I have no idea where to even begin. I have worked on this for so many hours with no real accurate answers.
I purchased a 2002 GEM e-4 from my neighbor. The car currently has Optima yellowtop 12V 900 CCA 75AH batteries that are 9 years old. I don’t know if the chargers algorithm was changed when they put these batteries in.
I’m looking to put new batteries in and am contemplating between two different batteries:
1)31-AGM7 made by intersate
2) CB12-115 made by Cenntenial
Questions:
-I don’t know what type of charger my car has or how to find it?
-How many AH are needed?
-How many Amps does the car pull per hour?
-Will my charger change an AMG battery?
I’m on Maui and no one here is knowledgable about this vehicle and I feel like I just threw money into this car than I can’t get any help with TIA from the island girl who needs some answers. Mahalo!
Was the vehicle non operational when you got it? 9 years on lead batteries is a long time. And 75Ah batteries are very small batteries. The stock batteries were Trojan 130Ah 30XHS according to the docs which came with my 2002 GEM.
The charger is under the big gray dashboard and it’s easy to take off. There are two screws(philips) just under the windshield accessed when you pull forward the front compartment cover. Remote those two screws and then there is only velcro holding the dash on. On mine, the velcro is just a few inches out from the front edge and then one at the center of the arc nearest the center of the vehicle.
Tilt the dash upward at the center velcro after loosening the sides and then you should be able to lift it all slightly and then remove it horizontally towards the passenger side.
Thank you so much Doug. I did what you said and is is in fact the Zivan charger you mentioned. Is there a way to tell if the algorithm has been altered from its original state?
I am planning on calling Zivan tomorrow to ask if in fact the two batteries that i am deciding between will work with their charger. I’m hoping so.
To answer your question, the car is currently driving but I can’t make it to town and back without needing a charge. They are 9 years old and I’m blown away that they are still working so well. Thanks so much for your help!
I think when a Zivan charger is upgraded they add a dial which allows you to select from different profiles. IIRC the dial is visible on the top or there might be a sticker over the hole. I’m not sure since mine is an up-upgraded version. Mine is not even operational any more since the fan failed one evening and after replacing it it seems other things failed because of the overheating.
Good to hear it’s operational. If you search the forum for the word Zivan then you should find hours of reading material if you’re interested in understanding more about how it all works. IIRC there is also a owners/operators manual to be found online somewhere.
Some Zivan NG-1 chargers have more profiles than others. There should be a sticker on the charger to indicate what profiles it has and what dial setting they correspond to. If you don’t have an AGM profile, take the closest lead acid (typically labeled as “Trojan”) profile to the batteries you are installing. You want to pick one that is equal to or greater than the amp-hour rating of the batteries.
Not all NG-1’s have the dial. The Zivan updates were charging profile aka “microcode” updates. They also scraped some varnish off of the interlock connectors, apparently some of the units were over-sprayed. The sticker will say “microcode updated” if the charger has been through the process. If not, you can get in touch with Electric Conversions in Sacramento, CA about the upgrade, they are the sole US distributor. Be warned, they are slow.
Don’t know who Centennial is or where they get their batteries from. Those Interstates are kind of small. Your range will be limited. Maybe 15 miles on flat ground.
If you want range, get Trojan 30XHS or the even larger T-1275. The T-1275 has a 150Ah rated capacity, one of the highest out there. The battery is massive though - like 90 lbs IIRC, that’s how much lead is in there. The catch is, you have to check & maintain the water levels on both, run them with low level and the plates exposed and you’ll hurt the battery. A watering kit will make maintenance much simpler as you send water into just one connector and it fills all the cells evenly.
Awesome info. Thank you! Few questions though, the interstate and centennial batteries are both 12v 31 AGM batteries. One has 110ah and the other has 115ah. Is that small?
I’ll try to attach a picture of the charger and hopefully you can see where it’s reading is.
Thanks so very much!
Oh and one more thing, The reason I was headed down the road of a gel batteries is because that was what the 2002 series was originally qualified for. Also, I don’t live on the island full-time so the gel batteries are less maintenance and being that I’m not here all the time, that’s why I was leaning towards the sealed gel. Thoughts?
The original zivan(non upgraded) will not restart after it shuts off. Your Gem discharges the batteries while it sits, since the charger won’t restart, the batteries will die. You can add a timer to turn on and off or charge them fully and turn off master switch.
The Centennial Battery CB12-115 (AMG) is what I replaced my MK Battery E31 SLD G ST (gel) with and the specs were identical (the centennials had an extra 15amps) all the way down to the size of the batteries. Unfortunately this was only 2 weeks ago and I have maybe 2.5 hours running time but so far no complaints. It’s uphill 5 miles to town and a round trip takes just under 20% with 2 people in a 2003 e825
TIA from the island girl who needs some answers. Mahalo!