Campbell Scientific PS150/CH150 12 V Charging Regulators - Manual (Page 10)

PS150/CH150 12 V Charging Regulators
2. Precautions and Tips
For indoor use only.
Risk of electric shock. Dry location use only.
Risk of fire or electric shock. Do not interconnect
output terminals.
Permanent damage to rechargeable cells may result if
discharged below 10.5 V.
Under normal charging conditions with sealed VRLA batteries, hydrogen and
oxygen gasses are produced in relatively small quantities, most of which later
recombines back into water. Aggressive overcharging produces excess
hydrogen and oxygen gasses, resulting in gas venting by means of a pressure
activated valve. Hydrogen gas emitted from VRLA batteries must not be
allowed to accumulate, as it could form an explosive mixture. Fortunately,
hydrogen gas is difficult to contain in anything but a metal or glass enclosure.
Never put VRLA batteries in an enclosure that does not
allow emitted hydrogen gas to be dispersed.
VRLA batteries are capable of providing high surge currents. The 12 V output
terminals of the PS150/CH150 are fused with a 4 A self-resettable thermal
fuse, but there is no fusing for inadvertent bridging of the battery terminals.
Accidental shorting of battery terminals by metallic objects, such as
watchbands, can cause severe burns due to rapid heating and is also a fire
hazard.
VRLA battery manufacturers state that “Heat Kills Batteries”. While the
PS150/CH150 can operate from –40° to +60°C, optimum battery life is
achieved with battery operating temperatures ranging from 5° to 35°C i , per
manufacturer’s recommendations 1 . The PS150/CH150 offer temperature
compensation of the battery charging voltage based on a temperature
measurement inside the PS150/CH150 cases. The CH150 internal temperature
measurement likely will not accurately represent battery temperature for charge
voltage compensation unless the battery is in close proximity to the CH150.
With rechargeable batteries, a charge → discharge → re-charge event is termed
a cycle. In general the most important factor for the service life of a battery is
depth of discharge 1 . For example, decreasing the depth of each discharge from
i Genesis Application Manual – Genesis NP and NPX Series US-NP-AM-002,
June 2006.
CAUTION
WARNING
WARNING
WARNING
WARNING
2