Friday, November 15, 2013

How to Use an Everstart 12 Amp Car Battery Charger

Batteries can generate explosive hydrogen gases when charging, so its important to understand how to use the Everstart 12-amp car battery charger correctly. An Everstart battery charger will bring your battery back to life, if the battery has undamaged cells and will accept a charge. Everstart chargers, which are no longer being manufactured, are older battery chargers that come in different models. Some are made specifically for charging boating and recreational vehicle batteries, car batteries, farm equipment and motorcycle batteries, while others are made for charging any battery type. A 12-amp Everstart battery charger can also be adjusted for a lower trickle charge if needed and set to charge either a 6- or 12-volt battery.

Instructions

Automatic Charging

    1

    Verify the type of battery in your vehicle. Some batteries are maintenance-free and require replacement rather than charging. Ensure your battery will accept a charge before proceeding. The basic difference between the two battery types is that a maintenance-free battery is a sealed battery with no way to refill the battery with water. These types of batteries require replacement.

    2

    Identify the negative battery post on the battery -- it is the post marked "-." Detach the vehicles negative cable using an appropriately sized open-end wrench. Set the cable aside. Repeat for the positive battery post and cable.

    3

    Remove the battery maintenance caps from the battery and check the batterys fluid levels. If low, add distilled water to the battery until the water reaches the bottom of where the cap inserts. Replace the caps.

    4

    Place the battery charger as far away as possible from the battery, at least the distance of the chargers cables.

    5

    Plug in the battery charger, but dont turn it on.

    6

    Attach the chargers red cable to the positive battery post identified with a "+" near the battery post. Attach the negative or black cable to the engines frame. Do not attach the negative cable to the carburetor, fuel lines or sheet metal on the vehicle.

    7

    Adjust the amperage and volt settings to match the battery being charged. For instance, if charging a 12-volt battery, select 12-volt and the amperage charge, if charging a 6-volt battery, slide the button to the 6-volt setting. For amperage, choose the amperage at which to charge the battery. Everstart chargers equipped with a 12-amp charge capacity will also have the ability to set the amperage at a lower, "trickle" charge and "medium" charge setting. Slide the switch to a 2-amp charge or "trickle" charge, as this is the most effective means of charging your battery. It will take longer to charge, however, it is the safest means of charging a battery. Slower amperage charges also prolong the batterys life.

    8

    Turn the battery charger on. When the charger is done charging, it will automatically quit charging the battery. Turn the charger off.

    9

    Unplug the Everstart battery charger and remove the charger cables from the battery, ensuring not to touch the cables between both posts. Reattach the vehicles negative cable to the batterys negative post first using an appropriately sized open-end wrench and then reattach the positive cable.

Manual Operation

    10

    Follow Steps 1 through 7 in the previous section to hook up the manual battery charger.

    11

    Turn the battery on.

    12

    Review the amps section of the dial to determine how many amps the battery is accepting. As the battery charges, the amperage will return to "0." Because the battery charger will not shut off, you will need to pay attention to the dial on the battery charger. Unplug the charger when the amperage reaches "0." If the battery will not accept a charge after first turning on the battery charger, and it continues to read "0" amps, the battery has dead cells and will require replacement.

1 comment:

  1. Can you charge a red top optima battery with a everstart basic ten char6

    ReplyDelete