13
BATTERY PERCENT AND CHARGE TIME
This charger adjusts the charging time in
order to charge the battery completely,
efficiently and safely. The microproces
-
sor automatically makes the necessary
decisions. However, this section includes
guidelines that can be used to estimate
charging times.
The duration of the charging process
depends on three factors:
1.
Battery State
– If a battery has only
been slightly discharged, it can be
charged in less than a few hours.
The same battery could take up to 10
hours if very weak. The battery state
can be estimated by using the built-in
tester (see page 10). The lower the
reading the longer charging will take.
2.
Battery rating
– A higher rated
battery will take longer to charge
than a lower rated battery under the
same conditions. A battery is rated in
ampere-hours (AH), reserve capacity
(RC) and cold cranking amps (CCA).
The lower the rating the faster the bat-
tery will be charged.
3.
Battery Size
– This charger provides
a charge rate for 2A SMALL, 10A
MEDIUM and 15A LARGE batteries.
The 2A SMALL rate is for charging
smaller batteries such as those used
for motorcycles and garden tractors.
Such batteries should not be charged
using the 10A MEDIUM or 15A
LARGE rates. The 10A MEDIUM and
15A LARGE are for charging larger
batteries. The charger charges at
the selected charge rate and even-
tually reduces the charge rate in a
controlled manner. After the charging
process has started, the digital display
can be used to determine charging
progress by selecting the BATTERY
% mode.
There are some important facts to keep
in mind when charging a battery.
• When the display indicates 77%
charged, the battery has been charged
enough to start most vehicles and has
already been charged as much as by
many other battery chargers.
• When the display indicates 85%
charged, the battery has already been
charged at least as much as by most
other battery chargers.
• The battery % shown in tester mode
is an estimate based on the battery
voltage and a scale set by the Battery
Council International. The battery %
shown in charger mode is an estimate
of the relative charge in the battery
compared to the charge it should have
if the charging process is allowed to
complete.
• The battery % shown in tester mode
can be used to estimate the relative
charge time. The lower the % shown,
the longer the charge time for a given
battery.
• The battery % shown in charger mode
is an indication of the relative progress
of the charging process. The higher
the battery % displayed, the less
charge time remains.
• The more a battery is discharged,
the faster it absorbs charge from a
charger. That means that the battery
% increases faster at the beginning
of the charging process than at the
end. In other words, it takes longer
for the battery to absorb the last few
percent of charge than the first several
percent.
Summary of Contents for SSC-1500A SpeedCharge
Page 15: ...15 notes...
