Schumacher SF-51A-PE owner manual Personal Precautions and Safety, Preparing to Charge

PERSONAL PRECAUTIONS AND SAFETY

1.WARNING: Wear complete eye protection and clothing protection, when working with lead-acid batteries.

2.Make sure someone is within range of your voice or close enough to come to your aid when you work with or near a lead-acid battery.

3.Have plenty of fresh water and soap nearby for use if battery acid contacts skin, clothing, or eyes. If battery acid contacts skin or clothing, wash immediately with soap and water.

4.Avoid touching your eyes while working with a battery. Acid particles (corrosion) may get into your eyes! If acid enters your eye, immediately flood eye with running cold water for at least 10 minutes. Get medical attention immediately.

5.Remove all personal metal items such as rings, bracelets, necklaces, and watches when working with a lead-acid battery. A lead-acid battery can produce a short-circuit current high enough to weld a ring (or the like) to metal, causing a severe burn.

6.Take care not to drop a metal tool or other metal onto the battery. Metal may cause sparking or short circuit the battery or another electrical devise. Sparking may cause an explosion.

7.Always operate battery charger in an open well ventilated area.

8.NEVER smoke or allow a spark or flame in the vicinity of the battery or engine. Batteries generate explosive gases!

PREPARING TO CHARGE

1.Make sure you have a 12 volt lead-acid battery. Check car owner manual to make sure.

2.Clean battery terminals. Take care to keep corrosion from coming in contact with your eyes.

3.If required, add distilled water in each cell until battery acid reaches levels specified by battery manufacturer. This helps purge excessive gas from cells. Do not overfill. For a battery without cell caps, carefully follow manufacturer's recharging instructions.

4.Study all battery manufacturer's specific precautions, such as removing or not removing cell caps while charg- ing, and recommended rates of charge.

5.Be sure area around battery is well ventilated while battery is being charged. Gas can be forcefully blown away by using a piece of cardboard or other non- metallic material as a fan.

6.If necessary to remove battery from vehicle to charge, always remove grounded terminal from battery first. Make sure all accessories in the vehicle are off, so as not to cause an arc.

7.A marine (boat) battery must be removed and charged on shore. To charge it on board requires equipment specially designed for marine use.

BATTERY SIZE/RATING

CAR / LIGHT	CCA	RES.	RECHARGE
TRUCKS		CAP	TIME-HOURS
	200-315	40-60	3-5
	315-550	60-85	5-9
	550-850	85-150	9-13
MARINE / OR	MCA	AMP HR
DEEP CYCLE	220-350	24-40	3-5
	350-600	40-70	5-9
	600-935	70-104	9-13
CCA: COLD CRANKING AMPS		RES. CAP.: RESERVE CAPACITY
MCA: MARINE CRANKING AMPS		AMP HR: AMPERE HOUR

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