Charging Thor and Vector Spotlight, issues

bobisculous

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Apr 12, 2004
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So I have two spotlights. An old Vector and Thor. Both are that yellowish color. The vector is a "pistol" grip type and the Thor is the top handle having Thor. You know, the massive beast.

Both are SLA battery, rechargeable of course. They had sat in a room for a year or two until last week I wanted to play with them again. The Vector was dead dead. Wouldn't turn on or anything. The Thor still seems to have some charge. So naturally, I wanted to get them both charged up. God only knows which of these wall warts are the correct one. We all have so many. I found one that fit both the Thor and the Vector.

When I plugged it into the Vector to charge, the Vector would light up without a problem, while plugged in, so it was at least sort of working. I let it charge for 4 hours (12 being the max it states). At the four hour mark, I checked on it. Nothing worked when I unplugged it, but it was damp. I opened the battery compartment and the battery was noticably swollen up, and I assume the liquid was battery acid. I took it to the garage and there it sits still, days later. I am not screwing with that one anymore, not till I get at least a new battery.

So no I am wanting to charge the Thor, but heck if I know if it will do the same thing. When I plug it all in, the red light on the Thor indicating it's charging lights up.

Since I starting typing this post, I am seeing now the wall wart I was using said Output of 12V AC. That seems not right, and suspect it should be 12 DC output. I am going to assume thats what killed the Vector, eh? My fault if I destroyed the Vector, oh well. I just don't want to do it again and risk more serious problems. I probably have the wrong AC converter and it just magically fits both lights. That sound about right?

Thanks for any input,

-Cameron
 

Benson

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Joined
Feb 15, 2009
Messages
1,145
Since I starting typing this post, I am seeing now the wall wart I was using said Output of 12V AC. That seems not right, and suspect it should be 12 DC output. I am going to assume thats what killed the Vector, eh? My fault if I destroyed the Vector, oh well. I just don't want to do it again and risk more serious problems. I probably have the wrong AC converter and it just magically fits both lights. That sound about right?

Yeah, except for the magically part -- there's about 5 sizes of those coaxial plugs that covers 80-90% of equipment, and there is no standardization of a particular plug to a particular voltage. So if you have a bunch of wall warts, it's quite probable that you can find one that's wrong but still fits.

So do they require 12VDC? It's likely, but check the labeling, and if they don't say on the unit, I'd ask/wait for confirmation here on the specs for the factory wall-warts for both lights before you try again. And I'd guess (despite knowing nothing about that light particularly) the Vector should be fine with just a new battery...
 

SilverFox

Flashaholic
Joined
Jan 19, 2003
Messages
12,449
Location
Bellingham WA
Hello Cameron,

If they were my lights, I would pull the batteries out and charge them on the bench. I would then do some various tests to see if they had any useful life left in them.

Tom
 
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