Contax SW 2524, Owner'S Manual, Page: 159 / 322

Menu Item Descriptions
976-0043-01-01 6–13
Bulk Stage Bulk charge is the first stage in the charging process and provides the
batteries with a controlled, constant current. Once the battery voltage rises
to the bulk voltage threshold, the charger switches to the Absorption
Stage.
Absorption Stage Absorption charge is the second stage of battery charging and provides
the batteries a controlled, constant voltage for a set period of time. During
this stage, the current supplied to the batteries slowly decreases. When
this current decreases to or below the setting in menu item
12F Bulk
Done Amps AC , the charger switches to the Finish stage.
Finish Stage The Finish Stage contains two selections for the final stage of battery
charging: Silent or float modes as described below.
Float Mode Float charge maintains a trickle charge on the batteries
whenever AC is present on the inverter’s input. Float charging reduces
battery gassing, minimizes watering requirements (for flooded batteries)
and ensures the batteries are in a constant state of readiness. When this
mode is selected, the charger will automatically switch to the float stage
after the batteries have received a bulk and absorption charge. The
batteries will be maintained at the level set in menu item
12C Float Volts DC .
Note:
If there are DC loads on the batteries, the charger’s current may
never decrease to a level to initiate the finish stage of charging. To
ensure the charger does not stay indefinitely in the bulk stage, set the
adjustable timer menu item
12H Max Bulk/EQ Timer h:m to limit the
time the batteries are bulk charged. This timing circuit is activated at the
start of the Absorption stage and terminates bulk charging if the charge
current does not decrease to the setting in menu item
12F Bulk Done
Amps AC before the 12H Max Bulk/EQ Timer h:m setting is reached.
Note: The battery voltage can increase above the float voltage when
using an external charging device such as PV arrays, wind turbines,
micro-hydro generators, etc. Be sure to include appropriate charge
management equipment with all external DC sources.