Lotus TURBO ESPRIT Service Manual page 516

SECTION MC
Page
33
BATTERY RE-CHARGI N G PROCEDURE
Instructions for Tungstone Powermaster Maintenance Free Batteries.
To determine the state of charge o f the battery, apply a brief discharge o f no more
than ten seconds duration (e
.g. turn on headlights) w i t h the engine off, and then
a l l o w to stand o n open c i r c u i t for two to three minutes.
Measure the terminal voltage o f the battery.
If
steady voltage i s below
12.4
Volts, recharge battery as follows.
Note: The battery must not be boost charged.
- -
If
necessary, f i t a replacement battery to the vehicle, whilst original
battery i s charged as follows
.
Remove battery from vehicle.
a).
G n s t a n t Current: The battery must be charged a t a maximum o f
5
amps u n t i l
the battery terminal voltage (on charge) has stabilised over a one hour period,
a t which time the voltage w i l l be i n the range
16.0
-
16.5 V.
A t this stage
the battery must be taken o f f charge IMMEDIATELY, to prevent excess gassing
w i t h resulting water loss which w i l l ultimately reduce the guaranteed service
l i f e .
b).
Constant Voltage: The battery may be charged a t avoltage up to a maximum
o f 15.8V providing the current i s carefully monitored and the charge terminated
when the current has tapered off and changes b y less than
0.1
amp over a period
of one hour. I f i t
i s not possible to monitor the current during charging, then
the voltage must be restricted to
14.4
V
maximum.
Battery access