CTEK M300 STARTER - User Manual

M300 STARTER
Battery charger
For lead-acid batteries
User Manual and guide to
professional battery charging for
Starter and Deep Cycle batteries.
Model XS 800
GB
INTRODUCTION
Congratulations on your purchase of your new professional M300 STARTER Switch Mode
Charger with Pulse Maintenance. M300 STARTER is a member of a family of professional
chargers from CTEK SWEDEN AB. It represents the state-of-the-art technology for battery
charging. A M300 STARTER will prolong the lifetime of your battery. Read this user manual and
follow the instructions carefully before using the charger.
SAFETY
The charger is designed to charge 12V lead-acid batteries from 1.2 to 32Ah. However, the
charger can maintain batteries up to 100Ah. Do not use the charger for any other purpose.
Use safety glasses and turn your head away when connecting or disconnecting a battery.
Battery acid is corosive. Rinse immediately with water if acid comes into contact with skin or
eyes. Seek medical advice.
Make sure that the cable is not pinched or in contact with warm surfaces or sharp edges.
While charging, a battery can emit explosive gases, so it is important to avoid sparks in the
immediate area.
Always provide for proper ventilation during charging.
Avoid covering the charger.
Make sure that the electrical cable does not come into contact with water.
Never charge a frozen battery.
Never charge a damaged battery.
Do not place the charger on the battery while charging.
The electrical connection must fulfil the national heavy current requirements.
Check the cabling in the charger before use. Make sure there are no cracks in the cabling or
in the protective covering. A charger with damaged cables may not be used.
Always check that the charger has gone over to maintenance charging mode before leaving
the charger unattended and connected for long periods. If the charger had not gone over
to maintenance charging within 3 days, this is an indication of a problem. In this case the
charger must be disconnected manually.
All batteries fail sooner or later. A battery that fails during charging is normally taken care of
by the chargers advanced control, but certain uncommon errors in the battery can still arise.
Don’t leave the battery charger unattended for a longer period of time.
Only mount the charger on a flat surface.
This equipment may not be used by children or by those who can not read and understand
the manual if they are not supervised by a responsible person who can guarantee that the
battery charger is being used in a safe manner. Store and use the battery charger out of the
reach of children. Make sure that children do not play with the battery charger.
BATTERY TYPES
The following recommendations should only be considered as guidelines. In the event of
uncertainty always refer to the battery manufacturer’s recommendations.
M300 STARTER is suitable for charging all types of 12V lead-acid batteries: open batteries,
MF, AGM and most GEL-batteries. Battery sizes from 1.2 to 32Ah. The charger can maintain
batteries up to 100Ah.
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CHARGING
Charging batteries mounted in a vehicle:
1. The power cord should be disconnected before connecting or disconnecting the battery
leads.
2. Identify the pole that is grounded (attached to the chassis). Ground is normally connected to
the negative terminal.
3. Charging a negatively grounded battery. Connect the red wire to the positive pole of the
battery and the black cable to the vehicle’s chassis. Be careful not to connect the black cable in
the vicinity of a fuel pipe or the battery.
4. Charging a positively grounded battery. Connect the black wire to the negative pole of the
battery and the red cable to the vehicle's chassis. Be careful not to connect the red cable in the
vicinity of a fuel pipe or the battery.
Charging of a battery not connected to a vehicle:
1. The power cord should be disconnected before connecting or disconnecting the battery
leads.
2. Connect the red wire to the positive pole of the battery and the black cable to the negative
pole.
Connecting the provided cables with eyelet terminals:
Make sure that the cable is not being pinched or in contact with warm surfaces or sharp edges.
When the cable is mounted on the battery, it should not be connected to the charger. Connect
the eyelet terminals to the battery's poles - the red cable to the positive pole and the black cable
to the negative pole. After this, the quick contact can be connected.
Reverse Polarity Protection
If the battery cables are connected incorrectly, the reverse polarity protection will make sure
that the charger and the battery are not damaged. In this case, the red warning lamp will
be lit.
Start charging
1. Once you have checked that the battery leads have been connected correctly, you can start
charging by connecting the charger to the wall socket. If the battery leads have been connected
incorrectly the polarity reversing protection will ensure that neither the charger nor the battery
will be damaged. The fault indicating lamp will then come on. If this is the case, start from
point 1 under ”Connecting the charger...”
2. The charging lamp or the maintenance charging lamp will now come on. When the
maintenance charging lamp comes on the battery is fully charged. When the battery’s voltage
drops the charger will send a pulse to the battery. The pulse length depends on how much the
voltage has dropped. The charger can be connected for months.
3. If nothing happens. If none of the lamps come on this may be due to the connection to the
battery or chassis is poor or that the battery is faulty or has a too low terminal voltage. Another
cause may be a lack of voltage in the wall socket.
4. Charging can be stopped at any time by disconnecting the charger’s power cord. Always
disconnect the power cord before disconnecting the battery leads. When you stop charging a
battery tted in a vehicle you should always disconnect the battery lead from the chassis before
you disconnect the other battery lead.

Summary

Introduction

Safety Precautions

General Safety Precautions

Important safety instructions for using the battery charger, including handling batteries and the charger.

Battery Types

Supported Battery Types

Details the compatibility of the M300 STARTER with various 12V lead-acid battery types and capacities.

Charging

Charging Batteries Mounted in a Vehicle

Instructions for connecting and charging batteries installed in a vehicle, considering grounding.

Charging Batteries Not Mounted in a Vehicle

Steps for charging a battery that is disconnected from any vehicle or equipment.

Connecting Cables with Eyelet Terminals

Guidance on properly connecting charging cables using eyelet terminals to battery poles.

Reverse Polarity Protection

Explanation of the charger's protection mechanism against incorrect polarity connections.

Starting the Charging Process

Steps to initiate the charging process and indicators to monitor, including fault lights.

Charging Lamp Status Indicators

Interpreting flashing patterns of charging lamps to diagnose battery or charging issues.

Stopping the Charging Process

Procedure for safely stopping the charging operation and disconnecting the charger.

Charging Phases

Desulphation Phase

Description of the desulphation stage, used for batteries affected by sulphation.

Bulk Phase

The main charging stage where the charger delivers constant current until voltage reaches a set level.

Absorption Phase

Stage for completing the charge, maintaining voltage while current gradually decreases.

Pulse Maintenance Charging

Stage for maintaining the battery charge, delivering pulses when voltage drops.

Temperature Protection

Maintenance and Equipment

Charger Maintenance

Instructions for cleaning the charger and limitations on disassembly to maintain warranty.

Included Equipment

Details the battery leads provided with the M300 STARTER charger.

Warranty and Specifications

Warranty Information

Information on the limited warranty provided by CTEK SWEDEN AB for the product.

Technical Specifications

Detailed technical parameters of the M300 STARTER battery charger.

Manufacturers Declaration

Declaration of conformity with LVD and EMC directives for the M300 STARTER.

Charging Time Estimates

A table showing estimated bulk charging times for various battery capacities.

CTEK M300 STARTER Specifications

General

Brand	CTEK
Model	M300 STARTER
Category	Battery Charger
Language	English