Checking and Charging the Battery

Checking and charging the battery







1 Measure the specific gravity of the battery acid. The specific gravity in a fully charged battery should be 1.28. A specific gravity of 1.21 corresponds to a battery that is charged to 50%.
Normally, the battery can be charged with a conventional battery charger.







2 When boost-charging, the battery's negative terminal must be disconnected and the water refill plugs removed.
If boost-charging is used, the charging current should not exceed 50 A.

Important
Never boost-charge a battery if the voltage is below 12 V and the battery is more than 2 years old.







3 If the battery is completely discharged, due to the lights or some other consumer being left on, a weak starting charge should be provided to initiate the chemical process in the battery. If this is the case, start charging with 3 A current (it must not exceed 5 A) for 24 hours or until the charge current as dropped to its lowest stable level.
Gas starts to form at 14.4 V.

If possible, a battery charger capable of delivering a pulsating charging current should be used in the above case.