Do I need to disconnect my BM-1 Compact when I leave the
vehicle for long periods?
No. The BM-1 Compact is designed to be permanently
connected to the battery. It is independently fused, and draws
only 1.5mA from the battery. At such a low current, it would
take several years to discharge a typical fully-charged
service battery.
Why does my battery seem to have less capacity than it says
on its label?
The value on the manufacturer's label is seldom the value
achieved in service, because of the deterioration of the cells'
plates and many other factors. If it seems to have much lower
than its expected capacity, it may need replacement, or you may
feel that changing the nominal capacity from the Engineering
mode will suffice to let you know well enough the percentage
charge remaining.
When on heavy load, the time to run is lower than I expect.
Is this correct?
YES. When heavily loaded, a lead-acid battery delivers less
energy than expected owing to electrolyte exhaustion and
stagnation. When the battery is delivering heavy currents the
BM-1 Compact uses Peukert's equation to allow for these
effects and so show a better estimate for the time to run.
I have a 500W appliance. How do I know what current it
will draw?
Divide the power rating by the nominal supply voltage to find
the current. So, for example, your 500W appliance will draw
500W/12V Amps from a nominal 12V battery: i.e. about 42Amps
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