Chapter 7 Installation
Internal Standby Battery Maintenance
130 Operating and Programming Manual
Battery Charging
Lead-acid batteries are designed for occasional usage and long periods
of continual trickle charging currents. Unlike Nickel-cadmium
batteries, they are not designed for continual deep discharge/charge
usage. This makes lead-acid the ideal choice for typical constant
operating installations of the 5071A. They will last much longer in a
full-charge state and provide more reliable capacity when they are
needed.
Because of the long-term storage design of lead-acid batteries, we do
not recommend that the 5071A internal batteries be used in situations
where power is removed on a daily basis. If this is your situation, the
internal batteries will be constantly subjected to discharge and
possibly not receive the necessary full 16 hours of re-charge during
each typical workday. Such repeated partial charge and discharge
cycles can permanently damage the lead-acid battery storage capacity.
If you need to operate the 5071A under these conditions, it is
recommended that one of the two following processes be used to
ensure that the batteries not be stressed by over-use and under-
charging.
• Either press the BATTERY DISCONNECT switch on the rear panel each
time the power is turned off, or
• Disconnect the battery wires (inside the rear door) to completely remove
them from use.
Refer to page 28 of this manual for instructions on how to disconnect
the batteries.
The rechargeable lead-acid batteries in the 5071A are charged only
when the instrument is connected to the ac mains. The typical
charging time between a fully discharged state and fully charged state
is approximately 16 hours. Shorter charging periods will reduce the
operating time you can expect from a single battery charge.
Charging occurs automatically when ac power is connected to the
5071A. The battery is either boost- or trickle-charged depending upon
the terminal voltage read by the charging circuit. The charger
automatically switches from one state to another as it monitors the
battery terminal voltage.
Charging the battery pack(s) outside the instrument with an external
charger is not recommended. The 5071A’s charging circuit is designed
specifically for lead-acid batteries and incorporates temperature-
compensated threshold levels to determine the point at which
charging rates switch from boost to trickle. These threshold levels are
critical to the long-term performance and reliability of the internal
battery packs.
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