Ametek Deka PowerForce Owner's Manual page 12

Charge Termination — The PowerForce control utilizes two
types of termination. VT, Voltage Time termination, will go to
charge complete after a timer. The other way to terminate a
charge cycle is to use DV/DT. DV/DT is a patented proportional
time DV/DT technique in order to determine the charge termi-
nation point. This technique returns approximately 107% of the
amp hours removed from a battery (regardless of the state of
discharge) and prevents variations in the incoming AC line voltage
from affecting the amount of energy returned to the battery. The
minimum time required for a DV/DT charge termination on the
PowerForce control is fifteen minutes. The control can be pro-
grammed to utilize a voltage-time charge termination technique.
If the DV/DT charge termination is disabled, the control will ter-
minate the charge cycle four hours after the battery reaches the
"80% Charged" point.
Touch Screen Display — A backlit touch screen display is
standard on the PowerForce control. Plain English and easy to un-
derstand abbreviations are used to indicate charge status, output
current, voltage and other functions including; archive information,
review information, programming information, fault information,
and operating status.
Review of Charge Cycle — When the charge cycle is in progress
or has been terminated, either by the control or the operator, the
charge cycle history can be automatically read out by Statistics App.
Automatic or Push-to-Start Operation — In the automatic
start mode, the charger will start a short time after the battery is
connected. The display will display "Reading BID Device Data" and
then display upcoming cycle information. In delayed, blockout, or
time-of-day start mode, the charger will not start the charge cycle
until "Start Mode Override" is toggled ON.
Manual or Automatic Equalize — An equalize charge is a pro-
longed charge cycle (by 3 hours) used to correct any inequalities
of voltage and specific gravity which may have developed be-
tween the cells during service. PowerForce controls are shipped
from the factory with the automatic equalize feature enabled.
There are three modes of automatic equalize. See the Equalize
section of chapter 9 of this manual for further details. When the
automatic equalize feature is active, the "Equalize" switch on the
touch screen display is disabled. When automatic equalize is dis-
abled, an equalize charge is requested by switching the "Equalize"
toggle on the touch screen display before or after the charge cycle
has started. If this toggle switch is turned off during the charge
cycle, the equalize request will be canceled if the equalize period
has not begun.
Refresh Charge Feature — A refresh charge of a storage battery
is a charge given to charged, wet type batteries, which are in
storage or inactive for long periods to replace losses due to limited
action and to be certain that every cell is brought periodically to a
full state of charge. The PowerForce control has an adjustable 0 to
99 hour refresh charge timer (programmed through the "Refresh"
icon in the settings app) which starts with a normal charge com-
plete, either DV/DT or voltage time. If a battery is left connected to
the charger for the programmed number of hours after a charge
complete, the control will automatically begin a refresh charge
cycle. The control will start automatically even if programmed for
time-of-day start, delayed start or push-to-start operation. The
PowerForce will not start the charge cycle during a time-of-day
blockout period. It will automatically request an equalize cycle if
it is programmed to equalize on that day. Charge cycle data is not
affected by a refresh charge. The charge termination technique
for a refresh charge will be DV/DT regardless of how the control
is user programmed, and the 0-80% back-up timer will be four
hours and fifteen minutes during a refresh charge. This feature
will insure that any battery left connected to the charger for ex-
tended periods of time will not be damaged due to self-discharge,
and will be kept in a fully charged state.
80% Charged Point — A PowerForce control will blink the LEDs
a faster green and enable the charge termination routine when the
battery voltage reaches the gassing voltage and the charging has
decreased below 8.2 amps/100AH. The gassing voltage is nomi-
nally 2.40 volts/cell and is adjusted automatically when the charger
output voltage is modified to charge batteries of different tempera-
tures.
Time-of-Day Start — The PowerForce Control can be pro-
grammed to delay the start of a charge cycle until a specific time
of day. Any time of day, in one minute increments, can be used for
the time-of-day start time.
When a control is programmed for time-of-day start, and a bat-
tery is connected to the charger, the programmed start time will
be displayed. This feature can be used to save on energy costs,
provide a battery cool down or warm up period, or to prevent op-
portunity charging.
Delayed Start — The PowerForce control can be programmed
to delay the start of a charge cycle for a specific period of time.
Any time period from 1 minute to 23 hours and 59 minutes, in one
minute increments, can be used for the delayed start period.
When an PowerForce is programmed for delayed start, and a bat-
tery is connected to the charger, the programmed delay time will
be displayed.
The time displayed will be decremented once per minute so that
the time displayed is always the amount of time remaining before
the start of charge. This feature can be used to save on energy
costs, provide a battery cool down or warm up period, or to pre-
vent opportunity charging.
Time-of-Day Blockout — The PowerForce control can be pro-
grammed to disable the charger during a specific time of day.
The charger will turn off at the beginning of the block-out period,
and resume the charge cycle at the end of the block-out period.
Any period of time of day, in one minute increments, can be
used for the time-of-day block-out period. When a PowerForce
is programmed for time-of-day block-out, and a battery is being
charged when the block-out period occurs, the programmed end
of block-out time will be displayed. This feature can be used to
save on energy costs, provide a battery cool down period, or to
prevent charging at certain times in the day.
Manual Override of Programmed Start Modes — A
PowerForce control, when programmed for time-of-day start, de-
layed start, or time-of-day block-out, can be manually overridden
by toggling the override switch on the display while the start of
the charge cycle is being automatically delayed by the control.
This manual override feature can be disabled through the "Start
Override" programming function. The manual override feature al-
lows the operator to start a charge cycle immediately if a battery
is needed sooner than the programmed start time would allow.
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