Craftsman 934.716140 Owner's Manual page 26

CHARGER CONTROL5 AND FEATURE,_5
CHARGE COMPLETE INDICATOR lightturns on when the
battery reaches full charge. This lightonly operates when the
charger is in one of the two 12 volt charging modes and the
FUNCTION SELECTOR is set to CHARGE. It will indicate
complete charge even if the charger is unplugged.
REVERSE HOOK-UP INDICATOR lightturns on when the
charger clamps are connected to a battery in reverse. This light
will turn on whenever a reverse hook-up occurs, regardless of how
the three switches are set.
AMMETER indicates the charging current being drawn from the
charger by the battery. As the batterybecomes more fully
charged, the charge rate lessens and the ammeter needle moves
toward the lower amp numbers on the meter.
CAUTION - DO NOT USE AMMETER TO DETERMINE WHEN
FULL CHARGE IS REACHED!
When charging small 12 volt batteries on the 2 amp setting, or
when any batter,.., nears full charge, the ammeter needle will be
•very close to zero. When_charging 12 volt batteries, the automatic
circuit is in control of the charging process. When full charge is
reached, the output shuts off and the green CHARGE
COMPLETE indicator lights up. But when_charging 6volt
batteries, overcharging can occur if the chargeris not
disconnected once full charge is reached. Therefore, it is
important to follow the CHARGING TIME INSTRUCTIONS, earlier
in this manual, when charging 6 volt batteries. When the charger
will be used for engine starting, the ammeter needle will move into
the "Start" range on the ammeter.
Several battery conditions can also cause the ammeter to appear
to indicate a battery near full charge, when in fact charging has
only begun.
m Cold Battery
Sulfated Battery
Deeply-Discharged Lead-Calcium Battery (many newer
automotive batteries)
COLD BATTERIES (temperatures lower than 32 degrees F or 0
degrees C) will begin charging at a low rate of charge. But as the
battery warms up through charging, the charge rate will increase.
Then, as the battery charges up, the charge rate will decrease
normally.
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