Q & A FG-A1 Backup System
Q. The red and yellow LED’s flash on my control panel. What’s wrong?
A. Maybe nothing at all! A slow flash rate, (about 1 second, or less), indicates that the charging system has nearly charged the battery to its optimum charge level. The flashing LED’s should slow and eventually stop when the battery is completely charged.
A fast LED flash rate (more than 2 per second) indicated the 1 A charging fuse has blown, the battery leads are reversed or the wall transformer is not supplying proper voltage to the control box. Check the battery connections, then replace the fuse. If the LED’s continue to fast flash, check the 115V outlet for proper current and replace the
Q. When I hooked up the system, the yellow charging light came on. Why? The battery was supposed to be fully charged when I got it.
A. A new battery, although charged adequately to start most engines, will not be charged to its full/ optimum level. The charging system supplied with your pump monitors the charge level and slowly charges the battery to its optimum level.
Q. OK, after 2 days, the LED’s are blinking between “charged and charging.” What’s wrong now?
A. Probably nothing; see question 2 above. The system normally takes
14.4VDC. As the battery approaches full charge, the
LED’s will alternate between “CHARGED” & “CHARGING.”
Q. Finally, the LED’s quit
alternating and the “CHARGED” LED came on, but every once in a while the “CHARGING” LED comes on for just a second or two, then goes out. Is my system OK?
A. Yes! No need to worry. It is normal for a battery to lose some of its charge (decay) when idle. Our charging system monitors the charge state and turns itself on to boost the battery backup to its optimum charge. This usually takes from a few seconds to a few minutes.
Q. We came home late one evening and heard our battery backup alarm sounding. The pump wasn’t running. What’s wrong?
A. It is possible that the primary pump failed to operate when needed and your backup pump activated and drained the tank. The alarm activates any time the pump is called to operate. It continues to operate until the alarm condition is manually acknowledged by pressing the reset switch.
Q. Pressing the reset switch didn’t silence the alarm. Now what?
A. The alarm circuit is activated so long as the float switch is activated. Check to see if the backup float switch is tangled or caught in the sump or piping. Remember to disconnect all power before servicing.
Q. The float wasn't tangled, but the alarm continues to pulsate.
A. A pulsating alarm is different from a steady tone. The pulsing alarm indicated that the battery voltage has dipped below an acceptable level. As a precaution, the charging circuit is locked out when this occurs, just in case one or more cells have shorted. It will
be necessary to remove the battery and have it charged on a commercial automotive or marine battery charger, per the manufacturer’s instructions. Once the battery voltage can be sustained above 11.9 VDC, the battery can be reinstalled in the system and the
Q. When I got my system home and prepared to install it, I found out that the pump cable, sensor and charging cord were too short to reach the control box. Can I splice the leads so that they will reach?
A. No! The cable lengths were all designed around optimum operating parameters and are at a maximum length for their given sizes. Since the charger and pump are microprocessor (computer) controlled, changing the cable lengths may affect critical computer inputs which could cause the system to malfunction and may even present a fire hazard.
Q. I couldn’t install my battery backup pump above my primary pump per your instructions, because my sump is too shallow. Will it matter if it is installed BESIDE my primary pump?
A. Yes. Installing a backup pump in the sump beside the primary pump could spell disaster. Sediment will accumulate inside the backup pump and may cause it to fail when needed most. The backup pump must be installed above the normal
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