4
Safety Notes
Do not charge old, damaged, deeply drained or otherwise defective lead-
acid batteries.
During normal operation lead-acid batteries might generate explosive
gases. Explosive gas can be ignited by a cigarette or an open flame and
can damage the battery. Thereby acid will splash out and causes serve
chemical burns.
While charging, explosive and flammable substances such as fuel or
solvents should not be kept near the battery charger.
Always wear safety goggles when operating the battery charger in the
vicinity of lead-acid batteries and avoid skin and cloth contact with battery
acid. Wear safety gloves and protective clothing.
Do not smoke in the vicinity of lead-acid batteries. Avoid open flames.
Ensure sufficient ventilation! Discharged lead-acid batteries freeze at
extremely low temperatures! Never charge a frozen lead-acid battery!
The efficiency of a lead-acid battery decreases with dropping tempera-
tures. A fully charged battery has a capacity of 40 % at an ambient tem-
perature of -18° C. Most batteries are damaged while over charging.
All batteries loose their charge after some time if temperature increases.
Self-discharging of maintenance-free batteries is lower than discharging of
common lead-acid batteries. Preferably store batteries in cool tempera-
tures to avoid self-discharging to a minimum.
A battery that has been stored uncharged for long period of time will
“sulphurize” very easily and looses its capacity because sulphur will
deposit on the plates. A fully charged and fault-free battery has a no-load
voltage of 12.7 V or more. A defective or discharged battery has a no-load
voltage of 10.5 V or less.
Be sure the area around the battery is well ventilated before and during
the charging process. If this is not possible, it might be necessary to take
out the battery from the vehicle for charging. Always turn off all accesso-
ries in the vehicle and remove ground cable from the frame.
