Old Century battery charger

Donald

Donald

Joined
Mar 21, 2004
Messages
29,649
Location
Near the beach in Delaware
I have this older Century battery charger that stopped working a few years ago. It was a decent battery charger but not a modern automatic one. And had a 100 amp start-boost. Which I never used.

So if I could fix it I would have another battery charger on the higher charging rate end. I have several others that are newer.

Also I thought it would be fun to see how much electronics I remember from my building Heathkit days.

I think I can get things like a diode but if the transformer is fried then I guess it's a basket case.

PXL_20240207_004419225.jpg
 
Hope you can fix it. Probably was made in the USA unlike most today. We will help you with your diagnosis. Hopefully it doesn't have selenium rectifiers.
 
vwmaniaman said:
Hope you can fix it. Probably was made in the USA unlike most today. We will help you with your diagnosis. Hopefully it doesn't have selenium rectifiers.
Click to expand...
Exactly what I thought about the rectifiers. That should be well new enough to have silicon. I repaired a big dumb battery charger at work several times, the last time I was able to source much larger diodes from our rotating electric and battery supplier who also had a rebuild shop. The charger was well over 30 years old but worked well and was used so much it actually wore out the cooling fan motor. A scrap microwave we raided for the magnets provided a new fan assembly. Good luck on yours and have fun fixing it.
 
That unit is relatively quite new. Though the transformer is traditional iron core, the rectifiers are silicon and there is also a solid-state control board with an SCR that interrupts the charging current when the battery voltage has increased to the limit. The "Normal / Deep Cycle" switch alters the cutoff voltage slightly. The charging rate switch on the right changes taps on the transformer primary to affect the open-circuit secondary voltage, which translates into nominal charging rates.

If continuously overloaded or the switch is left in the "start boost" position, the transformer will overheat and blow a one-time thermal fuse buried in its windings. First thing to check is the continuity of the primary with the fuse. Transformer failure is beyond economical repair.
 
I have one of these, private labled and sold originally by Griot's Garage. Its probably 15 to 20 years old. I use it mostly to jump friends cars...I keep it with a 50 ft extension cord to run to their house with...yeah, I should just get a jump pack. :)

But the "automatic" function of turning off when the battery is fully charged is not that great. I tried using the 2amp setting on a motorcycle battery and even when the green light showing "charge complete", it was still sending current and boiling the electrolyte. So you cannot leave this attached once charged. It never fully "turns off" as it claims in the owners manual or literature. I think it just tapers down...but clearly not enough. It works fine as a charger, but is not "smart" enough to leave unmonitored.
 
zzyzzx said:
Define stopped working,
Completely stopped working?
Some functionality, but not all?
Click to expand...
Well when last used several years ago it was not working to the point where I took the cover off to look around inside. It's been in a box and moved to DE. Now going through stuff to see if I should fix or toss.

I have asked Century for a schematic. Hopefully I will get than and can start to determine what is wrong.
 
f355spider said:
I have one of these, private labled and sold originally by Griot's Garage. Its probably 15 to 20 years old. I use it mostly to jump friends cars...I keep it with a 50 ft extension cord to run to their house with...yeah, I should just get a jump pack. :)

But the "automatic" function of turning off when the battery is fully charged is not that great. I tried using the 2amp setting on a motorcycle battery and even when the green light showing "charge complete", it was still sending current and boiling the electrolyte. So you cannot leave this attached once charged. It never fully "turns off" as it claims in the owners manual or literature. I think it just tapers down...but clearly not enough. It works fine as a charger, but is not "smart" enough to leave unmonitored.
Click to expand...
I have a collection of BatterMinder chargers/maintainer to leave on for the winter.

This would be to get the basic charge into a dead battery
 
Had one of these exact ones forever. Fan cooled, Heavy as hell, charged and boosted awesome. Cable insulations were cracking apart and electrical taped repeatedly. Overcharged a couple Optima batteries over the years. Gave it away to a scrap guy as I was cleaning up one day. Really hated doing it but it was more sentimental value than was getting used. Dad had it forever than made it's way to me.

I get good use from my CTEK smart charger these days and works fine for all I need.

1708112892713.jpg
 
Donald said:
Century has not gotten back to me with a schematic. Any ideas.
Click to expand...
I believe Century has been out of business over 10 years.

I have a 55/10/2A that looks almost the same as yours but it's not a Deep Cycle and it's red from 12/99. The green charge complete light would come on way before the battery was charged. It was an easy fix, the circuit board was not fully seated. I use it every week now and it works fine.

My next project is a Silver beauty from 10/57.
 
Last edited:
Eddie Hudson said:
I believe Century has been out of business over 10 years.

I have a 55/10/2A that looks almost the same as yours but it's not a Deep Cycle and it's red from 12/99. The green charge complete light would come on way before the battery was charged. It was an easy fix, the circuit board was not fully seated. I use it every week now and it works fine.

My next project is a Silver beauty from 10/57.
Click to expand...

Century Automotive Battery Chargers Bench Top & Roll Around

Great Tools become great sellers because people know they can depend on them to do the job every time. That's why equipment from Century have been top sellers for more than 60 years.
www.centurytool.net
Still have an active website and customer service contact page

Century Tool And Equipment Automotive & Industrial Tools & Equipment

Leading provider of Automotive and Industrial hand tools and equipment including battery chargers, jump starters, automotive battery cables and jumper cables
www.centurytool.net
 
You are right, they're still in business. I looked on their website for a switch for my 1980s Sears charger made by Century which they didn't have.

I was told by Rick @ PLP Battery Supply that it was not available for over 10 years.
 
Sequoiasoon said:
Really hated doing it but it was more sentimental value than was getting used. Dad had it forever than made it's way to me.

I get good use from my CTEK smart charger these days and works fine for all I need.
Click to expand...
Tossing D-cell flashlights, fluorescent fixtures as well as tubes.
How much satisfaction you get from resurrecting outdated chargers is for you to determine.
There's more money in refitting Art-Deco radios.
 
Eddie Hudson said:
You are right, they're still in business. I looked on their website for a switch for my 1980s Sears charger made by Century which they didn't have.

I was told by Rick @ PLP Battery Supply that it was not available for over 10 years.
Click to expand...
If the switch it not proprietary, you can probably find it on Mouser. I needed a power switch for an older ShopVac that was not available separately from the manufacturer. I found it on Mouser for $1.30. Bought two so I have a spare. There are tons of Youtube videos on repairing stuff...sometimes they even list parts sources and part numbers.
 
Kira said:
Tossing D-cell flashlights, fluorescent fixtures as well as tubes.
How much satisfaction you get from resurrecting outdated chargers is for you to determine.
There's more money in refitting Art-Deco radios.
Click to expand...
Its still made. The current version sells for $200.
www.centurytool.net

K3153-1 Century 15/2/100 Amp 6/12 Volt Manual / Automatic Deep Cycle Battery Charger Starter

Power and convenience. The K3153-1 packs 50% more charging and starting power than most portable chargers, plus features automatic 12-volt settings to shut output OFF at full charge, but turns the unit back on if the battery discharges for any reason.
www.centurytool.net

If he can fix it for a few dollars, what's the harm in that?
 
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