Author Topic: Dakota Lithium charger issue  (Read 4518 times)

Offline sparksNfishing

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Dakota Lithium charger issue
« on: Feb 19, 2021, 08:21 PM »
When charging my 10ah DL battery this evening I noticed the LED that typically only lights green or red is now flickering an orange color. Does this represent an issue with the charger or the battery?

Offline hardwater diehard

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Re: Dakota Lithium charger issue
« Reply #1 on: Feb 20, 2021, 06:24 AM »
Was the battery at room temperature ?  It could just be on the cusp of being fully charged .
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Offline sparksNfishing

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Re: Dakota Lithium charger issue
« Reply #2 on: Feb 20, 2021, 09:57 AM »
The battery has been in the garage since last weekend which sits at 55F. It was showing 75% on the helix display after fishing last monday. I let it charge on the possibly faulty charger and it was brought it up to 100% on the helix display but probably isn't actually fully charged. LED shows green when off the battery but then flickers orangish when connected and hasn't gone to green while charging to show full charge. For the $25 ill probably just get a new charger.

Offline DR.SPECKLER

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Re: Dakota Lithium charger issue
« Reply #3 on: Feb 20, 2021, 09:59 AM »
My dakota charger has never went orange .

Offline sparksNfishing

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Re: Dakota Lithium charger issue
« Reply #4 on: Feb 20, 2021, 10:09 AM »
Its kind of like it's flashing green and red simultaneously at a fast frequency. The measured output voltage is 13vdc when connected to the battery but I'm probably just reading the battery itself. The battery remains at 13vdc when no charger is connected.  When the charger is disconnect and measured, I get a quick 12.6 then the meter draws it down. I don't have a analog meter which would probably work better and getting a true output. I'm just gonna chalk it up to defective and head to the city today.

Offline sparksNfishing

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Re: Dakota Lithium charger issue
« Reply #5 on: Feb 20, 2021, 03:27 PM »
Bought a new one and noticed the alligator clips are a lot beefy this time and it seems to behaving properly when charging. I'm glad it's not the battery, hopefully. I did send an email to DL last night and have already heard back from their customer support. They have a few questions and are willing to help. But since I don't have any proof of purchase I doubt they can do much.
I cracked the defective one open and was quite surprised how much electronics were inside. I poked around as much as I could to test the individual parts but couldn't find anything at fault. Glad the chargers are only $25.

Offline kayl

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Re: Dakota Lithium charger issue
« Reply #6 on: Feb 20, 2021, 03:53 PM »
Not sure how old your charger is, but mine from 2018 gave up the ghost this year.

Offline Rebelss

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Re: Dakota Lithium charger issue
« Reply #7 on: Feb 20, 2021, 03:56 PM »
My lith batt pack charger for my power tools batt did that, was told it was the motherboard in the charger...or the same thing inside the batt; ie; possibly the circuit protection device. I'm no electronics whiz, though, so I ended up just getting new. Sounds like it was the charger in your case, though.
“The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation”  Thoreau

Offline DR.SPECKLER

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Re: Dakota Lithium charger issue
« Reply #8 on: Feb 20, 2021, 05:06 PM »
Its kind of like it's flashing green and red simultaneously at a fast frequency. The measured output voltage is 13vdc when connected to the battery but I'm probably just reading the battery itself. The battery remains at 13vdc when no charger is connected.  When the charger is disconnect and measured, I get a quick 12.6 then the meter draws it down. I don't have a analog meter which would probably work better and getting a true output. I'm just gonna chalk it up to defective and head to the city today.
mine does that when 80% charged or almost complete.it flashes green and red towards the end of its charge cycle.

Offline sparksNfishing

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Re: Dakota Lithium charger issue
« Reply #9 on: Feb 20, 2021, 06:40 PM »
Speckler - How fast does yours flash? Mine is fast enough that it looks more so orange.
Here's what DL had to say. "Thank you for following up with this information. We're glad to hear you keep the battery in a heated spot when charging! Discharging the batteries in such low temperatures is totally fine, but charging the batteries at that temperature is a different story entirely.

Given the voltage readings provided from the charger, it sounds like you unfortunately have a defective charger. If you are able to find the receipt or some other form of proof of purchase with the date, we can look into issuing a warranty replacement.

How is the new charger working? Have you had a chance to use and charge the battery since receiving the new charger?"

Offline DR.SPECKLER

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Re: Dakota Lithium charger issue
« Reply #10 on: Feb 20, 2021, 07:12 PM »
Mine flashes green to red easy to distinguish and only for the last 5 to 10 minutes of charging.i will pay extra attention tommorrow when i charge mine up.

Offline Kevin23

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Re: Dakota Lithium charger issue
« Reply #11 on: Feb 21, 2021, 10:24 PM »
I had a SLA charger for a duck decoy that did that, it was like it couldnt figure out what color to do.. and since its a color changing LED it would be orange for hours and hours, then eventually it would flash between orange and green.. never staying on green. It charged my batteries just fine, as checked with a multimeter.. but I didnt trust it. Bought a new one and the new one went straight from red to green with maybe 2 minutes of orange.
EYECONICFISHING

 



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