Schumacher SP3 Battery Charger User Manual


 
• 12 •
NOTE: If the charger has to provide its maximum maintain current
for a continuous 12 hour period, it will go into Abort Mode (see
Aborted Charge section). This is usually caused by a drain on the
battery, or the battery could be bad. Make sure there are no loads
on the battery. If there are, remove them. If there are none, have the
battery checked or replaced.
Maintaining a Battery
The SP3 is a battery charger/maintainer that maintains both 6 and
12 volt batteries, keeping them at full charge. It can charge small
batteries and maintain both small and large batteries. If you are
maintaining a fully charged large battery, you are properly utilizing
the battery charger. However, if you were to use this battery charger
to charge a large battery, such as a marine deep cycle battery, that
was not fully charged, you may lose some of the battery’s capacity.
This would cause the large battery to be unable to hold a charge
and become useless. Therefore, we do not recommend charging
a large battery with this unit.
NOTE: The maintain mode technology utilized in Schumacher
chargers allows you to safely charge and maintain a healthy
battery for extended periods of time. However, problems with the
battery, electrical problems in the vehicle, improper connections
or other unanticipated conditions could cause excessive current
draws. As such, occasionally monitoring your battery and the
charging process is recommended.
Desulfation Mode
If the battery is left discharged for an extended period of time,
it could become sulfated and not accept a normal charge. If the
charger detects a sulfated battery, the charger will switch to a
special mode of operation designed for such batteries. If successful,
normal charging will resume after the battery is desulfated.
Desulfation could take up to 8 hours. If desulfation fails, charging
will abort, the yellow LED will blink, and the display will show
“CHARGING ABORTED BAD BATTERY”.
Aborted Charge
If charging cannot be completed normally, charging will abort.
When charging aborts, the charger’s output is shut off, the yellow
LED will blink, and the display will show “CHARGING ABORTED
BAD BATTERY”. To reset after an aborted charge, unplug the
charger from the outlet, wait a few moments and plug it back in.