lines, they run forever without replacing any wires. What actually gets hard and brittle is the jacket, which is just physical decay of the polyethylene material. The voltage drop is caused by the crimped end lugs getting oxydized, copper strands getting green and lugs getting loose. It's just contact resistance increase. That's the weak point. Unless cable is cut or nicked, which reduces it's cross sectional area, it's as good as new.

Post by **misha** » 07 Feb 2015, 08:25

When you perform a voltage drop test on new and on bad cable....you will see that you are very wrong.

Post by **precopster** » 07 Feb 2015, 13:57

Afew years ago my 1993 960s cables had the white and green powdery deposits close to the battery so I sliced the insulation with a blade to around 8 inches before the terminal then poured hot water to clear the white powder. Then I applied vaseline and tape wrapped them to avoid moisture entry. New terminals were fitted and starting problems disappeared. I had slow cranking with a fully charged battery before the repair.
I don't like spending money

Post by **erikv11** » 07 Feb 2015, 15:02

Voltage drop, we need voltage drop numbers, Mike!

Post by **E Showell** » 07 Feb 2015, 15:23

OK -- So here's the latest. Another near no start yesterday and a no start today. I am awaiting the arrival of new battery cables from www.genuinedealz.com in Georgia. It is going to be a few more days before I get them.

I went to put my Schumacher 2/10/50 charger on the battery and now, while set at 2 amps I hear a popping sound from the charger and the needle swings all the way across the face of the charge gauge when the popping sound occurs. I immediately disconnected the charger. Is this tripping a breaker within the charger? What could be causing this? Until I know, I am reluctant to use the charger for a protracted -- say 24 or 36 hour -- charge on the 2 amp. setting.

The charger isn't exactly new and it could have given up the ghost. Any thoughts?

Post by **misha** » 07 Feb 2015, 16:44

Could be a shorted cell inside a battery.

Post by **E Showell** » 08 Feb 2015, 09:27

Apparently, it is normal charger behavior for a deeply discharged battery.

Post by **misha** » 08 Feb 2015, 09:32

If it's that discharged battery after a day,you have a MAJOR parasitic drain or a shorted cell.

'99 V70. No start condition MVSOLVED. New batt cables

Re: '99 V70. No start condition