Basic Electronics help?

[scouttster]

My 1.5 amp / 12 volt battery charger kept cutting out after about 5 mins of charging my car battery. I would hear some small click and then it would cut out. I figured the thing was shot and after reading a little off the internet I determined that it was this PEPI J thermal switch. In any event, I bypassed the switch and it charged alright.

My question - Is it safe to bypass it and charge or could I ruin the battery?

FTR, my understanding of electronics is minimal and basic.

Thanks for any and all help guys and btw, my terc is still running strong.

[teranfirbt]

I doubt bypassing that will hurt the battery unless the charger itself blows up from overheating... The switch is probably bad and was shutting off at a temperature that was too low, or there's a problem with the charger and the switch was acting correctly.... In any case, bypassing the switch just means you won't have any thermal protection in your charger.

[keith]

Its really unlikely that a 1.5 amp charger will ruin a battery, but without the thermal switch, its possible that you could start a fire. More likely that the circuit breaker on the circuit that you are using will protect you though.

I'd spend the $20 and get a new charger, they are handy to have around.

[Petros]

The voltage regulatory controls the amount of charge. If that goes bad it will keep charging a full charged battery, usually causing it to boil off all the liquid in the cells (you usauuly an smell it boiling off). That will ruin the battery.

I suspect that is a safety device to protect the battery if the regulator fails. Take your changes, but it seems a cheap enough part to replace, try a wrecking yard.