OPERATION
6 February 2010 / Chargemaster 12/25-3, 24-12-3 / EN
3 OPERATION
3.1 FEATURES
The Mastervolt Chargemaster is a fully automatic battery
charger. This means that under normal circumstances it
may stay switched on with the AC power and batteries
connected. The Chargemaster is suitable for charging the
following battery types: Lead acid, AGM, Spiral, Gel or
Deep cycle batteries. It has an auto-ranging input facility
which makes it feasible to operate on almost any AC
power source in the world. It operates smoothly on both
230V as well as on 120V without any compromises for the
output current. The three-step Plus charging method
guarantees that the batteries are always charged to 100%.
In some cases however, a 2-step charging method is
more convenient. This method can be selected in the
setting mode.
With an external AC source connected, the Chargemaster
charger also serves the function of an AC to DC converter
to supply DC loads which are connected to the batteries.
3.2 DISPLAY
The Chargemaster is equipped with a multicolour LED
display. Different LED colours and combinations have
different meanings, see below.
3.3 SETTING MODE
Press Set for 5 seconds to start the setting mode. Done
so, you see a blinking LED next to the actual setting.
Press Set again to scroll through the settings. Press and
hold the button for 5 seconds to save the selected setting
or do not touch the button for 60 seconds to leave the
settings unchanged. Press Set shortly to see the new
setting.
3.4 FAILURES
The Chargemaster is protected against overload, short
circuit, over heating and under and over voltage. If a fault
condition occurs, the Power LED blinks red.
CAUTION!
The Chargemaster is not protected against:
• reversing polarity of the DC-output,
• three phase AC connection.
3.5 THREE STEP CHARGE ALGORITHM
See figure 3. Battery charging is accomplished in three
automatic stages: BULK, ABSORPTION and FLOAT.
The first step of the three step charge system is the BULK
phase, in which the output current of the charger is 100%,
and the greater part of the capacity of the battery is rapidly
charged. The current charges the batteries and gradually
the voltage rises to the bulk voltage of 14.4V (12V models)
or 28.8V (24V models) at 25°C / 77°F.
The duration of this phase depends on the ratio of battery
to charger capacity, and the battery state of charge.
CHARGE CURRENT
BATTERY VOLTAGE
BULK
ABSORPTION
FLOAT
TIME
Figure 3: Three step charge system
Actual state of the 3-step charging method:
Float, Absorption and Bulk.
2-step
Wet
Gel/ AGM
Figure 2: Display operation of the Chargemaster
Meaning Load bar
+ POWER LED
green
+ POWER LED
blinking red
In
Setting mode
Load
bar
Current
100%
Temperature
error
Connected to
MasterBus
Current 75% Charger
failure
Current 50% Wrong AC
voltage
2-Step charge
Off = 3-Step
Current 25% Battery
voltage high
Wet battery
Current 5%
(Float, Abs,
Bulk: On)/
Battery low
(Float, Abs,
Bulk: Off)
_ Gel/AGM
battery
POWER LED
(NO BUTTON)
Illuminating
green = on,
red = standby.
Set button
Press Set for 5
seconds to
start the setting
mode. See
section 3.3.
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