DEFA SmartCharge 4 for cars and boats User Guide

: June 5, 2024
: DEFA

Table of Contents

Product warnings
Charging phase details
Additional charger functionality
Approvals
Technical data
References
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DEFA SmartCharge 4 for cars and boats User Guide

This appliance can be used by children aged from 8 years and above and persons with reduced physical, sensory or mental capabilities or lack of experience and knowledge if they have been given supervision or instruction concerning use of the appliance in a safe way and understand the hazards involved.

Product warnings

This product is not intended for use by children or people with reduced physical, sensory or mental capabilities, unless under the supervision of a person responsible for their safety.
Children shall not play with the appliance.
Children shall not clean or maintenance the appliance without adult supervision, the appliance shall be repaired by the professionals.
The mains’ power supply cord cannot be replaced. If the cord is damaged, discontinue usage.
This charger is designed for use only with LEAD/ACID type (both open and closed) batteries including AGM, GEL and Calcuim types; and for battery sizes 12V/8–225Ah. The charger should not be used for other battery types. Recharging the non-rechargeable batteries is forbidden!
Batteries can emit explosive gases during normal charging. Avoid sparks in the immediate area and always provide proper ventilation during charging.
Connect the chargers plus clamp to the plus terminal on the battery. Connect the minus clamp to the chassis of the vehicle away from petrol pipes. Connect then to the wall socket.
After charging, power-off the charger and disconnect from the mains’ power supply. The minus and plus terminals can then be disconnected.
This charger includes high-strength magnets and should not be placed in close proximity to magnetic storage devices such as computer hard drives and tape media.

Charging phase details

Provide chargers for a variance of vehicles and equipment such as motorbikes, snowmobiles, lawnmowers and boats etc.

Battery Type
Lead acid battery (open and closed types), AGM and Gel batteries included.

Pre Analysis
The charger checks if the battery is correctly connected. The battery’s charge level (V) and total capacity (Ah) is measured to determine the correct settings for charging.

Charging
The charger starts charging the battery with constant current up to 14.4V (at 25°C). The charge voltage is then held constant at 14.4V and the charging current is reduced until it is below a defined level. The charge voltage then drops to 13.8V, before the long-term charging phase starts.
During charging, battery charge is shown by the number of LEDs illuminated. The blinking segment above these LEDs indicates active charging. Once full battery charge is reached, all 5 LED segments remain illuminated.
If the measured battery voltage is below 2.0V, the charger will enter Error Mode.

Post Analysis
The charger analyses the battery again after the charging phase. If the charger detects an error in the battery, the warning triangle will flash. Post analysis can detect batteries with a short circuit in individual cells. This cannot be detected in the pre analysis. If the battery voltage drops below 12.5V within 2min, the charger will go into error mode. The charging sequence will be stopped.

Long-term charging
240 hours after the battery is fully charged, the charger will go in to Sleep Mode. This is indicated by all battery LEDs slowly pulsating. This mode has a very low power consumption.
After a week in Sleep Mode, the charger will wake up and begin a new charging cycle.
The charger will also wake up and start a charging cycle if battery voltage drops below 12.6V.

Additional charger functionality

Temperature based voltage compensation
The charger automatically adjusts the charging voltage to the correct level according to the ambient temperature. The default ambient temperature is 25°C. Voltage is reduced for higher ambient temperatures and increased for lower ambient temperatures. The correct amount is ±0.03V/°C. Max temperature compensate charging voltage is 15.3 V.

14.7V button
Some batteries require a higher charging voltage than other batteries. If the 14.7V button is activated the initial charging voltage will be 0.3V higher than the standard level.
Before activating this button, the 14.7V charge voltage requirement should be confirmed. If a battery requires this higher charge voltage, it will be described on the battery.

Power Supply mode
Keep pressing the button until the LED shines one by one in a regular bottom to the top cycle, the charger will start power supply mode. In this mode, the charger supply 13.6V.
If the output short circuit or connect with incorrect polarity in this mode, the charger will go into error mode. You should press the power button to turn off the charger, then restart the charger (go to charger or power supply mode).

Automatic restart after power interruption
If the mains’ power supply is temporarily interrupted, the charger will continue charging when the power supply returns.

Safety features
Incorrect polarity
Spark protection
Short circuit protection
Over-current protection
Over-temperature protection
Over-voltage protection
Low voltage protection