Battery supplied electric Jacket

[R791945]

I have a gillet that is heated via a Li-ion battery back [7.4v, 5200mAh, inputC 8.4V1.2A Power: 15W Max, Resistance Load :5ohms - 200 ohms. It has 4 adjustable smart outputs]. I have 2 batteries one active, the other is charging and switches with the active one when its charge has dissipated.

There are 3 separate heater elements within the garment. They input into a connector near the battery pocket where they are narrowed down to just two flexes going to the battery unit. Each heater element's pos. are connected together, likewise for neg.

I have used a resistance tester to check if there are no further breaks in the cable and I am getting a 0 reading ie no resistance.

When I put a battery into the gillet I can switch on the battery controller. A led lights up to show it is supplying current to the gillet. Within a short time the led goes out and the battery will not turn on again until it is recharged.

I also have a jacket with sleeves and it takes the same batteries as the gillet, but it does not turn off quickly on connection.

Can anyone suggest what could be causing the gillet to stop being supplied with the battery's current and thus not getting heated.

 

[(*steve*)]

Does the battery get hot?

 

[Alec_t]

I am getting a 0 reading ie no resistance.

That could be good or bad, depending what you are measuring. Good if cable continuity: bad if heating element resistance.

 

[R791945]

Does the battery get hot?

Now that the battery pack does not appear to be supplying its charge to the gillet, no heat is apparent at the battery pack. However that same battery pack does work in the Jacket, as opposed to the Gillet.

 

[R791945]

That could be good or bad, depending what you are measuring. Good if cable continuity: bad if heating element resistance.

I have rechecked the Ohms readings
Gillet 2k .01
Jacket 2k .06
At 20k both 00

Although made by the same supplier, It does not follow that the Gillet heating element is the same as the Jacket's, because they make changes to the garments including the elements.

As the Gillet reading at 2k is <>0 is that a sign that the heating elements are OK?

 

[Alec_t]

You need a more sensitive Ohmmeter to get more accurate readings.

 

[R791945]

You need a more sensitive Ohmmeter to get more accurate readings.

I agree but at least there is some resistance showing on the heating elements. Am I right to assume that if one of the three were shorting then the resistance reading would be Zero? In which case does the presence of some resistance gives the ok to all three parrallel connected heating elements?

How do suggest I proceed to fault check?
I could check each element separately, but what would I be looking for?

 

[(*steve*)]

If you touch the two probes together on the 2k range, what does the meter read?

If we take the meter readings as accurate, it suggests the gillet generates 6 times as much heat as the jacket. Is this at all reasonable?

 

[R791945]

If you touch the two probes together on the 2k range, what does the meter read?

If we take the meter readings as accurate, it suggests the gillet generates 6 times as much heat as the jacket. Is this at all reasonable?

No. It is not reasonable. They should be in close range to each other.

The reading when touched is .001 Does this imply that there is no resistance in the Gillet?

 

[(*steve*)]

Well, that was the reason I asked if the battery got hot.

I interpret what you said to mean that if the battery is connected to the gillet, the battery went flat very quickly with no apparent heating of the gillet. This points to a short, but that would typically cause the battery to get warm or even got.

.001 on the. 2k is very different to .01 on that range. It is also suggestive of the gillet drawing 6 times the current as the jacket. If this is not correct then the problem may be in the gillet (lower resistance than expected).

 

[R791945]

Well, that was the reason I asked if the battery got hot.

I interpret what you said to mean that if the battery is connected to the gillet, the battery went flat very quickly with no apparent heating of the gillet. This points to a short, but that would typically cause the battery to get warm or even got.

.001 on the. 2k is very different to .01 on that range. It is also suggestive of the gillet drawing 6 times the current as the jacket. If this is not correct then the problem may be in the gillet (lower resistance than expected).

Thank you all for your help. It has been wonderful. I have always expected a very low resistance reading to indicate continuity equal to 0 resistance. This view came from this type of logic: I had always assumed that electric fire elements were high resistance. Not withstanding a high resistance a continuity tester / ohm tester can indicate if there is a break. This means that a small current would get through even though a big current will heat the element. Therefore I should expect 0 to very slight resistance reading.

As a result of our discussions in this topic, I was able to work out if there was a likely break/ short.

Today I found that the wires had come away from one of the elements and I suspect it was causing a short. I was able to solder the wires back and add a stub connector. The batteries now stay on all their alloted time and the gillet is being heated properly. I wondered if I would be able to repair it. With everyone's help here, I have done it.

 

[(*steve*)]

Congratulations on your successful repair.