New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 1
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 2 Table of Contents Caution & Safety Instructions How to be safe when working with batteries Product Features & Layout Description of all the LED’s, LCD, Connectors, etc.
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 3 Caution & Safety Instructions Page 3 Batteries give off Hydrogen... it’s Explosive ! - READ ME FIRST ! When dealing with any lead acid battery, eye protection should be worn. Batteries are dangerous, they give off Hydrogen gas, if their posts are shorted sparks, a fire, or explosions can occur, they should be treated with a lot of respect. If you are not experienced please ask for advice before connecting our charger / maintainer...
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 4 Page 4 Caution & Safety Instructions WARNING - Use the Save A Battery™ Charger / Maintainer with 12 volt Lead Acid, VRLA, AGM, or Gel type batteries designed for automotive type uses. Other Save A Battery™ models support 6v, 24v, 36v and 48v and are marked with their voltage on the front label of the product. Do not use our products on any other voltage battery than what is stated on the front label.
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 5 Product Features and Layout Page 5 Charger Maintainer Tester Rejuvenator Alarm Monitor This product supports a variety of functions covered in other sections of this manual. Mounting or locating a place for the charger is the first thing to do. Please read the Warnings before using it.
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 6 Page 6 Product Features and Layout Charger Maintainer Conditioner This product supports a variety of functions covered in other sections of this manual. Mounting or locating a place for the charger is the first thing to do. Please read the Warnings before using it. For basic use, first find a AC outlet to plug it into, then choose the type of connection to the battery and when connecting check that the Battery LED comes on and that the Fault LED does not.
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 7 Product Features and Layout Page 7 Tester Alarm Monitor Voltmeter The Tester can be used remotely or it can be mounted on a wall and used in conjunction with most chargers and maintainers on the market. It adds diagnostic capabilities to any companion charger or maintainer. As a stand alone Voltmeter it can be used to diagnose the electrical system of a vehicle or the charging system including the generator or alternator.
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 8 Page 8 Connecting to The Battery Alligator Clip-on Cable The Alligator Clip-on Cable connects directly to the battery post. It is the most common way of connecting a battery charger to a battery for temporary use. The only negative that this clip-on cable has is the fact that it can be disconnected if the cable gets pulled our caught. It is not the best approach for long term maintenance applications.
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 9 Connecting to The Battery Page 9 Battery Terminal Lug Cable The Battery Terminal Lug Cable connects directly to the battery post using the existing nut and bolt that holds the terminal in place. This is a permanent connection and should be done with care. Always remove the ground terminal first. Leave this terminal disconnected as you work with the positive terminal. After the Terminal Lug has been installed on the positive post then connect the negative.
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 10 Page 10 Connecting to The Battery Cigarette Lighter or Auxiliary Power Cable The Cigarette Lighter or Auxiliary Power Cable connects to a vehicles built-in cigarette lighter connection or auxiliary input connector. Most of these connectors are on all the time and by simply plugging in our cable the battery will be charged and maintained. To test, first plug the charger or maintainer into AC power.
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 11 Charging a Battery Page 11 The different types & states of battery charge This is a simple explanation of how our chargers and maintainers work. Both devices use a new technology called Pulse Charging. This type of charging device is microprocessor controlled and offers features and benefits that most other types of chargers do not.
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 12 Page 12 Charging a Battery How to rejuvenate a weak battery Many batteries that have been neglected and are no longer strong enough to start a vehicle can be brought back to life. If our charger / maintainer sees the battery (Battery LED comes on) and the Fault LED does not come on then there is a good chance that a weak battery can be brought back to a usable state.
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 13 Maintaining a Battery Page 13 How to keep a battery in good health The goal of this section is to detail what damages and shortens the life of batteries. In other words what needs to be done to protect your investment and keep the battery from premature failure. The obvious things that shorten a batteries life include harsh environment, high temperature, freezing, fire, impacts, dropping, crushing, and submerging in liquid.
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 14 Page 14 Monitoring a Battery How the Alarm Monitoring System works Both the Charger / Tester and the Tester models provide low voltage battery monitoring capabilities. When the monitor is turned on an audible alarm will sound if the battery goes down below 11 volts. This feature can be used in a variety of ways. First off, these units can simply be connected to a battery to monitor the batteries state of charge.
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 15 Load Testing a Battery Page 15 How to figure out if the battery is good or bad Many good batteries are replaced when they don’t have to be. Figuring out if the battery is good or bad can be done using or Load Tester. Basically when a battery has been left for a long period without a charge it appears to not be able to be recharged. This may not be the case however, it may be able to be brought back to life if the right steps are followed.
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 16 Page 16 Checking the Charging System How to connect to an alternator or generator We have to generalize a bit on this topic because every vehicle is different. Basically, generator and dynamos have a separate regulator that takes the input from them and regulates the voltage down to an acceptable level and current so the battery can be recharged without overcharging. Finding the heavy lead out of the generator or dynamo leads you to the regulator.
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 17 Using the Voltmeter for Testing Page 17 Testing the 12 volt electrical system Both our Charger / Tester and Tester / Monitor can be fitted with Test Probe Leads to make them a stand alone Voltmeter. This gives the ability to use these units for testing the electrical systems in a vehicle. By connecting the black ground lead to a grounded wire, screw, or bracket and using the red positive test probe to test circuits the electrical system can be diagnosed.
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 18 Page 18 Battery Basics and Tutorial How a battery is constructed and what makes it work Lead Acid Batteries have been around for a long time. The technology is old but still very effective and affordable. Other technologies like Ni-Cad or Li-Ion offer better performance but at a much higher price. Simply put a battery stores energy and makes that energy available to you when need it. This energy however has to be replenished and maintained...
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 19 Battery Basics and Tutorial Page 19 11 volts. It is also important to note that a battery that goes below 12.4 volts is already starting the sulfation process and its performance and longevity will begin to deteriorate. That’s way its so important to keep a charger connected when not in use... to keep this from happening. Batteries are rated by the amount of energy they can hold and their ability to produce current at a determined rate.
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 20 Page 20 Mounting the Charger Wall mounting vs. vehicle mounting These units are designed to be as versatile as possible and that includes how they mount. They can be placed on a table, or on a car seat, mounted on a wall or installed in a vehicle. The Removable Mounting Bracket System is unique in that it allows the Charger / Maintainer / Tester to be easily removed from the bracket and used remotely.
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 21 Specifications Page 21 Charger / Maintainer / Tester Charger / Maintainer Tester / Alarm Monitor - INPUT CHARACTERISTICS : - INPUT CHARACTERISTICS : - INPUT CHARACTERISTICS : AC INPUT 90 - 264 V AC FREQUENCY 47 HZ - 63 HZ INPUT CURRENT 1.5 AMP HOLD UP TIME 8 MSEC - OUTPUT CHARACTERISTICS : 13.6-14.8 VDC 4.0 AMPS - 50 WATTS RIPPLE & NOISE 120 mV or less - PROTECTION : INPUT FUSED 2AMP AC INPUT 90 - 264 V AC FREQUENCY 47 HZ - 63 HZ INPUT CURRENT 1.
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 22 Page 22 Warranty and Service 1 Year Limited Liability Granite Digital warrants your Save A Battery™ System against any defects in material and workmanship, under normal use, for a period of one year following its date of purchase. In the event this product is found to be defective within the warranty period, Granite Digital will, at its option, repair or replace the defective unit.
New Save A Battery Manual 8/6/09 3:29 PM Page 23 Cables and Accessories The options listed below are available at our on-line store. Granite Digital • 3101 Whipple Rd. • Union City, Ca. 94587 • www.saveabattery.
