Conventional Battery Charging: Notes

CAUTION: Vehicles equipped with a diesel engine utilize a unique spiral plate battery. This battery has a maximum charging voltage that must be used in order to restore the battery to its full potential, failure to use the spiral plate battery charging procedure could result in damage to the battery or personal injury. Refer to SPIRAL PLATE BATTERY CHARGING for the appropriate procedure.

Battery charging can be performed fast or slow, it terms of time. Slow battery charging is the best means of restoring a battery to full potential. Fast battery charging should only be performed when absolutely necessary due to time restraints. A battery is fully-charged when:

Micro 420 tester indicates the battery is OK.
Open-circuit voltage of the battery is 12.65 volts or above.

WARNING: Never exceed twenty amperes when charging a cold (-1° c [30° f] or lower) battery. The battery may arc internally and explode. Personal injury and/or vehicle damage may result.

CAUTION: Always disconnect and isolate the battery negative cable before charging a battery. Do not exceed sixteen volts while charging a battery. Damage to the vehicle electrical system components may result.

CAUTION: Battery electrolyte will bubble inside the battery case during normal battery charging. Electrolyte boiling or being discharged from the battery vents indicates a battery overcharging condition. Immediately reduce the charging rate or turn off the charger to evaluate the battery condition. Damage to the battery may result from overcharging.

CAUTION: The battery should not be hot to the touch. If the battery feels hot to the touch, turn off the charger and let the battery cool before continuing the charging operation. Damage to the battery may result.

Some battery chargers are equipped with polarity-sensing circuitry. This circuitry protects the battery charger and the battery from being damaged if they are improperly connected. If the battery state-of-charge is too low for the polarity-sensing circuitry to detect, the battery charger will not operate. This makes it appear that the battery will not accept charging current. See the instructions provided by the manufacturer of the battery charger for details on how to bypass the polarity-sensing circuitry.

After the battery has been charged to 12.4 volts or greater, perform a load test to determine the battery cranking capacity. Refer to BATTERY TESTING for the proper battery load test procedures. If the battery will endure a load test, return the battery to service. If the battery will not endure a load test, it is faulty and must be replaced.

Clean and inspect the battery hold downs, tray, terminals, posts, and top before completing battery service. Refer to CLEANING for the proper battery system cleaning procedures, and INSPECTION for the proper battery system inspection procedures.