Atco Battery Charger

cwhaley

cwhaley

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I was given an Atco Admiral SE Lawnmowe a few years backr. It has a pull cord to start which is fine but also has electric ignition with a key and a battery.

I've spent some time servicing and cleaning the machine up and I'd like to be able to use the electronic ignition just because! Unfortunately I don't have the battery charger and the cheapest I can find is over £50 with delivery!

This is the battery and OEM charger:

battery charger.JPG battery charge 2.JPG

Believe the input is 5.6V. Surely there are other safe ways to charge this battery -- is the connector standard?
 
It's a 12 volt system. After years of standing unused the battery will be dead and un-recoverable. So you need a new battery and charger- about £100.
 
RayCaister said:
It's a 12 volt system. After years of standing unused the battery will be dead and un-recoverable. So you need a new battery and charger- about £100.
Click to expand...

What after less than 3 years? My car battery was stood 2.5 years and charged up no problems and is being used now. Also I'm fairly sure it states 5.6V input on the battery.

Totally happy to be corrected I'm just surprised it would be rendered totally unrecoverable after standing a relatively short amount of time.
 
If it is a 12 volt lead acid as seems likely it is also likely it is a valve regulated type, (VRLA) also known as AGM and you need a battery charger that will not over charge the battery.

Also standing for so long likely sulphated, and this also poses a problem.

I have found a battery abandoned for some time can recover, but it takes a long time, maybe weeks, and it does not gradually recover, but seems to sit there doing nothing for 2 weeks then over 24 hours it fully recharges.

However you need a charger that can be left unattended and will not overcharge and most of that type will first test to see if battery connected correct way around and will also auto switch off once the voltage rises to a set level, so first you can't get them to start charging, then once it starts it goes over voltage as battery not taking a charge and it switches off.

The way I got around the problem was to put a good battery in parallel with the sulphated battery and then connect battery charger which would go through the stage sequence then drop into maintain mode until the sulphated battery decided to take a charge, since the battery charger was plugged into an energy monitor which connected to PC I could see it going through the stages and knew when it had charged due to computer graph, without that you will not easy know when it has recovered, but likely it will recover.

I used a Lidi battery charger cost around £14, I think Aldi also do one from time to time, they are a copy of the Ctek charger but much cheaper. The Ctek is 12 volt only and so will switch on with a lower start voltage, and I am told auto starts, so likely the better one for you, the Lidi is 6 or 12 volt so needs 7.2 volt before it starts, and needs one to press a button to select the charge rate, small or large battery, so once it goes over voltage it locks out, but does have a volt meter built in.
 
Looked at adverts for battery stated "12volt 2.5amp battery" and Pb marked on box so would seem lead acid, I also thought charger said 5.5 Volt but more careful viewing says VA which is nearly same as Watts.

I have a charger like that and I paid about £4 for it at a radio rally brand new, the 2.5 amp means nothing, I would guess around 20 Ah. So this battery charger is the same but has clips rather than plug in connector.

Further hunts for battery seems to show it is between 10 and 14 Ah if you need a new one likely stockist would be a mobility shop.
 
cwhaley said:
I was given an Atco Admiral SE Lawnmowe a few years backr. It has a pull cord to start which is fine but also has electric ignition with a key and a battery.

I've spent some time servicing and cleaning the machine up and I'd like to be able to use the electronic ignition just because! Unfortunately I don't have the battery charger and the cheapest I can find is over £50 with delivery!

This is the battery and OEM charger:

View attachment 162474 View attachment 162475

Believe the input is 5.6V. Surely there are other safe ways to charge this battery -- is the connector standard?
Click to expand...

None of this seems to hang together, to my mind...

Pull cord mowers tend to have magneto ignition, so the don't need a battery. Electric start does need a battery.

The battery in the photo appears to have three visible cells, so probably three more unseen at the far side, so 12v.
Unlikely that a 5.6v charger would work, it needs a proper 12v charger, output 13.8v (14.2v).

The charger plug looks similar / same as a type commonly used for the Nicad packs used in remote control cars, boats and planes. Might the charger in the photo actually be for charging Nicad packs, rather than the 12v Lead acid battery the OP seems to have in the photo?
 
I totally missed these replies, was not ignoring!

In the end I gave up on the idea through lack of available time to commit. I then bought a 1965 Atco Deluxe 14" which is far more interesting to work on rather than the 1998 Admiral 16SE -- easier to do the lawn edges too with it being a cylinder mower. I'm more used to working with points and a Zenith carb too so it's easier to diagnose faults for me.

Although it would be nice to have the key start working I'll put it on the back burner and just buy a new battery and charger.

As for the pictures used in the first post, these were taken from sites describing them as an Atco battery and Atco battery charger respectively.
 
If anyone is still interested. I have Qualcast Suffolk Turbo 40SK same engine and body as the ATCO. Self propelled/electric start its about 30 years old been using it by pull start for most of that time after loosing battery charger and key years ago. Just bought a standard 12v 4.5ah sealed lead acid battery £15, a SAE-71 connector £3 and a key £2 and the machine starts. I could not believe my eyes. Just need to find a suitable charger now for the battery.
 
As said the VRLA or AGM battery needs a charger which will not over charge them, I use a couple from Lidi at around £15 each, but most cheap battery chargers state on them not suitable for AGM batteries. Most people seem to use the Ctek chargers, but also Ring make some. But this charger costs £45.50 and Lidi and Aldi you have to wait until on offer.
 
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