Safety instructions:
- Do not disconnect the battery while the engine is running.
- Never short-circuit the battery - this means that the positive (+) and negative (-) do not connect the poles directly. In the event of a short circuit, the battery heats up and may burst.
- Do not illuminate the battery with an open flame. Battery electrolyte is corrosive and should not come into contact with eyes, skin or clothing. Otherwise, immediately rinse the place where the electrolyte gets into with plenty of clean water.
- Traffic jams (with cross slots) of a modern battery with a centralized system for the removal of gases formed during charging must be tightly wrapped. Make sure that the gas evacuation hose is not kinked.
- Thaw a frozen battery before charging. A charged battery freezes at approximately -65°C, a half-discharged one at approximately -30°C and a discharged one at approximately -12°C. Before charging, check the thawed battery for cracks on the case, replace the battery if necessary.
- Charge the battery only in a well-ventilated or open area. When charging the battery installed in the vehicle, keep the engine compartment hood open.
To charge the battery using a normal or boost charger, remove the battery from the vehicle. At a minimum, disconnect the ground wire from the poles (-) and positive wire (+).
Attention: If the battery is charged without disconnecting the wires from it, the electronic components of the car may be damaged. When charging, the battery temperature must be at least +10°C.
Charger
remove the battery, see relevant chapter.
Conventional battery: before charging, check the electrolyte level, if necessary, add distilled water, see the relevant chapter.
If the charger allows you to adjust the charging current, set the charging current to about 10% of the battery capacity. That is, with a battery capacity of 50 Ah, the charging current should be approximately 5.0 A. The approximate charging time is 10 hours.
With the charger switched off, connect the positive wire (+) charger to the positive pole (+) battery. Charger negative wire (-) connect to the negative pole (-) battery.
Insert the plug of the charger into the socket, if necessary, turn on the charger through the switch.
During DC charging, regularly check the temperature of the battery by touching it with your hand. The temperature of the electrolyte in the battery must not exceed +55°C, otherwise stop charging or reduce the charging current.
After charging the battery, turn off the charger (with a switch) and pull the plug out of the socket.
Disconnect the charger wires from the battery.
Check the charged battery see relevant chapter.
Install the battery in the car see relevant chapter.
Notes for a battery without a central gassing system
Before starting charging, unscrew the plugs from the battery and place them lightly on the holes. This prevents splashing of the electrolyte during the release of gases during charging.
Charge the battery until all of its cells actively emit gas and until 3 measurements taken at intervals of 1 hour show that the electrolyte density and voltage no longer increase.
After charging is completed, allow the gases to escape for about 20 minutes, after which the plugs are wrapped.
Charging a severely discharged and sulphated battery
A battery that has not been used for a long time (e.g. when storing a car), spontaneously discharges, and its plates are sulfated.
If the battery voltage without load is less than 11.6 volts, then it is considered to be heavily discharged. See the chapter above for checking the open circuit voltage.
A heavily discharged battery has an electrolyte (mixture of sulfuric acid and distilled water) consists almost entirely of water. Attention: At a negative ambient temperature, such a battery may freeze and its case may burst. A severely discharged battery is sulphated, which means that all surfaces of its plates become stale. The electrolyte becomes opaque and acquires a faint whitish color.
If a heavily discharged battery is recharged immediately after discharging, the sulfation disappears. If this is not done, then the plates continue to harden and charge reception remains limited for a long time.
A heavily discharged and sulphated battery should be charged with a small current not exceeding 5% of the battery capacity. Those. For a 60 Ah battery, the charging current should be approximately 3 A.
The charging voltage should be no more than 14.4 volts.
Caution: A heavily discharged battery must never be charged using a booster charger.
Accelerated charging / starting the engine from the charger
Charge the battery using a quick charger, as well as resort to starting the engine using this device, only in exceptional cases. With boost charging, the charging current is between 20% and 50% of the battery capacity. In this case, a short-term exposure to a very large current damages the battery. A battery that has been stored for a long time and is heavily discharged must not be charged using a booster charger, as in this case, the so-called surface charging occurs.
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