Fuses

[GrahamHR]

My 18 month old, lightly used Ring "smart" battery charger failed with a distinct smell of ozone. The 13A fuse in the plug is OK. opening the charger up, there is a soldered in 5A fuse on the power input that has clearly failed.

I will of course try the usual replacement etc, but why would they have fitted a 13A fuse in the plug if the unit itself had an intenal 5 A fuse ? OK, the 13A fuse protects the cable from the plug to the unit, but that's a huge current. I'd have thought a 3A fuse would have been more appropriate, then I wouldn't have had to find a siolder in 5A fuse !

 

[VicS]

You are right IMHO The mains cable is Id guess only 3 amp.

3 amp fuse going in mine tomorrow

 

[William_H]

Battery charger fuse

I don't think replacing the fuse will help. It seems like a major internal semi conductor failure to me. By all means try another fuse if that is easy but expect similar results. Send it back to its makers. good luck olewill

 

[MrCramp]

I agree with you.

I bought one of those things from Halfords. I connected it up to my Landrover Discovery battery and all the lights on the unit flashed and it went dead. Someone had said to me they were a c**p product so I made sure I kept the receipt. My son took it back to Halfords for me. Apparently he said could he have a refund and the staff were so busy talking to each other whilst they processed it they never thought to ask why it was being returned, so he thought stuff you then and said nowt. As he left the shop he saw them put the unit back on the shelf for some other mug to buy. £64 was the price!!!!

I bought a smaller charger from Aldi or Liddle and it has worked all through winter keeping the Discovery battery up (it isn't used much).

If the internal fuse has gone then I reckon the unit is bust. Sorry not much help to you, but I hate companies selling c**p products. I will never touch a "Ring" product again.

 

[GrahamHR]

I was having a look at the circuit board before connecting a temporary fuse to replace the one that blew. At first glance, with the a brown wire going into the board and the fuse fuse being connected to it, I assumed that it was on the "live" side; it isn't !! The brown wire from the plug is joined to a black wire which goes to the on/ off switch. The blue neutral wire is connected to the brown wire attached to the board and directly attached to the fuse; so the internal fuse is on the neutral side!

So, when the 5A fuse blew, everything inside was still "live", as the 13A fuse in the plug did not blow. That doesn't seem right, but they do say there are no user serviceable parts inside so maybe I should never have known. According to their website it should draw a maximum of 1.04A when charging at 16 Amps, so that 13A fuse in the plug is grossly over rated.

 

[GrahamHR]

Internal soldered on 5A fuse replaced (I used a a std 13A fuse with the original 13A internal fuse wire replaced with 5A wire, with soldered on external solid copper wires). 13A plug fuse replaced with 3A fuse. It seems to be working as normal so far !

 

[Rivers & creeks]

I've had two Ring chargers in two boats and they worked faultlessly. They have a good reputation in the automotive trade.

 

[paulferris1964]

I had a brand new Ring SmartCharge blow on its first use about a month ago and had to return it for a replacement.

 

[ghostlymoron]

Internal soldered on 5A fuse replaced (I used a a std 13A fuse with the original 13A internal fuse wire replaced with 5A wire, with soldered on external solid copper wires). 13A plug fuse replaced with 3A fuse. It seems to be working as normal so far !

RESULT well done! But why did the fuse blow in the first place?

 

[GrahamHR]

RESULT well done! But why did the fuse blow in the first place?

I'd like to know, but I have no idea ! None of the internal components show any sign whatsoever of overheating, visually or by smell. Maybe a marginal fuse; I was switching from 2 -4 -8-16 A at the time it blew. The brown (neutral) wire also had a few strands broken where it entered the circuit board.

It's still running now after some 3 hours. I feel happier leaving it overnight with having the more appropriate 3A fuse in the plug.