10
OPM-117/B
5. Be sure all connections are tight and coat the terminals
and cable ends with dielectric grease.
WARNING:
The electrolyte is a diluted sulfuric acid that is harmful to the
skin and eyes. It is electrically conductive and corrosive, The
following precautions must always be taken.
1. Always wear full eye protection and protective clothing.
2. Where electrolyte contacts skin, wash off immediately
with water.
3. If electrolyte contacts the eyes, flush immediately and
thoroughly with water. Seek immediate medical
attention.
4. Spilled electrolyte is to be washed down with an acid
neutralizing agent. A common practice is to use a
solution of one pound of biocarbonate of soda (baking
soda) to one gallon of water. The biocarbonate of soda is
to be added until the evidence of reaction, foaming, has
ceased the resulting liquid is to be flushed with water
and the area dried.
DANGER: EXPLOSIVE FIRE RISK
Never smoke near batteries
Do not cause a flame or spark in the battery area.
Always discharge static electricity from your body before
touching batteries by first touching a ground metal surface.
SERVICING BATTERIES
Batteries used on these units may over time lose water.
This is especially true if you are using a trickle charger to
maintain your battery. When refilling the battery with
water, use only distilled water. Tap water will shorten the
service life of the battery.
Never fill the battery above the fill line. Over filling above
the upper level line may cause electrolyte to overflow,
resulting in corrosion to the engine or nearby parts.
Immediately wash off any spilled electrolyte following the
procedure above.
BATTERY CHARGING
This generator is equipped with an engine mounted
alternator that will recharge the battery during operation.
It is not necessary to have the battery charger circuit on the
emergency distribution circuit.
CAUTION: EQUIPMENT DAMAGE
Always connect the positive cable first and the negative
cable last. When disconnecting, remove the negative cable
first and the positive cable last. Failure to connect and
disconnect in the proper sequence can cause equipment
damage.
Observe polarities: connect the positive (+) battery
terminal to the (+) cable from the engine starter; the
negative (-) battery terminal is connected to the negative
cable (ground) from the engine generator assembly. All
connections must be clean and tight. Check the electrolyte
(fluid) in the battery periodically to be sure it is above the
plates. Never allow the battery to remain in a discharge
condition.
CAUTION: EQUIPMENT DAMAGE
NEVER JUMP START these units. Doing so will destroy the
engine control module, rendering the unit non-operational.
Remove and fully recharge the battery before attempting to
start.
CONNECTING THE BATTERY
CHARGER & BLOCK HEATER
A three-stage battery charger is provided standard for all 12
volt standby systems. The standard charger is an Automatic
Battery Charger & Maintainer. This Charger has three rates
of charging. During the first stage, know as BULK Charging,
the charging current is limited to 2 Amps at a voltage of
up to 14.5 volts. The green LED will blink during this stage.
During stage two, know as ABSORPTION Charging, the
charging voltage is held at 14.5 volts and the charging rate
gradually reduces the amount of current (amps) flowing to
the battery. The green LED will also blink during this stage.
Stage three is called MAINTENANCE Charging. During this
stage the voltage will drop to 13.3 volts and the charge
rate will drop to as low at .1 amps. This keeps your batteries
in a fully charged condition without over charging them.
During this stage the green LED is constantly lit. There are
optional 5 and 10 amp chargers available that may be
installed on some units
The block heater is thermostatically controlled and when
plugged in will maintain the engine coolant temperature
between 100 and 120 degrees F.
NOTICE:
The trickle charger is not intended to recharge a battery
which has become completely discharged. It is designed to
produce just enough current to maintain a fully charged
battery.
The battery tender and block heater are powered by a
customer supplied GFCI circuit and installed in accordance
with the United States National Electric Code. These AC
wires can be run in the same conduit as the other AC leads
from the generator. It is suggested that this circuit be fused
for 20 amps when the block heater and battery charger are
on shared circuits and two 15 amp circuits when they are
split. Splitting the battery charger and block heaters circuits
are advantageous that if one of the components fail in a
manner causing the breaker to trip the other component
will be unaffected and continue operating normally.
The block heater and battery charger are both hard wired
into a terminal block located in the AC wiring cabinet.
