PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-741
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 741
AUGUST 2014
52
PS 741
AUG 14
PS
Magazine’s
Battery Pack Charging Tips
•
Keep the pack fully charged.
The convective space heater battery pack works the same
as a vehicle battery. The heater uses the pack to start itself. Then, during operation,
the heater recharges the pack. If the pack becomes discharged, recharge it right away.
Storing a discharged pack will shorten its life and degrade its performance. Later, you
may not be able to recharge it.
Charge the pack every 6 months while it’s in storage.
•
Charging under normal conditions:
If the pack has recently been discharged, it
can usually be recharged in about an hour or two. It will take longer if the air is cold
(20°F or less).
•
Use a 110VAC to 12VDC commercial
smart charger.
You can also use the
NATO charging system. Attach the
charger to the pack like it says in TM
10-4520-262-12&P (35K BTU) and TM
10-4520-264-12&P (60K BTU). When
recharging the pack under normal
conditions, check the pack’s standing
voltage with a multimeter every
30 minutes.
•
Charging when the pack is in a deeply discharged condition:
If the pack is deeply
discharged (less than 11.5V), it will take longer to recharge, usually about 24 hours. Use a
commercial 12V smart charger. Attach the charger to the pack like it says in the TMs and
start charging. Every 4 hours, check the pack’s standing voltage with a multimeter to find
out if it’s fully charged.
Battery Pack’s Standing Voltage
To check the standing voltage, disconnect the pack from the charger. Let it stand
disconnected for 30 minutes. Then check the voltage with a multimeter. If the
standing voltage is not at 100 percent of charge, reconnect the pack to the charger
and continue charging.
After you disconnect the pack from the charger, the Frst voltage reading will be
higher than normal. The voltage will decrease slowly, then stabilize at the standing
voltage. If, after charging the pack, the standing voltage will not stabilize, the battery
pack isn’t working.
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NATO
charging
system
connects
to
vehicle’s
24V
NATO
adapter
Percent of
charge in pack
Voltage
reading
80
90
100
12.4 - 12.5
12.5 - 12.6
12.6 - 12.7
This table relates
battery pack standing
voltage to the percent
of charge in the pack.
in other
words, if the
multimeter
reads the
voltage
between 12.4V
and 12.5V,
it means
the pack is
80 percent
charged.
741 52-53.indd
1-2
6/30/14
5:16 PM
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