Maintenance of Generator Set Battery

The following maintenance method is suitable for all brands of diesel genset, including Cummins, Perkins, Volvo, Deutz, Ricardo, Yuchai, etc.

Matters needing attention in Battery

I. There is a risk of fire and explosion, open fire or electric spark shall not be allowed near the battery.

II. Never confuse the positive and negative terminals of the battery, otherwise spark and explosion will occur.

III. The battery electrolyte contains highly corrosive sulfuric acid. When maintaining the battery, wear an acid-proof apron and a top cover or protective goggles. When adding electrolyte to the battery, be careful to add it slowly and prevent liquid splashing. Once the electrolyte accidentally splashed on the skin or clothing, immediately rinse with plenty of water.

Battery connection and disconnection

I. First connect the red wire (+) to the battery (+) pole. Then connect the black wire (-) to the battery (-) pole.

II. When disconnecting the battery, first remove the (-) wire (black), then remove the (+) wire (red).

Battery cleaning

Keep the battery dry and clean. Oxides and dirt on batteries and terminals can cause short circuits, voltage drops and discharges, especially in wet weather. Clean battery terminals and cables with brass brush to to remove oxides. Tighten the cable connector and apply protective grease or Vaseline to the joint.

Introduction to battery charging

I. The battery is dry when it is delivered to the user. Therefore, the electrolyte with the correct specific gravity (>1.5) that has been uniformly mixed should be added before use. Unscrew the top cover of the battery and slowly inject the electrolyte until it is between the two scale lines on the upper part of the metal sheet and as close as possible to the upper scale line. After adding it, please do not use it immediately. You should let the battery park for about 15 minutes. You can also connect the charger to charge it to the right amount.

II. When charging the battery for the first time, it should be noted that the continuous charging time should not exceed 4 hours. Because too long charging time will damage the service life of the battery.

III. When one of the following conditions occurs, the charging time is allowed to be extended appropriately:

a. Battery storage time is more than 3 months, charging time can be 8 hours.

b. The ambient temperature continues to exceed 30°C or the relative humidity continues to be higher than 80%, and the charging time can be 8 hours.

c. If the battery is stored for more than 1 year, the charging time can be 12 hours.

d. If the charger current output is insufficient, the low current charging time should be extended proportionally.

e. At the end of charging, check whether the liquid level of the electrolyte is sufficient, and add standard electrolyte with the correct specific gravity if necessary.

f. It should be noted that the size of the charging current and the length of the charging time should also take into account the old and new conditions of the battery and the amount of power already stored in the battery. When charging the battery, first open the battery filter cap or vent cap and check the electrolyte level and adjust with distilled water if necessary.

g. Normal operation and charging can cause some water to evaporate, which requires refilling the battery at any time. Firstly, the battery surface, especially the filling port, is thoroughly cleaned to prevent dirt from entering the battery compartment, then remove the hole plug, and distilled water is added until the appropriate liquid level.

h. In order to prevent long-term closure, the sewage in the battery compartment cannot be discharged in time, and the water droplets are prevented from condensing on the inner top wall of the cell.

i. It is necessary to open a special vent hole to facilitate proper air circulation. Make sure the battery is charged in a well-ventilated environment with no sparks or open flames nearby. Do not charge in an environment that cannot be protected from snow, and the charger should not be near water.

How to charge the battery?

I. There are three kinds of power sources for charging the battery:

A. User self-equipped charging machine

B. Battery charging device installed in the startup control panel

C. Genset built-in battery charger

Before operating the diesel generator set, first ensure that the above battery charger is disconnected. The usage conditions of these three charging devices are not the same, and the brief introduction is as follows:

A. When the unit is configured to start the control panel manually, because there is no battery floating device installed in the control panel, if the unit is not used for long time, the user should be equipped with the charger to charge the battery separately.

B. For the start-up control panel of the generating set, the screen is equipped with a floating charging device corresponding to the battery charging voltage. The power supply of the floating charging device is the standard voltage of the single-phase mains (AC220V), and its main function is to prevent excessive discharge of the battery when the unit stops for a long time, resulting in battery damage and affecting the normal and reliable start-up of the unit. For the genset with this configuration, the user only needs to correctly connect the AC220V single-phase mains to the corresponding terminals of the control panel as required, and there is no need for an additional battery charger. The characteristics of the battery floating device determine that it is suitable to charge the battery continuously for 24 hours. The advantage is that the user only needs to connect the power supply correctly, no need to carry out additional maintenance work on the battery. Moreover, due to its unique charging method and comprehensive protection of overvoltage and overcurrent, the charging process will not cause any damage to the battery under the charging condition of standard AC220V power supply. When the unit starts running, the electronic control part will automatically disconnect the floating charge circuit. This provides good protection for both the charger and battery.

C. When the diesel generator set is running, the electrical wiring of the unit can ensure that the floating charging device is automatically isolated from the battery, and the battery charging device that the generating set is equipped with continues to charge the battery until the unit is finished running, and then automatically switch to the floating device to charge the battery.

D. High temperature can also damage the battery, so be careful during the charging process, especially in hot climate, the battery temperature must not be higher than 48°C.