Schumacher SC-8020A - Manual (Page 16)

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determine charging progress by selecting the BATTERy % mode.
There are some important facts to keep in mind when charging a battery.
When the display indicates 77% charged, the battery has been charged •
enough to start most vehicles and has already been charged as much as
by many other battery chargers.
When the display indicates 85% charged, the battery has already been
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charged at least as much as by most other battery chargers.
The battery % shown in tester mode is an estimate based on the bat-
•
tery voltage and the Battery Council International scale. The battery %
shown in charger mode is an estimate of the relative charge in the battery
compared to the charge it should have if the charging process is allowed
to complete.
The battery % shown in tester mode can be used to estimate the relative
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charge time. The lower the % shown, the longer the charge time for a
given battery.
The battery % shown in charger mode is an indication of the relative
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progress of the charging process. The higher the battery % displayed, the
less charge time remains.
The more a battery is discharged, the faster it absorbs charge from a
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charger. That means that the battery % increases faster at the beginning
of the charging process than at the end. In other words, it takes longer for
the battery to absorb the last few percent of charge than the first several
percent.
ChARgiNg TipS 17.
Read this entire manual before using your charger. The tips below serve
only as a guide for specific situations.
if your vehicle won’t start
17.1 : You don’t need to fully charge the battery to
start your vehicle. If the charger won’t start your vehicle using the EN-
GINE START rate, try charging the battery using the MEDIUM TO LARGE
BATTERy setting for 10 or 15 minutes. That should charge the battery
enough to allow the ENGINE START rate to start the vehicle. If the vehicle
will then be operated continuously for an extended period (such as a long
drive), the vehicle could charge the battery back to normal during that
period. If the vehicle will only be operated for a short period (short drive),
the battery might need to be charged again before it could start the vehicle
again.
Reviving your battery
17.2 : If you only wish to charge your battery enough
to operate your vehicle, you don’t need to wait for the entire charging
process to be completed. When the charger displays a battery % of 77 or
more, the battery has usually been charged enough for the vehicle to start