Using The Built-In Battery Tester - Schumacher SSC-1500A Owner's Manual

OVERVIEW
The charger has a built-in battery tester
that displays either an accurate battery
voltage or an estimate of the battery's
relative charge based on the battery
voltage and a scale set by the Battery
Council International.
TESTING SEQUENCE
There are four basic steps required to
use the charger as a battery tester.
1. Connect the charger battery clamps to
the battery. Be sure to follow all of the
precautions listed under "OPERATING
INSTRUCTIONS".
2. Connect the charger power cord to a
120V AC outlet. Again, be sure to fol-
low all of the precautions listed under
"OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS".
3. If necessary, press the Battery Type but-
ton until the correct type is indicated.
4. Read the voltage on the digital meter
or press the display mode button to set
the tester to "Battery %" and read the
battery percent.
TESTER AND CHARGER
When first turned on, the charger oper-
ates only as a tester, not as a charger. To
continue to use it as only a tester, avoid
pressing the BATTERY SIZE switch
button. Selecting a charge rate activates
the battery charger and deactivates the
tester.
POWER-UP IDLE TIME LIMIT
If no switch button is pressed within ten
minutes after the unit is first powered up,
the unit will automatically switch from
tester to charger, if a battery is con-
nected. In that case, the unit will be set
for the 2A charge rate and STANDARD
battery type.
TESTER WITHOUT TIME LIMIT
If either the DISPLAY MODE or BAT-
TERY TYPE button is pressed within the
first ten minutes after the unit is powered
up, the unit will remain a tester (not a
charger) indefinitely, unless a charge
rate is selected.

USING THE BUILT-IN BATTERY TESTER

TESTING AFTER CHARGING
After the unit has been changed from
tester to charger (by selecting a charge
rate), it remains a charger as long as it
has power. Disconnect and reconnect
the power to change the unit back to a
tester.
TESTER STATUS LED's
When the charger is operating as a bat-
tery tester, the status LED's light under
the following conditions.
• The CHARGED (green) LED will light
if a fully charged battery is tested.
• The CHARGING (yellow) LED does
not light in the battery test mode.
• The CONNECTED (red) LED will light
if a battery is properly connected.
• When the tester display mode is set to
voltage, the only STATUS LED that is
on is the CONNECTED LED (it could
be testing a battery) as long as a volt-
age greater than one volt is detected.
INITIAL PERCENT CALCULATION
When a battery % is calculated for the
first time after connecting a battery, the
digital meter will show two dashes ("--")
for several seconds while the tester
analyzes the battery.
NOTES FOR TESTING BATTERY %
A recently charged battery could have a
temporarily high voltage due to what is
known as "surface charge". The volt-
age of such a battery will gradually drop
during the period immediately after
the charging system is disengaged.
Consequently, the tester could display
inconsistent values for such a battery.
For a more accurate reading, the surface
charge should be removed by temporar-
ily creating a load on the battery, such as
by turning on lights or other accessories.
The battery % ranges from 0 to 100.
The battery tester is only designed to
test 12V batteries. Testing a device with
a rapidly changing voltage could yield
unexpected or inaccurate results.
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