Hello everyone, I need some help with a battery charger I may have ruined by accident. First off it an ultra power up240ac plus. It’s capable of working off a 110 or 220v plug with the flip of a switch, or dc power up to 18v. I occasionally use it on both ac voltages depending where I’m charging. I goofed up one day and plugged it into my 220 plug before flipping the switch to 220v, I thought I already had it set to 220, I was wrong. There was no pop,smoke,or obvious damage that I could see to the board. Now the charger doesn’t turn on with either voltage with the switch in the appropriate position. However the charger does still work on the dc input so I know the damage can’t be too detrimental. I’ll attach photos of the board. I’m relatively handy I can solder and identify some electrical components. No obvious fuses or anything that I can see. Anyone have an idea what crapped out? Or a way to troubleshoot what did? Thanks everyone.

 

What is that pink block near the red wire? It may be a fuse.

 

What is that pink block near the red wire? It may be a fuse.

That’s the switch for 110/220v could there be a fuse in the switch?

 

No, the device on the PCB next to the power socket. I cannot read the label.

 

What is that pink block near the red wire? It may be a fuse.

 

That looks like a 3.15A fuse.

 

That looks like a 3.15A fuse.

Hmm. I will take a look when I get home. I wasn’t aware fuses could look like that. I’ll do a continuity test and snap a better pic. Thanks for the quick reply

 

I suggest you measure it to see if it is a short. If not, just for a test, solder wires to each side to connect a mains incandescent lamp in place of the fuse and see if the power supply starts up. If the lamp lights fully, there is some damage, but if the lamp flashes then glows dimmer, it should be ok to replace the fuse.

It is a good old trick to run a lamp in series with mains power supplies (with no load on the supply) while testing. It does save a lot of smoke by limiting the current.

 

I suggest you measure it to see if it is a short. If not, just for a test, solder wires to each side to connect a mains incandescent lamp in place of the fuse and see if the power supply starts up. If the lamp lights fully, there is some damage, but if the lamp flashes then glows dimmer, it should be ok to replace the fuse.

It is a good old trick to run a lamp in series with mains power supplies (with no load on the supply) while testing. It does save a lot of smoke by limiting the current.

I see, that’s a great idea thanks!

 

@rvigeant
We get close to a hundred new inquiries every day. Think how useful is a subject title "Please help".
Create a short subject title that summarizes the content of your thread.

 

@rvigeant
We get close to a hundred new inquiries every day. Think how useful is a subject title "Please help".
Create a short subject title that summarizes the content of your thread.

Valid, although I just tried to edit and I couldn’t find where to do so. Also I tried to come up with something before posting but couldn’t think of anything relevant/short enough for a title. Did you have anything in mind? Something you think you draw more attention?

 

I suggest you measure it to see if it is a short. If not, just for a test, solder wires to each side to connect a mains incandescent lamp in place of the fuse and see if the power supply starts up. If the lamp lights fully, there is some damage, but if the lamp flashes then glows dimmer, it should be ok to replace the fuse.

It is a good old trick to run a lamp in series with mains power supplies (with no load on the supply) while testing. It does save a lot of smoke by limiting the current.

Just got home from work, long day for me, but a quick continuity test on that fuse revealed it’s blown. Will pick up an incandescent light bulb holder tomorrow. Recommended wattage? I’ll pull the board out and solder up some leads and see what the bulb says.

 

100W should be ok, or even 60W. This is just to see if you can get an output with no load on the supply, not to run with.

 

100W should be ok, or even 60W. This is just to see if you can get an output with no load on the supply, not to run with.

Right, I understand. Thanks! Will report back.

 

Valid, although I just tried to edit and I couldn’t find where to do so. Also I tried to come up with something before posting but couldn’t think of anything relevant/short enough for a title. Did you have anything in mind? Something you think you draw more attention?

How about:
"Help fixing blown make model battery charger"

You just need to add the make and model of the charger.

 

100W should be ok, or even 60W. This is just to see if you can get an output with no load on the supply, not to run with.

It worked! Thanks so much for your help! I would’ve never known that was a slow burn fuse. Now I do. I soldered in a new fuse and the charger works good as new!