Schumacher SF-51A-PE - Manuel (Page 3)

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BATTERY CHARGER CONTROLS
FIGURE 3 CHARGER CONTROLS
MANUAL-AUTO SWITCH
Charging may be either Manual or Automatic.
MANUAL
When the Manual position is selected the charger will continue to
charge and will not shut off. You must keep a visual check on the
ammeter or the green LED to determine when the battery is
charged. When the ammeter reads around 5 Amps and the green
LED is on the battery is charged.
WARNING: In the Manual position, the charger will continue to
charge even after the battery is fully charged.
WARNING: Overcharging will damage the battery.
AUTOMATIC CHARGING
When the battery reaches the full charge state, charge current is
turned off and the charger switches to the maintainer mode of op-
eration. This action occurs when the ammeter tapers down to ap-
proximately 5 Amps. In this state the battery voltage is constantly
being monitored. When the battery voltage drops to a predeter-
mined value charge will turn on for a few seconds replacing the
small amount of energy that was lost while the charge current was
at 0 Amps.
MANUAL VS AUTOMATIC CHARGING
For your safety, in the AUTOMATIC position this charger will only
turn on when properly connected to a 12 volt battery with a voltage
over .7 volts. In the MANUAL position the charger will turn on for
any condition. If a battery is so depleted of charge that it's voltage
is less than .7 volts, switch to MANUAL until the ammeter begins
to move up scale, than switch back to the desired AUTOMATIC
position.
NOTE: Some batteries, especially those with a built in state of
charge indicator and have been deeply discharged, may require
the use of the MANUAL position in order to obtain full charge. The
AUTOMATIC position may be used to maintain the full charge state.
METER/LED INDICATOR
The meter gives a reading of the AMP draw on the charger. When
a fully discharged battery is connected to the charger, the meter
will read the maximum output rating of the charger. The charge
current will gradually taper down as the battery approaches full
charge. As the charge current tapers, the meter needle will also
move down.
When full charged, the meter needle will suddenly drop to 0 and a
green LED will turn on. The 0 is not printed on the meter scale, the
LED is located in its place. As a visual aid, the meter scale has
been divided into 2 zones, CHARGED and CHARGING.
NOTE: As the battery approaches the full charge state the meter
needle and LED will fluctuate back and forth between CHARGING
and CHARGED. For the average size automotive battery, allow 5
to 10 minutes for the battery to stabilize.