TECHNICAL OPERATION OF THE LA MARCHE
SELF REGULATED AUTOMATIC
AC LINE COMPENSATED FLOAT BATTERY CHARGER
INSTALLATION:
To operate the charger it is only necessary to connect the AC power to the charger and the DC output cables to the
battery. Before connecting the power or battery leads to the charger be certain the nomenclature on the name plate of
the charger agrees with the incoming power and the battery type and number of cells.
When a battery is discharged or standing idle its terminal voltage will be less than its on charge float or equalize voltage
Therefore, when the charger is put into operation it will immediately begin to charge the battery. The charger will charge
the battery at its rated output to a pre-determined voltage. When this voltage Ls reached the charge rate will begin to
taper to a trickle charge of a magnitude necessary to maintain the battery voltage at its pre-determined setting It is
necessary to trickle charge the battery at a very low rate in order to keep the battery fully charged Therefore, after the
charger has brought the battery to full charge it shuts down to a small continuous charge preserving charge.
CHARGER COMPONENTS:
The charger has four (4) basic components, a Transformer, Saturable Reactor, Silicon Rectifier Stacks, and Control Unit
The basic operation of these units is as follows:
The Transformer transforms the incoming AC voltage to the required level to charge the battery The
transformer also isolates the incoming power from the output The Saturable Reactor regulates the power
output of the transformer continuously over the charge cycle The Rectifier Stacks are made up of silicon
diodes connected in a full wave center tap or full wave bridge configuration. These silicon diodes rectify
the secondary AC power to DC power. The control senses the condition of the battery and controls the
reactor which in turn regulates the power output of the transformer.
The standard float charger is provided with a potentiometer for adjusting the float and equalizing voltage level and a
float/equalize switch for transferring the output of the charger from float charge to equalize charge. Dual pots for
independently adjusting the float and equalizing points are provided as an additional option. A 24 hour equalizing timer
may be provided in place of the manual float/equalize switch as an additional option. The time switch is set at a pre-
determined setting (usually 24 hours) and when the timer times out, the charger is automatically returned to the float
position.
BATTERY CELL TYPES AND VOLTAGES:
The LaMarche Float Chargers are designed specifically to charge lead acid, nickel cadmium or nickel iron batteries
These chargers float the batteries at 2.17 volts per cell (lead acid), 1.4 volts per cell (nickel cadmium), or 1.5 volts per
cell (nickel iron or Edison). The equalizing charge setting for the batteries are 2.33 volts per cell (lead acid), 1.55 volts
per cell (nickel cadmium), or 1.6 volts per cell (nickel iron). The potentiometer adjustment allows for a ± 5% adjustment
from the nominal float/equalize voltages. The charger name plate
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