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Operation
About Charging
The BC Series has three full current rated, independently controlled outputs which
enable it to charge three different batteries or battery banks. Each output can
accommodate any one of the four allowable battery types, regardless of what
battery types are connected to the other outputs. Each output can be in a different
stage of charge, ralative to the other banks; for exampe, Bank 1 in float, Bank 2 in
absorption and Bank 3 in bulk. Each bank can accommodate a separate battery
temperature sensor. The BC Series can also perform either multiplex (3 stage)
charging, or sequential (2 stage) charging.
Important:
common negative.
Multiplex 3-Stage Charging
In multiplex charging mode the charger will check all qualified battery banks every
15 seconds to determine which bank is most in need of charging. That bank will
then be charged for the next 15 seconds. Every 15 minutes the charger will query all
outputs and detect which battery banks are present and healthy.
The multiplex charging mode employs the 3-stage charging algorithm: Bulk,
Absorption, and Float. During the Bulk stage the battery is accepting high current.
In the Absorption stage the battery voltage is held constant and the current declines.
A battery will also "gas" (produce hydrogen and oxygen) during this stage. Finally,
in the Float stage, the charger continues to provide voltage at a lower level to
maintain the battery in a fully charged state. If there is no load on the battery, it will
typically draw very little current. The charger, however, is able to provide current to
its full rating to power DC loads on the battery. In float, if batteries are very new or
a battery is on the low end of the size range and if it is fully charged to the point
where it will not accept any more current, then the charger will enter an adaptive
float/no float behaviour where it will alternate between float charging and resting
the battery.
The charger will restart the charging cycle in the Bulk stage if the battery voltage
drops below 12.5 V (12 V units) or 25 V (24 V units) for 15 minutes. After 21 days,
the charger will automatically restart charging in order to refresh the batteries.
2–2
The battery banks are not galvanically isolated from each other. They share a
975-0188-01-01
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