Can't Draw More Than 2 Amps!

[RobHerrington]

I have a brand new manual charger, set at 12v/6amps, and I cannot draw more than 2 amps, and barely that. The connections are right on the pan handle itself. Long piece of re-bar. I move the rebar around and the amperage draw fluctuates slightly below and slightly above 2 amps.

I didn't estimate the water this time -- I put exactly 5 gallons and exactly 5 Tbsp of the washing soda. I confess I didn't steel wool the rebar and that may be part of it, as it is slightly rusted, but this is still disappointing. I also stirred the soda well in the water.

I see guys do this on youtube, with an admittedly more elaborate set up (two sacrifical baking sheets on either side of the skillet, and skillet suspended vertical between the two, and the meter jumps to the max of 6 amps the second it is plugged in. So maybe I need another piece of metal, but then how do I connect them?

Thanks. I know it will work at 2 amps but also know the setup could be better.

 

[KevinE]

I didn't estimate the water this time -- I put exactly 5 gallons and exactly 5 Tbsp of the washing soda. I confess I didn't steel wool the rebar and that may be part of it, as it is slightly rusted, but this is still disappointing. I also stirred the soda well in the water.

Add more washing soda 1 tablespoon at a time. Mix well. Should increase your amps.

I see guys do this on youtube, with an admittedly more elaborate set up (two sacrifical baking sheets on either side of the skillet, and skillet suspended vertical between the two, and the meter jumps to the max of 6 amps the second it is plugged in. So maybe I need another piece of metal, but then how do I connect them?

Just connect a wire from one piece of rebar to the other. As long as they're connected they are both part of the same circuit.

 

[RobHerrington]

Thank you, Kevin. Man you guys know some stuff. After I posted this I went and looked at the meter. It had moved up to 3 amps and the red lead, still connected to the rebar, was touching the water. The rebar had accidentally shifted in the pan and moved the lead with it (it was just leaning against the side.) I'll put my lawn mower blade in there and clip it to the rebar and report back.

Thanks again!

 

[SpurgeonH]

Rob, it could be the rebar. For my "e-tank", I use a five gallon Home Depot bucket. Originally, I used 4 pieces of rebar in it. It worked fine in the beginning, but I never got the amps everybody else seemed to get. Recently, it had been getting worse and worse. I emptied the bucket and gave the rebar a good scrubbing. Big chucks fell of them. I figured they were pretty well used up, so I added two of the heat shields off of an old gas grill I had. Wow! What a difference! The amps shot way up! I'm assuming the increased surface area might have something to do with it.