The battery pack for the Alien2 controller (ET-12001-1008-0002) is constructed intrinsically safe and it contains a current limiting fuse and power limiting resistor. The fuse is very sensitive and a very brief short at the plug will cause it to blow, there is no spark or pop typically. Due to the size, measuring the voltage across the two terminals of the plug is difficult and it is easy to briefly short the terminals together, blowing the fuse inadvertently.
A common mistake that will give erroneous results is measuring voltage at the plug. Due to the construction of the battery pack, one with a blown fuse will often read good voltage across the plug with a voltmeter.
Test Procedure
The following test procedure is the recommended was to evaluate a battery pack for the Alien2 Plunger Lift Controller:
- Flip the battery on its top
- With a multimeter set to voltage DC, measure voltage on the two silver posts where the leads connect and record the voltage
- Set the multimeter to resistance and measure resistance (ohms) from one silver button to the prong on the plug with the same color wire
- Repeat the same measurement with the other color wire, take the highest reading of the two
- Check results against the table
Test Results
| Wire Resistance | ||
| Battery Voltage | Under 5 Ohm | Over 5 Ohm |
| Over 6.2V | Good, Fully Charged Battery | Bad Battery, must be replaced |
| Over 5.6V | Good Battery, the controller will be able charge to full with a properly positioned solar panel | Bad Battery, must be replaced |
| Under 5.6V | Low charge battery. Will need to be charged outside of the controller with the battery charger accessory | Bad Battery, must be replaced |