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Q. Why does the IDC25X indicate the battery is fully charged straight away?
A. There are three possible reasons why the IDC25X indicated the battery is fully
charged.
1. The battery is fully charged.
2. The battery has taken a surface charge.
3. The battery has a faulty cell.
Q. What is a “Surface Charge”?
A. Batteries unused or left discharged for some time build up a resistance to being
recharged. When the charger is first connected, these batteries will take a surface
charge, and the IDC25X LED’s will indicate the auxiliary battery is fully charged
within a short period of time. The battery however is not fully charged. The charger
is voltage sensitive and cannot differentiate between a surface charge and a fully
charged battery. After a few hours, the battery may start to accept some charge but
most batteries with this condition may not recover.
Q. What is a “Faulty Cell”?
A. 12 Volt batteries contain 6 cells, and one faulty cell is enough to ruin your battery.
If after twelve hours of charging your battery is still accepting charge, you should
test the cells using a hydrometer. If one reading is lower than the rest, it indicates a
faulty cell. It is pointless to continue charging; the battery needs replacing.
Q. Why is there no output at the IDC25X’s auxiliary battery output “
”?
A. The IDC25X incorporates short circuit protection that makes it much safer to use.
For this reason, the IDC25X will only output power when properly connected
to a battery. To check if the IDC25X is functioning, follow the instructions to
connect and operate the charger as normal on a flat battery. While the battery is
charging measure the battery voltage with a volt or multi-meter. Charging can be
confirmed if the voltage is increasing (within the voltage parameters set out in the
specifications).